I went to the dentist today, and they started work on a crown.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

23. My boyfriend recently received a call for the same thing.

I go every 4 months because I get a lot of build-up and I don't floss as often as I should.

The boyfriend flosses less than me and never has build-up. He doesn't schedule the next appointment while in the office so he is less than regular.

Anyway, got a call saying he needs to schedule a check-up/cleaning.

Probably related - On the last visit, the Dentist showed me his new crown machine that makes crowns in the office while you wait. He told me the gadget cost him "as much as a house".

I probably need a crown because the tooth in question is mostly filling at this point and a small chunk of the filling fell out a week after the last visit...

But here's the thing. The crown he did for me 5 years ago cost me, IIRC, less than $400 on my end. The pre-authorization came back for this one close to $1000. My income isn't 250% what it was 5 years ago.

I really want him to replace the filling which is what I did for several years before I relented on the last tooth/crown.

I can't help but feel like I am going to help pay off that fancy CNC router machine.

Not to mention the last crown entailed 17 trips to the office. Including the trip to the endodontist for a root canal AFTER the first crown was installed. Apparently all the "adjustments" damaged the nerve so we had to do the root canal and start OVER. Why we didn't start with the canal is beyond me.

I almost feel like I should price shop this guy but I really don't want to switch Drs.

I can excuse the 17 trips and do-over for the last crown because it was, as I understand, a tough tooth to do (back molar). As it stands, I still have a black spot on the crown from him having grind the tooth to get it to fit - didn't want to go for a third try.

But a 250% increase??? WTF.