Root Canal Cost - Buyer Experiences and Price Information

I used to work for a dentist, so I understand the fees. First, these posts demonstrate that patients ARE paying for treatment, they just don't like spending on their teeth and would rather pay for vacations. Are they painfully shocked and falling down at vacation fees? Auto repair fees? No. Of course you pay at time of visit. You pay at a restaurant at time of visit, you pay for gas at time of visit to the gas pump, why must Dr. Bill you, and risk you sending in a paltry $5 a month while he knows you're going on vacation? Root canals:
simple- front tooth. Tricky- bicuspid( often 2 canals) hard: 1st molars (3 canals) nearly impossible: 2nd molars (3-4 canals, even 5 sometimes) on teeth 2,15,18,31. What you're paying for: supplies( rubber dam, medicines, expensive sealers), equipment( use of surgical microscope, precision 1 use instruments made of titanium, fully equipped dental suite) support staff( receptionist, assistants , and their benefits and training expenses) insurance( in case something goes wrong, or a fix it free provision for a follow up visit) doctor's continuing ed, insurance, years of precision experience and very expensive education so he can do the treatment, you pay part of the $5000-15000 a month rent and overhead of the office, including lost income when the office sits empty due to no shows or patients who hold off until it hurts then have it 'yanked', and because you demonstrate that you CAN pay that much by reporting it on websites, the market is there. Crowns cost what they do b/c similar reasons above, and the expensive metals they're made of. Sorry, but that's an honest breakdown of what you're paying for.

If it costs so much that it cuts into your vacation money, don't have it done, or have treatment across the border. And remember, treating teeth 2,15,18,31 or wisdom teeth should cost more, they're the hardest to treat, access, have more nerve canals & poorer prognosis for sucess. Don't blame dr for this!

had root canal done 5 years ago after getting post/cap done went back to dr.rogers office complaining 2 different times that something is wrong she insisted she couln't see any thing on films well suffered 5 years went to gentle dentle spent several 1000.00S on other teeth and cleanings b4 they would even look at the problem tooth i got really fed up and they finally worked on root canal tooth that was bothering me f/yrs well dentist took cap.crown and tried cleaning cost was 1600.00 and still not resolved she said i need to see specialist and recommened dr rogers and also said it wasnt done properly neither was crown cause it was digging into top of gums i told dentist she should call dr rogers and tell her what she said to me but why would she when she referred me to dr who didnt do correct anyway well they refered me to another specialist another 1600.00 to redo rt canal well its been about a year i never put post/crown in cause it still wasnt feeling right and i have pain still my insurance f/dental is horrible it just makes me wonder gentle dental and other dentist i have seen are they honest w/patients !!!! because now i have to go back and pay out of my pocket w/whatever it may be now !!!!! frustrated i should of just pulled the tooth due to this i have 2 other rt canals that still need post and caps !!!! thas prob another 5000.00 or more

My 12 year old had a root canal. He billed 1177.oo to insurance which was major so not covered till 1 year with insurance, 2 Fillings he billed 292.00 for one 990.00 for the other. again insurance said major. So for 3 teeth on a 12 year old 2500 dollars. Seems mighty steep.

My wife root canal three visits, everything cost us 650$ (no insurance), without crown. I had also root canal in 2007 and paid 550$. Fair prices.

A root canal typicaly costs around $800-$900 and needs to be capped for another $350-$450+. I had a filling done for $180 in October, but the cavity was so deep that I needed additional care when the root was "acting up". I was charged $885 for the root canal yesterday. I have OK insurance which cut the cost 40%. I will pay for the cap as well. These are the costs of not taking care of your teeth.

Dentists do not have it so well. Sure they make money, but I would not want to deal with nasty mouths and sometimes nasty people. Nuff said friends...

after a previous dentist ruined my tooth by drilling into the nerve during a filling i was in severe pain for 4 months. Found a new dentist willing to give me a root canal at the cost of $800 but when i told him i don't have that kind of money he offered to do it for free. My insurance did pay $300 of it ... I think he felt sorry for me but i took the offer and i am pain free and forever grateful to this amazing dentist!

