the Price of Pediatric Tooth Extraction

Before my son even started school he needed to get a baby tooth pulled because it was infected. I brought him to a pediatric dentist because he was complaining his tooth, one of the back upper chewing teeth, was hurting. The pediatric dentist said that cavities like this were a bad sign for a child this young, and he advised us that my son needed to take better care of his teeth, and I, as the parent, needed to make certain he did this. The dentist said the tooth really needed a root canal, but that didn't make sense to me since it was a baby tooth. I asked the dentist to please just pull the tooth out. They scheduled another visit for this. The price of $140.00 included the initial visit with x-rays and the follow-up visit where the tooth was pulled. The price did not include antibiotics which had to be taken before the tooth could be extracted since there was some infection, and a mild pain killer for after the extraction.

I was fairly satisfied with the actual extraction procedure. I did not watch it being done but I did come in to the room with my son before and as the procedure was finished. He was not very happy about it! Afterward he told me it hurt when the tooth was pulled out, so I wonder if he got enough novocaine. But my son didn't have any problems with the extraction later, and it healed up quickly. He didn't miss the tooth either. The dentist did make me feel guilty about the condition of my son's teeth, but I know how important brushing and flossing is.

My biggest tip would be to practice preventative dental care, and do bring your children to the dentist even before they are school age. Let your child know that the dentist won't hurt him (too much), and give your child a treat like frozen yogurt afterward. In my opinion, don't let the pediatric dentist talk you into an expensive procedure to save a baby tooth that is soon going to fall out anyway. If you have dental insurance this procedure will probably be completely covered, whereas a root canal might not be.