I wound up going to Dentologie because my former dentist would not easily process United Health Care. Dentologie was able to deal with United. They recommended four cleanings per year, when two seemed sufficient at my former dentist, and recommended two crowns, which quickly gobbled up all that United could spare, and cost me out of pocket another $1,580. One of the crowns required three attempts.
The first attempt involved the crown being installed crookedly, since the cement was quickly setting up and there was no room for dental floss. Dentologie ground down the high side of the crooked crown and told me to come back. The second attempt involved breaking the first crown and trying to get the second crown to seat properly before cementing it in place. It wouldn't go down far enough, so Dentologie ground down what was left of my poor tooth, since it would have been impossible to adjust the crown itself. This didn't work out either, so I was told to come back for a third crown. When I got home and the novocaine started to wear off, I was in a lot of pain. I took four Tylenols, drank a beer, and spent two hours pressing ice packs against my jaw.
The third crown (which was on tooth #3) got installed without having to grind my tooth down any more, but I am to this day still being bothered by it. Besides the pain of chewing on it and sensitivity to cold and warm, there is a large space in front of it in which food inevitably becomes lodged.
So I went back to my old dentist, got a new mouthguard for $680, and paid him $200 to assess the shoddy craftsmanship I received at Dentologie. He pulled up some x-rays from about 6 months ago and said that the tooth with the new crown had only small fillings before and that it was highly unlikely that having a crown installed was a prudent and necessary operation. He was basically shocked and suspicious of the fraudulent business practices of this new-fangled fancy outfit, as am I, and advised me that the crown would have to be redone to fill up the space where food was getting caught. He also recommended that I consult an endodontist, which I did, which cost me $547. The endodontist ran some tests and told me I will need a root canal.
So now I'm looking at a root canal to cease my pain, another crown, and of course another mouthguard. At the moment, I have no more insurance to help me out. I have to wait until next year, when a new insurance program kicks in. read more
