A brief answer to the question “Can you shop around for dental work?” is a resounding yes! Not only can you, but it’s often encouraged that you shop around before choosing your dentist. This helps you find the best dentist near you, allowing you to get more bang for your buck.

According to Patients Beyond Borders, a company that researches medical procedures in other countries in order to inform medical tourists, the top 10 destinations for dental tourism among U.S. patients are Mexico, Thailand, Hungary, Spain, Poland, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Malaysia, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

If you’re nervous about an upcoming dental visit, try these ways to curb your anxiety:

1. Share your fears.
2. Focus on breathing regularly and slowly during dental procedures.
3. Listen to some tunes.
4. Watch what you eat and drink.
5. Use hand signals.
6. Choose a low-stress appointment time.
7. Get some good reviews.

In summary, crowns cost 3-5 times as much as fillings, because they require considerable more expense to the dentist, and they give the patient a stronger, longer lasting, more permanent and more esthetic restoration.

There can be wide variations in prices for the same dental procedures from different providers. Individual dental practices set prices for their offices based on market prices and the costs of doing business. These costs include rent, salaries, insurance, supplies and more.

Why Doesn’t My Dentist List Prices on Their Website? It’s difficult to list accurate prices for each situation. Dentists can’t usually give exact prices when they don’t know the situation yet.

How to reduce the cost of dental care

1. Get a dental plan through work if you can.
2. Consider dental savings plans.
3. See whether a dental HMO may work.
4. Consider ACA coverage.
5. Check veterans benefits.
6. Bargain-hunt.
7. Create an emergency dental fund, and put aside money every month.
8. Check community health centers.

The short answer is they don’t want to give the impression of a “Bait and Switch”. Here is the long answer: If you do receive a quote over the phone, the prices given are usually for the most common procedures.

So the next time you’re visiting your doctor or dentist, remember this succinct advice from health-care-affordability expert Mark Rukavina of Community Health Advisors in Boston: “Many providers will negotiate on price — but generally not if people don’t ask.”

The strange, bitter taste of orange juice after brushing your teeth can be attributed to the sodium laureth sulfate (SLS) in the paste. SLS is sometimes abbreviated as SLES, for sodium lauryl ether sulfate. These ingredients are known as surfactants, which are also found in shampoos and detergents.