Went to dentist for pain. Took 1 xray, said I needed root canal $159..referred me to Endodontist. Needed root canal, painless except for jaw super sore...$1075.00. Now I am told I need to go back to my dentist for a permanent filling. Is this normal?....so far $1,234 out of pocket without going for the filling...UGGGGG!!! NO INSURANCE!!

This was done on a tooth the dentist had redone a filling on so add $163.00 onto the above.

The crown & post - add another $1,152.00.
If I'm lucky my new insurance will pick up 60% for the root canal, post and crown.

Ipaid today 340 for a root canal. I do not use to spend tht amount but the dentist told me that I had an infection. I was really on pain. So I decided to pay. I feel better now and have to wait until oct 14 to get my crown and have to pay 270. Well I find everything expensive but at least I hope to get better. They treat me well. Is just that medicine cost in those days is so high. My husband was really mad with me. He does not understand that I had to do it. I think overall cost was about 3,000. My husband was surprise that only one tooth take so many money and I still need 3 fillings in other teeth.

A root canal already done on this tooth years ago. Never experienced any pain. It was simply a missing tooth in back with no crown. Dentist said root canal therapy was needed and charged $552. What is an indication that RC "therapy" is needed? Was this necessary and is cost appropriate?

I was told I had a $50 Delta Dental Insurance co=pay, plus 10%. SInce I was charged $100 over the co=pay, the root canal alone was $1,000. No crown or post. I found this very high, but I think I got excellent care.

the whole root canal will be 2600 with about 800 covered by my insurence or I can get the tooth pulled for only $33. I dont know what to do, if i get it pulled I will only have 2 upper chewing teeth on the left side of my mouth and im only 28

For 14 months I have been in pain with the same tooth. 6/08 cracked molar after eating granola bar. Dr Mingle & Rankin in Denver placed two different crowns on same tooth. Moved to the D.C.area in 11/08....still had pain and by 05/09 tooth became infected and had to see Dr. Weiner in Laural, MD for emergency relief. Root canal accomplished by Dr Skane. 3 weeks later, Dr Weiner removed crown completely and had relief. In 08/09 had more pain so Dr Skane retreated same tooth with 2nd root canal (no charge). It's now 09/09 and I am still in pain. Next step is to extract it....save yourself money and time and have the darn tooth removed. Total out of pocket thus far = $1212. Now I will have to pay to have it extracted.

THE ACTUAL PRICE $2,820.00 FOR ROOT CANAL THREE CANA, CAST POST & CORE,PORCEFUSED TO HIGH NOBL, AN RESINCOMP-3 SURFACE I HAVE NOT YET GOT THIS DONE B/C I WANT TO KNOW IF THIS IS A REASONABLE PRICE??

I got 2 teeth done at the same time. When the dentist advises you to get the root canal done even though it hasn't started hurting yet, DO IT! The procedure will actually hurt less than doing it when the tooth is already irritated. The total cost for 2 molars was $2400 and an additional $2600 for the crowns.

got a crown over an old tooth with cavity history two years ago and recently experienced sensitivity and discomfort. Friday 8/14 late afternoon got an emergency dental appt. to guage the pain from this tooth. Dentist was able to get me in to endodontist. After x-rays she quoted me $1350 - I could not very well get up and leave to shop around! I told her roots canals sure have gotten expensive and I never pay retail so what is my real price! At which there was surprised laughter. I accepted under the circumstances not knowing how much my Cigna insurance is going to pay. She drilled through the crown, cleaned out the molars roots, filled the hole and I am back in 7 days to complete the job.

