“An out ounce of Prevention is worth a pound of cure”, has been quoted so many times, that it is to the point where it hurts every time I hear it. What hurts more is setting in a dentist chair with the dentist sticking that big needle in my gum.
Whenever one of my teeth that starts hurting, I head to the dental care section at Walgreen’s, Wal Mart or whatever store that happens to be handy. I quickly start looking for product that will will fix my bad tooth so I do not have to the dentist.
I can tell you from experience that is usually when it is to late. You better off to get in that dentist chair. Suffer through the pain if the needle and drill. Then pay the dentist for his skill and materials he used to fix you aching tooth.
In 2010, the cost of filling a cavity can run form $100 to $300, depending on where it is at and how big it is. Then there is what type of filling is needed. Now if you need to put a crown or cap on that tooth it can run in upwards of $3,000. I have forgot to mention the cost of x-rays and the office visit itself starts a basic filling at over $200.
A 2 pak of 6 ounce Arm & Hammer Complete Care Extra Whitening Fresh Mint W/Baking Soda & Peroxide Toothpaste costs $5.74 at Wal Mart. One Oral B Professional Care SmartSeries 1000 Toothbrush cost $64.99. Both should last for more than 1 year brushing 3x a day. (Who in our society brushes their teeth 3x a day?) Oh yes, a 2 pack of Reach Mint Flavor Waxed Dental Floss is sold for $4.00. That is 200 yards of dental floss. That works out to excellent dental health care of $74.73 per year.
A basic cleaning and exam at a dentist office runs around $100. That is with no extra like x rays, or special treatments.
Bottom-line: Good dental hygiene with a visit to the dentist once a year will cost you under $200. Poor dental hygiene and a visit to the dentist for a toothache starts at $200.
I want to also mention that most every health insurance plan that has dental gives you preventive stuff like cleaning without having to put money out for co-pay. If you do not have dental insurance, I know of several dental schools that offer free teeth cleaning.
You see the numbers even back up the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure”.
