Expensive dental treatment - what should I do?

[lizzeena]

I'd really appreciate some money-saving advice on my tooth problem:

I've had problems with my front teeth for ages. My right front tooth was root canalled years ago after I chipped it (...no idea how! but it sticks forward a bit so I suppose its vulnerable). After that it went a funny colour and I had it bleached from the inside over a few months which made it a lot better but still a bit discoloured.

The last time I went to the dentist, I had treatment for a crown on a different tooth after biting an olive stone (ouch!) While I was there the dentist asked if I was happy with my front teeth - which I'm not because of the sticky-out-ness and the slight cross-over and discoloration of the root-canalled tooth, which also a bigger tooth than the one next to it. (Blimey... you must be imagining a MONSTER right now!)

The dentist told me that the tooth next to the root canalled one (my other tooth at the very front) had a degraded surface and that he suggested putting a veneer on it and capping the root-canalled one, making both of them the same size and straight.

This is going to cost about £800, but I'm also wondering whether the dentist would suggest whitening if I was going to do it... it doesn't seem worth matching a crown and veneer to off-colour teeth. I'm not sure how much that would cost, I'm guessing a few hundred.

I was deciding what to do as I'm a PhD student at the moment living on a scholarship, with debts I ran-up while I was struggling with a freelance career. The dentist suggested that I could join his interest-free repayment scheme, but I'm not even sure I'd qualify for that. Then my mum said that she had a savings scheme about to mature and she was going to give me & my brother £1000 each (AMAZING! I've never had a windfall like this before!)

Anyway, the whole thing was complicated when I was eating a nectarine (a soft fruit!?) and part of the surface of my root-canalled tooth fell off! Its a strip down the front of the tooth in the middle. This has made me think that something needs to be done quite quickly. However, I'm also worried about the upkeep on this work. What would happen if the crown dropped off? I'd have no tooth!

I'm keen to look after my teeth and do what's best for them. I'm 28 so I'm going to need them for quite a long time, hopefully! So do I:

1. Spend the £1000 on having my teeth done and not on paying off my debt?

2. See if the dentist can patch up my tooth with a filling and get it done in 15 months when I am no longer a student and have a PhD which I'm hoping will lead to better opportunities for work?

3. Pay off some of the debt I'm paying interest on with £1000 and join the dentist's interest-free scheme (if possible)?

4. Do nothing and just put up with my dodgy tooth until I can afford it? ( I would need to make sure its just cosmetic and that the chipped strip isn't vulnerable to decay or further problems)

Thanks Money Savers!

[Toothsmith]

From the purely dental point of view - I think you need a bit more information before you can make your decision.

You need to know how urgent getting the broken tooth fixed is, and what options you have.

If you are fixing teeth that are next to each other with something that a technician makes (Crowns veneers etc) then it's quite important that the same technician makes the things at the same time. As if it's made at a different time, probably by a different person, the teeth are never going to look exactly the same in all light conditions.

So - if the only way to fix the broken tooth is with a crown, then it might be as well to go for it now, and get the veneer done as well.

It could also be that something could be done to repair the tooth in a way that would keep it stable for a year or two, giving you the chance to get yourself into a better financial position first.

As for the loans/interest free/ mother's gift options - that's more pure MSE stuff, and there are others round here more qualified than me to give advice there!