Is this a record for dentist fees ?

After twenty years of putting it off I finally decided to go ahead and have one of my top two teeth crowned.

Firstly I needed to get root canal done (One root only I may add). This happened this morning. I was recommended by my dentist to attend an orthidentist who specialises in this field.

This was the first time I had met the man and I lay down in the chair. He proceeded to do the job. Forty five minutes later (10 minutes of this was waiting for antiseptic to work before he refilled) I was down at his secretary's office and forking out €750.00 !!!

In fairness I had been told of the price beforehand but I was under the impression that I may need to attend him a few times or that I was going to be at this for a couple of hours at least.

Can any profession beat €1,000 an hour ?

Please tell me that these are the going rates.

Many thanks.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

The Save on Dental Care clinic in Budapest uses to compare Irish dental fees to their own - looks like you were charged the norm in Ireland unless the Budapest crowd were using your dentists prices for comparison purposes.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

That is pretty much a standard price for root canal but usually it would be done over 2/3 sessions

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

JackTheKnife said:

After twenty years of putting it off I finally decided to go ahead and have one of my top two teeth crowned.

Firstly I needed to get root canal done (One root only I may add). This happened this morning. I was recommended by my dentist to attend an orthidentist who specialises in this field.

This was the first time I had met the man and I lay down in the chair. He proceeded to do the job. Forty five minutes later (10 minutes of this was waiting for antiseptic to work before he refilled) I was down at his secretary's office and forking out €750.00 !!!

In fairness I had been told of the price beforehand but I was under the impression that I may need to attend him a few times or that I was going to be at this for a couple of hours at least.

Can any profession beat €1,000 an hour ?

Please tell me that these are the going rates.

Many thanks.

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if you have vhi check out the vhi website and you can add dental care to your plan. Used to be better before but think they changed alot of the terms & conditions recently. Worth a look though.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

Thanks people.

I am still seriously pXXXXed off at the price.

Assuming the dentist takes an hour for lunch he has just earned himself €7,500 and it's not even 5 o'clock yet.

Looking forward to getting the tooth crowned now !

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

JackTheKnife said:

I am still seriously pXXXXed off at the price.

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Why? You were quoted a price in advance. You accepted this price. You availed of this service and paid the agreed price. Perhaps you would have been happier had the dentist wasted your time and his own in unnecessarily delaying you?

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

If you read my original posting again you will see that I was expecting that treatment, bearing in mind the price of it, was going to incur a lot more time and expertise by the dentist not because he was dragging his heels but because the treatment required it.

"Perhaps you would have been happier had the dentist wasted your time and his own in unnecessarily delaying you?"

Good constructive argument.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

still seems expensive. daughter got 4 wisdom teeth out last year. first visit to yer man was €100 the actual cost of the extractions ( in bons ,glasnevin was €600) and bupa covered €400 of this as she is only in the most basic plan I cound find for her.and she had a check up a few weeks later which as far as I recall was included in the above.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

Why should the dentist reduce his fee just because he is more efficient than you expected?

Although I know nothing about dentistry practice, I would not be surprised if increases in efficiency are achieved through investment in expensive technology. Maybe some of the dentists here can comment?

The level of his expertise is hardly dependent on the number of hours he spends with you?

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

ubiquitous for someone who knows nothing about dentistry you are still spot on. Endodontics is the speciality involved. Investment in technology is nothing short of phenomenal in the past ten years. It has revolutionised this treatment into a reliable procedure with very high success rate.

Assuming the dentist takes an hour for lunch he has just earned himself €7,500 and it's not even 5 o'clock yet.

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Oh if only!! Overhead in dental practice is well over 60% of production!

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

I had root canal last year and it cost me 450. The total cost for root canal and crown was 750. The endodontist was excellent but he did take over an hour and had all the latest computer equipment, so I imagine his overheads are just as high yet he charged less.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

JackTheKnife said:

Can any profession beat €1,000 an hour ?

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You should have gone to N. Ireland. The dentists there are just as qualified, but unlike some Dublin dentists they do not have an ever increasing portfolio of investment properties to fund.

To answer your question....I believe some auctioneers have beat € 1000 an hour on some properties they sold.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

The dentists there are just as qualified, but unlike some Dublin dentists they do not have an ever increasing portfolio of investment properties to fund.

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ah rabbit come on, are you trying to insinuate that the poor dentists are still paying the mortgages?
For pity's sake I thought it was the tenant that paid the mortgage!
At 750 per hour that Jack the knife thinks they are clearing they really should not have a mortgage on any property or am I missing something?
For your information 750/hour is not a typical hourly rate for a general dentist. Have relatives medical specialists who charge the earth but they are studying for 20 years plus so why the hell should they not charge what they are worth? I am expecting a line of replies saying go north etc but one really has to be careful as an american trained endodontist is a different animal to a general dentist doing nhs work and some private on the paddies. The guys up north can market their wares to hell where we cannot. I feel sorry for patients that go up north without knowing this. Dummer et al found 3% of root canals adequate on nhs. When they present to us they frequently have to be retreated at major expense. So moral of story is get to an endodontist or dentist with special interest in root canal for the more difficult cases either north or south. I could not care if patient goes north as long as they get good work done as due to the geographic distance we end up picking up the pieces which is a nightmare to deal with. For what it is worth I would go to the specialist with the large property portfolio etc as he must be successful and he must be good!

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

Got Root canal work done 2 years ago. Cost €500. Took 3 visits, as follows (1)first investigation during a check-up, (2)removal of all traces of root and a temporary filling, (3) permenant filling.

Practice was very modern, x-rays displayed on the p.c. etc etc. Was very happy to pay that. Thought €500 was quite cheap for the relief it gave me.

However never got it crowned or capped or whatever and now 1/4 of tooth has chipped away. That has been filled now(€38 plus PRSI) and appointment made to crown it.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

My brother start a root canal treatment last week.
The price is 650E with an extra 70E if he chooses a white crown.

He was down last week for about 45 mins for the checkup and to extract the root and put the temporary filling. He'll go back next week to get the permanent filling.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

This may be of help....
http://www.aae.org/patients/faqs/rootcanals.htm

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

Needed to get root canal treatment and a crown last year. My dentist quoted me €1200. I went to the Dental Hospital where a fantastic dental student did the same job for approx €450, although it did take longer.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

uncorked said:

Needed to get root canal treatment and a crown last year. My dentist quoted me €1200. I went to the Dental Hospital where a fantastic dental student did the same job for approx €450, although it did take longer.

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Well done uncorked - you have helped that dental student on her/his way to be able to charge the €1,200 or whatever the charge is when they qualify. I think if you are going to be used for training purposes it should be free. Aren't we all paying our taxes to fund places like the dental hospital.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

Maybe if enough of us went to Budapest the prices would come down. dont any of you suckers try & pawn off the cost of the equipment. At 7.5k a day you could kit out a factory.

Re: Is this a record for dentist fees ????

Maybe if enough of us went to Budapest the prices would come down.

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To be honest I am so busy I wish some would! From this thread I really should raise my fees to make life a bit easier for myself as I think I am too cheap!!