I had tooth pain...so i went to dentist. I wasnt sure if it was the top or the bottom, but he did the pulpotomy on the bottom, and referred me to the endodontist. I went to endodontist, he completed the root canal. $1300 for root canal, plus another $180 for pulpotomy. Now another couple hundred for the buildup before they can do the crown.

I was still in pain after the 1st root canal, so they put me on antibiotics. After 5 days, I couldn't take it, and they ended up doing another root canal on the top. So another $1300, and another $200 for buildup before the crown.

My Delta Dental PPO only covers 50% after I pay $250. They don't cover the pulotomy in addition to the root canal, and their max is $2500.

So I'm stuck with a big bill.

Root canal was done by board certified endodontist Dr. Clark Martin for $1,895.00. My regugar dentist Dr. Holstein did a gold crown for $795.00-same price for other material. I was shocked by the cost, but I am happy with the result. I didn't have any insurance. They were all cash payment.

My insurance covers root canals and crowns--after a small deduct. of $25. They pay 90% if I use a dentist in the PPO group. I went to a dentist in the group. The cost of JUST the root canal=$1800. The cost of the crown afterwards was $700.00. total cost was $2500. Out of pocket= root canal itself=$300.00. Then I had to pay $735.00 for the crown. Thats of total of 1035.00 from my own pocket.
Now, being that the root canal only cost me $300.00. I could have waited until the next calendar year and the crown would have just been $200 out of pocket. (But a temp filling can crack as a root canal is real brittle. SO without a crown for a while, you would have to be very careful with your tooth.)

What a thief. It took 20 minutes for the root canal and he charged me $1200, I was so stupid that I fell for it because they told me that the insurance will cover it. They made me sign a paper accepting financial responsibility for whatever the insurance didn't pay and now I am stock with the bill. I took the matter to the BBB and although I will pay, because I signed the form that is like a blank cheque, the case will be filed as not resolved and will stay as a black mark for the thieves for three years. Conclusion, do not believe what the "Health Care"?? provider tell you and don't sign a blank form, ever ... they are very sweet and nice until they get your blood ... it is worst than a common thief, so they can go on working 4 or 3 days cushiony jobs and recking a lot of undeserved money. In my quest for fairness, I found that the Dental Association is partial for their members, the dentists and the dental board doesn't want to deal with money issues, only obvious quality disasters. So the best way is to prevent by thinking that every dentist is a ### &&& !!! until proven otherwise. After seen about ten dentist in a few years, I conclude that Mexican dentistry is not of any lesser quality than the USA, of course choose a good dentist, the materials are the same, the dentist are well trained and they treat you like a king, it is specially worthed if you have a lot of dental work to do because they charge you less 50 to 30% or less than what they rip you off in CA; what a shame!

i already had an extraction from this same dentist $120. i think his prices are fair. and this is a very welcoming and clean place.

I feel that I've made a wrong career choice not going into dental school and instead medical school. For MDs, medicare/medicaid pay 30 cents on a dollar billed. Insurance pays a little more. That is the reason why there are not a lot of primary care doctors available presently and also our near future. More than 60% of the new gradutated doctors go into specialty most likely because of the above reason. My dentist charge total was $3800 and I have to pay $2000 with dental insurance. I still don't understand why it is so expensive. I am sure I am not the only one patient paying that much. And I don't know how others whom trying to make ends meet to pay for this kind of price. How are we going to fix medical care system with out fixing dental care as well? For me, I may go back to dental school so I would provide reasonable cost to patients both dental and medical as well. By the way, I heard most of the dentist in Little Saigon would charge patients minimal to nothing if they have insurance and negrotiate with them. May be that is another option for me to move to CA.

