Symptoms: I first felt a little sinus pressure. Then a few days later some chills with slight pain around the cheek and jaw. Then pain in the teeth area while eating. aspirin helped. Then swelling around the lower jaw. Came and went. Then lymph node (below jaw at neck) swelling. Then "pimples" on the gums around the tooth. Then they burst and gray sludge oozed out. At that point (I was away when this happened) I was home and had to decide between dentist and doctor. I chose dentist. Total time was under two weeks.
Evaluation 1: I went to the last dentist I had a cleaning with (Dentists of Sanford). He was gone. A new guy (Jimmy Huynh) was in his place. They let me have the new patient rate of $59. He didn't mention a crack. Kind of acknowledged the abcess on the xray after I suggested it (did some internet research before). Suggested a $1200+ cleaning and gave me a prescription for Amoxycillin and suggested I may want to see an Endodontist. At least that helped. Free at Publix. That was a bad diagnosis.
Evaluation 2: Approx two weeks later (it was the holidays), I called on Alexsandra Shaykova at Baytree Family Dentists based on a flyer I had collected and the $1 Emergency Rate she offered. Plus she claimed to be able to most dental work and had a slot. She diagnosed a crack and suggested yanking the tooth and replacing it for $5137 in six steps over six months. That floored me.
Evaluation 3: The next day I tried Jessica Du at Smile Design Dentistry. Her teaser rate was $29. She confirmed the crack and said it was beyond her ability (although the flyer claimed she could do this type of work) and I should see an endodontist for a CT scan to be sure that it should be yanked. She recommended one. Her prices (spoiler alert - I come back here) went from $1421 to $1204 to $1087 for a crown. Not sure why. I guess keep asking.
Evaluation 4: I went to Mark Goldberg of Mid Florida Endodontics (another two weeks because of holiday #2) for the scan. It cost $250 ($150 eval and $100 scan). He said crack was too close to gum line and he wouldn't do a root canal. Yank it. Would not recommend anybody. Said not time sensitive if it didn't hurt. It didn't.
Evaluation 5: Did some eval of endodontists and periodontists. Most wouldn't do the whole job or didn't have appts for two months. Crazy. Found one who would and had openings. Kevin Bonn. I paid him $82 and he said I should he thought it could be saved. Sent me too a colleague that day. I should add that he wanted to take a new ct scan for $400ish. Extraction part of replacement would have been $407. Crown $1808. It was hard to pin them down on pricing. That and his refusal to do the crown until I did weeks of some jaw alignment therapy (while not telling me until I stopped by for another issue) made me move on. They also quoted me these prices: CT $406, Extraction $150-$350, Graft $475. Wouldn't quote implant. Total for replaced tooth $3 to $5k.
Evaluation 6: Travis Cassie at Lake Mary Endodontics said he could save it. Would have charged $250 for CT unless I brought my own (get a copy when you get one done). His initial eval was $185. He did the root canal two weeks later (because we were trying to line up schedules with Bonn) for $1330. It didn't hurt much. They put in a soft cap. You need to replace it within a month. Would have been $695 if aborted.
Evaluation 7: Not really an eval. Went back to Jessica Du. Another week or so. See drilled out what Cassie filled in (don't ask me why) and ground some things down and made a mold. Two week later she put the crown from the lab on. Once again that part was $160 for the crown build up and $927 for the crown.
Synopsis: This has been a nightmare. My teeth have shifted. My bite is off. It cost so much more than I expected. And I got off light. It took forever. And I didn't just accept the first offers/advice. Replacing seemed like a nightmare and I didn't want some idiot drilling into my jaw bone. The tooth still may not last. No one in my social circle knew anything about this or could make any good recommendations. That's why I'm posting this. I never have dental issues. Yet, this can happen to any of us. And it sucks.
*Here is an addendum that of docs for didn't make the final cut. I tried to evaluate colleges and work experience. It's hard to find Ivy league level training around here. Just tried to get someone NOT from a school like Nova:
D Whitman of Orlando Oral & Facial Surgery - Wouldn't do fake tooth part if replaced.
Ed Kennedy of Kennedy Periodontics - Had no appts for months. A consult would have been $150, CT $350, Extraction $325, Graft $475, Blood something $175, Implant $2275 plus $100.
Tim Tiralosi - No appts for too long. $5500 for tooth replacement.
Oreth - $150 exam, $375 extraction, $1000 PTF membrane graft, $2600 implant, $1500 crown.
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