Dental Information, The Costs
Associated With Root Canal Treatment
By
Clifford J. Ruddle, DDS, in collaboration with Philip M. Smith, DDS
What are the Costs Associated
with Root Canal Treatment?
There are many factors that affect the costs
and payment associated with root canal treatment. Each
patient and tooth presents a different set of circumstances. Generally the cost
of root canal treatment is directly related to the chair time necessary to
perform the treatment as well as to the costs of the dentist staff, training, and
technology that the dentist has available when performing the procedure.
Be sure to ask your dentist about
patient financing credit, dental treatment financing,
or if there is a possible
loan for dental work available.
There
are many factors that influence the amount of chair time necessary to treat any
particular tooth:
- The position of the tooth in the
mouth.
- The number of roots and the number of
canals within these roots.
- Root curvatures and the length of the
roots.
- The presence or absence of
calcifications within the root canal space.
- Special dental considerations. For
example, it may be more difficult for the dentist to work through an existing
crown or a bridge than to work on a tooth with only a small previous filling.
Also, some teeth may have been severely broken down by past dental disease and
these may have to be "built-up" before root canal treatment can even
be started so that an aseptic field can be established and maintained during
treatment.
In addition to the chair time involved for treatment, other factors are also
taken into consideration when determining a fair fee for root canal treatment:
- The cost of technology. Dentists who
use state-of-the-art technology for certain procedures have invested in
microscopes, computer digital radiography, ultrasonics, and specialized
training courses for themselves and for their staff. The costs of these items
are shared by those patients who benefit from them.
- The costs of the dental office
overhead include staff, rent, and supplies in addition to many other expenses.
These costs vary significantly in different areas of the country.
- Fees vary among practitioners due to
differences in their endodontic treatment philosophies, which in turn dictate
the chair time required, the materials selected, and the technologies
utilized.
In conclusion, there can be marked discrepancies in the fees charged for root
canal treatment by different dentists. Ultimately, the best value for care is
treatment that is done once and works over a period of many years. Conversely,
the most expensive dental treatment is the treatment that may cost less
initially but does not work predictably and needs to be redone one or more
times. The wise dental consumer does not make a treatment decision on the basis
of cost alone.
Will Insurance Cover the Cost of Root Canal Treatment?
Dental insurance will usually help with a portion of the endodontic treatment
fee. A variety of dental insurance plans are available. A specific benefit
package is selected contractually by each employer for the benefit of the
employees. Some benefit packages may restrict or not recognize certain
procedures, while in other instances the yearly maximums are unrealistic for
anything other than the most basic care. The dentist will make a professional
judgment and treatment recommendation based on what is best for the patient, not
on what is best for the for-profit insurance company. The total fee is the
patient's responsibility but the dental office will work with the insurance
carrier to get the maximum contracted benefit. The patient should speak with the
dental treatment coordinator before treatment begins in an attempt to estimate
the available insurance benefit. Be sure to ask your dentist about
patient
financing, dental treatment financing, or if there is a possible
loan for dental
work available.
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