After an unpleasant and costly visit to a local dentist, I decided to finally listen to my mother (lesson #1) and call the closest dental school where my brother has been treating, Loma Linda. Because my tooth was diagnosed as abscessed, I was able to get an urgent care appointment. I went yesterday for the first time and am kicking myself for not having gone months ago (lesson #2). I've had horrible dental experiences in the past and have a debilitating fear of needles. For an extra $33, I was given nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and highly recommend it for anyone fearing dental procedures. I was initially scared to have a student working on me, but that fear went away immediately when I realized the supervising dentist was always within earshot and often checked the student's work. She wasn't the rookie I feared, but rather a very knowledgeable third year student. Despite loud remodeling work going on in the room, I was surprisingly relaxed even before being administered the laughing gas. They are excellent in putting a frightened person at ease. Each step during my visit was discussed with me, including the price of each procedure. I don't remember all the prices, but one x-ray was $19. I couldn't believe how communicative they were with me, as well as gentle and caring. I have 3 more visits to complete the root canal, which includes implanting a post in the tooth and the crown. My cost, since I have no insurance, will be approximately $1,000 (including the crown!) when I'm done, but because I pay for each procedure as it's completed, the price is spread out with each visit which makes it so much easier than coming up with the total at once. To become a regular patient, the waiting list is currently 5-6 mos. If one has a dental emergency, however, they are able to see a patient through their urgent care dept. I'm on the waiting list for regular dentistry and am looking forward to resolving the rest of my dental issues. Never thought I'd ever say that!

I wanted one root canal, however the dental office told me that I could have two root canals since I was there and that for sure the insurance would pay for it, I based my decision in that information and went along with them. My copay was $150 that I paid right after the two root canals were done. Now the dental office is sending me a fat bill telling me that this was only an estimate. I feel that this was bait and switch, which is highly illegal ... Bait because they told me that the insurance will pay switch because now they are saying it was just an estimate. I think that there are so many different ways that the patient is scammed by dental office, all based in greed and more greed. In Mexico there are many dental offices that are have very high standard of hygiene, dentist trained in USA, good care, and they charge less than 1/3 of what many dental offices are charging in CA, of course you have to choose the right office, but even in the USA there are many States that charge much less than CA for dental care. Ask questions before having your dental work, don't trust "niceties", you could run in masters of deceptions, just to get you in the trap of scam you to the bone, overload your credit cards and brake you too if they can.

I was worried I was being billed too much until I read the prices posted here. My insurance paid $1000, which is my max for the year. The doctor's office even adjusted my cleaning charges to reflect their current "special" so I would have less out of pocket expense on the root canal.

Will be getting this done (my first root canal) next week. No insurance.

Due to the pain, I'm actually looking forward to getting this done - or at least the final result of feeling nothing. Was already in the process of getting a crown, and had the temp crown on, when it was determined I'd needed a root canal on this tooth. So, the crown part is an additional $1100 - also out of pocket since I don't have dental insurance. $2,410 total. I waited two years before getting the crown 'cause of the cost, and as a result of not taking action sooner, I need the root canal too. Lesson: Don't wait!

I am on my way to the dentist to get my 3rd root canal and crown within the last 3weeks. I am broke b/c of this!

My insurance is maxed out after the first one. I had to pay 2200 out of pocket with now insurance for the root canal and crown.

Not bad for a dentist!

What can I say. I had not been to a DDS for over 15 years. I cracked a molar and it became infected and I was experiencing agonizing pain. The Dentist was on vacation so I went to his back-up and he gave me a temporary filling ($155 - $80 out of Pocket). When my dentist came back, he recommended a specialist. The specialist (endodontist) needed to "consult" and then make an additional appointment a month later for the root canal. ( $1870 - $870 out of pocket). I just had the crown anchored a few days ago and now I still have a bill of $1529 and no more coverage so it is all mine. Why did this require (6) separate visits? Perhaps I should be sending someone a bill.

Very expensive for a root canal these days. However, less painful!

I went to him in pain as a referral from my
dentist. He did have special equpiment for root canal surgery. I needed it done that day, as I
could not sleep due to the pain.
He and an assistant worked on me for two hours.
It was successful, but I think they charged too much. What can you do when you are in pain?
They take advantage of you.