please help!! need endodontist for 8 yr old dd ASAP!

mashcsch

Tue, Dec 03 2013, 8:42 pm

My 8 yr old dd, who is terrified of going to the dentist, has a very bad cavity (one of many) and it is already at the nerve. :-( It is in one of her permanent teeth. (she said she didn't want to tell me because she didn't want to go to the dentist) the dentist referred me to an endodontist to do the root canal. Did anyone have a good experience with someone for their child? I am in the lakewood area, and unfortunately no insurance. I called Zohn amd Berger, they gave us an appt for Friday. The cost will be approximately $1, 500.00!!!!! I don't even want to contemplate the fact that it may not include the crown, I forgot to ask. Any names, referrals would be so appreciated!

amother

Mon, Dec 30 2013, 5:44 pm

I am looking for an endodontist for myself in or near lakewood.

OP - did you find someone good?

Please, please tell me it doesn't cost that much!!!!!!

I need to have a root canal ... I am in pain but I think it might be more painful going into debt!

smiledr

Mon, Dec 30 2013, 8:07 pm

She won't get a crown until she's about 16 though depending on the tooth sometimes a prefabricated stainless steel crown is placed to protect the tooth until then. 1500 is the price - don't look for a bargain. Cheaper to go to dentist every six months than a specialist.

amother

Mon, Dec 30 2013, 9:24 pm

smiledr wrote:

I am the amother from 5:44pm and I have a few questions:

1 - why is it so expensive?

2- I actually had been going to the dentist. I had a huge cavity in the tooth that it hurting. The dentist put on a medication and filled the cavity. Then I went back for him to check and although he said at first that I might need a root canal, after going back he said it seemed okay. It is 2 years later and the tooth is bothering me. The dentist could not see anything in the x-ray but said I should follow up with an endodontist for root canal work. Maybe I don't need a root canal! How can I be sure that the endotontist will only perform necessary work?

smiledr

Mon, Dec 30 2013, 9:29 pm

Firstly it's expensive bec your endodontist spent four years in college four years in dental school and 2-3 years in specialized training not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars so yes, his time is valuable and he is skilled so you are paying him for that. Secondly sometimes a deep cavity can cause irreversible inflammation of the nerve right away or years down the line. Your dentist did the right thing in medicating and watching but now it's hurting and sometimes there's no radiographic evidence of needing a root canal so u go to a reputable endodontist for an eval. I never do root canal unless I'm sure so sometimes I send my patients to endo for eval and after the diagnosis I will complete the work. I'm a general dentist btw - part of bring a good general dentist is knowing when to refer to a specialist. Go see an endodontist for an eval.

amother

Mon, Dec 30 2013, 9:35 pm

Thanks for explaining.

Any chance the pain will just stop on its own?

I will have to look for a reputable endodontist and save up money before I go!

What can I do for the pain? Motrin, motrin .... should I get a prescription for an antibiotic?

mashcsch

Mon, Dec 30 2013, 9:57 pm

So I ended up taking her to Zohn and Berger. She saw one of their dentists, I forgot his name, it starts with a "p". It was a very positive experience for her b"h. She didn't end up needing a full root canal. He said that in 90% of children her age it is enough to put some sort of medication on the tooth or nerve after he goes in and then the nerve regenerates or something. I don't remember exactly what it was that he said medically. If after a few days she still has pain then they would complete the root canal. B"h she did totally fine afterwards and was in no pain the next day already. 2.5 weeks later her regular dentist put some sort of composite on top!! And the fee was $675 but when he heard that finamces are difficult for us he did it for $500, divided into 2 payments. I agree that it was important for us to take her to someone that came highly recommended because teeth and nerves (& really anything medical) are not something to fool around with. Good luck!

Mommy1!

Thu, Oct 19 2017, 5:38 pm

In case anyone else is in need of this information, we also ended up by Zohn's office. Double root canal at $1,575 a tooth (they would not give any discount). Ouch!

If you are not in need of urgent care, you should purchase a Delta plan for around $500 a year that reduces the cost of dental procedures (root canal is $500 per tooth) but you must begin the plan on the first of the month.