Relief for Katrina’s Dental Pain & Unexpected Procedure Cost

My name is Katrina Koly, on 5/28/2025 I went to a local dentist office for the first time in about 5 years. The last time I had stepped foot in a dental office was when I was pregnant with my now 4-year-old son, and it was unfortunately a tough experience.

I knew going in that I would have some cavities, and was up front with the staff about my lapse in dental care for that period and with my potential discomfort. The staff assured me they understood, would be gentle, etc.

That day, I got my teeth cleaned, an X-ray, and flouride treatment. They informed me that I had 7 cavities that needed to be filled, and booked me the following Monday (6/2/2025) to have all of the cavities filled at once. I signed the paperwork, set the appointment, and agreed to my cost outside of insurance, which was several hundred dollars.

On 6/2/2025 I arrive, the doctor confirms I’m good to get all the fillings done at once. I ask them if we should split it or if it’s okay to do all at once, and they said if I was comfortable with getting it done in one session, they could. So that is what we did. They advised of your standard discomfort and sensitivity after the procedure, gave me sensodyne toothpaste to use, etc.

Several days go by and I am an excruciating pain in my top left molar, my last tooth all the way in the back. It was to the point where I was using hot washcloths, oragel, and much more over the counter pain relievers than I should have needed. One night I even woke up at 3am and called an emergency dental line to see if there was anywhere I could go asap, but it was approaching the weekend and so late at night that it was open.

I reached back out to the dentist who did my filling, they got back to me the Monday of the following week (6/9/2025) and have me come in that same day. They tell me that the original filling cracked and they “must not have gotten all the moisture out when they were doing the initial filling”. They could not fit me in that day, I had to come back the following day to have it fixed, no pain relief was offered or given to me so I was still using OTC to maintain.

On 6/10/2025 I arrive for my appointment, the dentist who originally was in charge of my cleaning and previous filling appointment came in, and the very first thing he said was “See, this is why I don’t like doing multiple fillings at once, because then something like this happens.” He was also in a poor mood and generally rough with me when giving me local anthestic, so that made me feel uncomfortable, but I figured if they were fixing this I would just ignore it. His mood was noticeable enough that the dental assistant who did the replacement filling said “another patient called him ‘Dr. pissy pants’ today because he’s in such a bad mood“. I confided in them that I was very uncomfortable with the interaction I had with the doctor when he came in and said their scheduling staff set me up for all those fillings in one day, he agreed to do it. He’s the expert and I will defer to him but he never told me it would be better to split them up. She was quick to place blame on the scheduling team and say “they should know better than to schedule so many fillings at once”, so communication is definitely lacking. They finished my filling, the office manager walked me out and confirmed I would not be charged anything for the procedure that day. They didn’t have me sign any paperwork or anything of that nature to absolve them of their error, etc.

Fast forward to 7/25/2025, the day before my birthday. Since the second filling was completed I did have some intermittent pain in the tooth and general sensitivity with it, I still couldn’t have anything hot or cold touch the tooth, but I thought it was normal because of how large the filling was and the two procedures in 8 days on it.

That evening, the pain started to come back that I experienced when the filling first cracked. It was not as severe so I took 2 Tylenol and decided to go to sleep and monitor it. Woke up on the morning of 7/26/2025 (my birthday) with some minor pain but it didn’t seem as bad as the night before. I took an additional 2 Tylenol and went on with my day. By noon, the pain was worsening and I took another 2 Tylenol. It did absolutely nothing and the pain started radiating and I could basically feel my tooth throbbing. The dentist who did the procedure is closed on the weekends, I called an emergency dentist and was able to make an appointment for that evening, which was about an hour drive each way.

I arrive, pay the out-of-pocket, non-insurance-reimbursable exam charge of $165. They X-ray me and do an exam, I explain the previous situation leading up to tonight, and then they show me my X-rays. When the dentist did the replacement filling, they went too deep and the filling was making contact with my nerve. I had noticed I couldn’t really bite down well on that side, even if attempting to chew meat like pork, chicken, etc. and that it would trigger some pain here and there. I had stayed away from hard, sticky candy and foods, was flossing, using sensodyne as directed, etc., and just figured this was part of the recovery process. Remember, I hadn’t been to a dentist in years and never had a filling this deep be done, so I assumed it was all normal.

Additionally, they advised that when the filling was completed there was a sharp edge, a “step” on the side of the filling that went up against the tooth that was in front of it. They informed me that edge should have been rounded to match the rest of my teeth, and that because it was such a sharp, acute angle, it was causing additional irritation if food came up there and was not completed properly.

I had 2 choices; I could spend $500 to get that tooth pulled, or I could spend over $4,500 to get a root canal, filling, and crown completed. I broke down, I didn’t want to lose the tooth because it was my back molar and because I don’t have my wisdom teeth. Taking that out would ruin my chance of chewing on that side, throw my jaw off, etc.

I broke down because there is no way in hell I could afford this payment, we had already used or emergency funds earlier this year when our plumbing and hot water heater needing replacing, so we didn’t have those funds set aside. They worked with me, I was approved for about $3300 total in care credit and split payments, but I was still short. They told me they would do the root canal and filling to get me out of pain, but just not the crown, since they require all payment up front, and that I needed to get into a dentist asap.

A crown will cost at minimum, another $1000 and I don’t know if my insurance will cover some of any of it. They completed the procedure, I signed all the paperwork and agreements for the payments, and that was it. They advised they will send the bill from that evening to insurance for me and there’s a chance I could get reimbursed, but obviously they can’t confirm that.

I have reached out to the dental office who originally did the work via google and Facebook and am currently awaiting a response from them since they are closed on the weekend. I’m hoping they get back to me and make this error and botched procedure right, but I don’t expect them to do so.

At this point, this a breakdown of the money I’ve spent with proof of the bills, payment plans, etc. my cover photo is of my tooth X-ray when I came in to the emergency dentist, and the other one is after the completed the root canal procedure, before they did the filling.

Exam & X-ray cost: $165 (not reimbursable through insurance)

Care credit for procedure: $500

Monthly payment plan for procedure (similar to after pay): $2,193.66

Downpayment for the monthly payment plan: $183.74

Total spent: $3,042.40

This is before I factor in the cost of a crown, which they advised would be between $1,000-$1,500 dollars depending on the dentist. I’ve made several appointment requests to other dentists in my area for this week to check availability, pricing, if they take my insurance, etc., but I am preparing for the worst with out-of-pocket costs.

I am attempting to raise a grand total of $4,500 for the currently billed and expected procedure charges. As I receive more detailed and precise info I will update this gofundme with it to remain entirely transparent of where things are at.

Thank you for reading, even if you don’t donate but you share this GFM, I truly appreciate it.

-Kat