I remember leaving the office after my root canal and just staring at the estimate for the crown like, “Wait, is this for real?”
Seriously, that’s exactly how I felt too. The sticker shock from the crown hit me harder than the actual root canal. I thought the root canal would be the big expense, but nope—turns out the crown was even pricier with my plan. Did anyone else have their insurance cover more of one than the other? For me, it was almost a toss-up, but crowns edged out as more expensive in the end.
We just went through this with my daughter, and honestly, I was surprised too. The root canal was expensive, but the crown estimate made my jaw drop. Our insurance covered a bit more for the root canal, but barely. I actually asked the office if there was a mistake on the crown price—it just seemed so high for a tiny tooth! I guess it depends on the plan, but in our case, crowns definitely cost more out of pocket.
That’s exactly what happened to us, too. I couldn’t believe the crown was so much more—especially since it’s for a baby tooth that’ll fall out anyway. I double-checked with insurance, but nope, they barely covered it. Makes me nervous for future dental stuff honestly.
We ran into the same thing last year when my kid needed a crown on a molar. First, I thought a filling would do, but the dentist said it’d fall out too easily on a baby tooth. I checked with insurance—barely anything covered, just like you said. Here’s what I learned: crowns seem to cost more up front, but root canals (if you ever end up there) are usually pricier overall because you still need the crown after. For baby teeth, it feels like overkill, but apparently it keeps the space open for adult teeth. Still, I wish there were better options or at least more coverage. The unpredictability is what gets me...
I checked with insurance—barely anything covered, just like you said.
That unpredictability is the worst part. We had a similar debate—felt strange to put a crown on a tooth that's just going to fall out eventually, but like you said, it's about keeping space for the adult teeth. Insurance barely helped us either. I kept thinking, "Is this really necessary?" but every dentist said the same thing. You're not alone in wishing there were better, more affordable options.
