Somehow I managed to chip off about a 1/3 of the tooth next to my front teeth. I have no idea what happened. I was eating popcorn, felt something hard, assumed it was a seed, and swallowed it. Only a few minutes later did I feel that my tooth was jagged and kind of hurt.
I called my dentist and they are able to see me at 4:30 today to repair it. Does anyone know what the process is? Also, they said they were going to charge me $175 for an emergency appointment. The emergency payment is not covered by insurance. It's just to cover being seen so soon. This seems shady and annoys me. Is this normal practice?
Post by msamyfarrahfowler on Sept 26, 2012 14:45:53 GMT -5
I had this done to my front tooth after I bit into a peach and accidently chipped my tooth on the pit. It's a bonding procedure. I paid about $50 out of pocket and insurance covered the rest. It's a very easy, painless procedure that took about 45 minutes. My dentist shaved my tooth a bit, applied the bonding material, then shaped the material to look like my old tooth. He also made sure that the bonding material was the exact color of my other teeth.
If this is your regular dentist, I'd ask them to waive the fee as a one-time courtesy.
I fell a few months ago and chipped three of my teeth. My dentist used material (I think it was something similar to what he uses for erosions) on my teeth to reconstruct them. I think it's crazy that they want to charge you $175 for an emergency appointment!
I have no great advice, because my tooth-chipping experience happened while I was covered by my parents' insurance (and checkbook), so I didn't deal with the payment. Also, for the record, the culprit in my case was a candy cane. Not even worth the trouble.
The process is pretty simple. I couldn't remember the word (bonding), but the other ladies here had that covered. I did have trouble with mine breaking repeatedly, because I grind my teeth. If you have a history of that, I'd discuss with the dentist so as to avoid multiple rounds of this fun.
And I don't get the extra fee. They either have time for you or they don't. I agree with the PP who suggested requesting that they waive the fee. If you have any kind of relationship with them, I think there's a good chance they'll at least reduce it.
Post by MixedBerryJam on Sept 26, 2012 15:22:51 GMT -5
If you waited until tomorrow would there be an emergency fee? If not, I'd wait. I broke a front tooth in much the same way right before I was scheduled to return to work after being home 10 years with the kids, and I was a bit miffed the dentist couldn't see me for a month (it was a front tooth, after all, and I thought they should have been more sensitive about that). But like pp said, they just added material to the tooth to build it up and shaped and sculpted it to match the rest of my teeth. 6 years later it is still indistiguishable. In fact, I saw an xray at the dentist's office once and thought they had the wrong patient, because I totally forgot it was there. It was just charged and covered by insurance as a filling.
I did not like walking around with a snaggletooth for a month, and thinking about it still peeves me off at the scheduler. But I would not have paid $175 for an emergency visit, either.
My front 4 teeth were reconstructed for cosmetic reasons when I was a teen, the front 2 were orange (stained from a medication I was given when I was a baby), I had no secondary incisors, so they moved my canines over and filed them down/changed the shape to look normal. The process is called bonding, after a few days of "wow my teeth feel weeeird" you'll be used to it. They are as hard and durable as normal teeth, in that you can fearlessly bite into an apple or corn on the cob.
The bonding lasts 10+ years, on average. I had one small peice flake off after about a year, then a larger piece fell off after about 5 years and I had it re-done. A lot of it was covered by insurance when I had that fixed as an adult, I think I paid about $50 out of pocket when all was said and done.
The 175 seems... weird. Does it get applied to your bill?
I got them to reduce it to $75. I'm here right now and so annoyed. I swear they're totally ripping me off but I want to get it fixed since I look ridiculous.
I chipped my front tooth twice! First time was a tortilla chip of all things, got it bonded as other ladies have explained. 4 months later, the bond came off from biting into a Snickers bar. Got it re-bonded, and that has held for about 4 years now. There's not much tooth left after they shaved it twice. I got a quote for a replacement tooth/cap/whatever and it was like eleventy billion dollars.
I live in constant fear that my front tooth is going to fall off. I've super paranoid that I've ruined my tooth karma just from typing this out!
The additional charge for an emergency appointment is something new to me. Could it be because it is an after hours appointment time - so extra pay for emplolyees etc.
I chipped my front tooth and had it bonded. The bond seriously came off less than a year later. I never got it fixed because I am deathly afraid of the dentist. I think I had to pay $40.
Since you are currently there, I won't share my actual fixing experience, but I wanted to share this other bit.
I chip my teeth all the effing time because of my grinding, despite my wearing a nightguard. My dentist is a god (and looks like one), and he gets me in immediately, weekends, evenings, whenever. No extra fees.
My last chip was in May. Noticed on the way to school. I had his kid in class, but I went to find him in homeroom. I said to him, "what time does your dad's office open?" Kid tells me that it isn't open on Fridays, what's up. I just said, oh, no problem, I just chipped my tooth (mine are never painful, just annoying as hell), thanks anyway.
Kid comes in to my room at the end of the period, "Mrs. X, I texted my dad. He'll meet you in the office whenever you want. Just tell me a time and I'll text him back."
Post by ohgillian on Sept 27, 2012 12:29:15 GMT -5
Random fact: The bonding on your tooth will glow in blacklight. The rest of your teeth won't. People will point this out to you if you're in that situation.
I got them to reduce it to $75. I'm here right now and so annoyed. I swear they're totally ripping me off but I want to get it fixed since I look ridiculous.
Time for a new dentist after this! Or, threaten that now and tell them your Internet friends say this fee is ridiculous and no one else charges it.