I would get a second opinion... For years I went to a dentist that was gouging me/my parents. Since I started living on my own, I've gotten opinions from other dentists who all say my teeth are fine. Note: the very last time I saw my old dentist, he said I had 4 deep cavities that needed to be taken care of immediately, 3 second opinions since say otherwise.

I would agree with everyone, get a second opinion, though you probably won't. The reality is you can't trust this guy with 100% certainty.

Get a second opinion. And don't say anything about other dentists.

I don't know why most of you are assuming the previous dentist made the mistake. If a dentist is going to lie, he's not going to lie to make your teeth sound better, he's going to lie to make your teeth appear worse. That way he gets more money. It's that simple. If anybody is lying, I would say it's this dentist. I doubt your previous dentist missed $580 dollars worth of work, especially when it's in the dentists best interest to find as much work as possible. Of course if you have tooth pain to back up his claims... then yeah, maybe he is right. But I doubt it. Find another dentist, this one is trying to rip you off.

I feel your pain!! I get reaaally nervous going to the Dentist, and a few weeks ago I had 3 Root Canals in ONE tooth (I didn't even know that was possible, but apparently it is!) and a $900.00 bill. Thank God for insurance. Plus my tooth was so infected that the freezing wouldn't take, so the stupid dentist would drill 'till I screamed, then stop, give me another needle, and keep going 'till I screamed again. I layed in the chair for 3 and a half hours with tears streaming down my face the entire time. Take good care of your teeth people!!!

Dentists love scamming people with procedures that they don't need. Especially with wisdom teeth removals and root canals (since they pay a lot).

Get a second opinion-- it could be that your new dentist is lying. I've had that happen to me where I was told I needed a root canal, but when I went for a second opinion from a dentist that is friends with my family he stated that it was just a large cavity. (Further proof, the insurance company rejected the claim.)

Also if you don't have insurance the crown will cost you much more, and chances are you may need a crown after the root canal is performed. The fact that the dentist doesn't mention this to you (and will probably mention to you after the root canal and you MUST PAY FOR A CROWN, or will mention it to you only after your tooth cracks makes me suspicious.

I had something similar happen. My dentist had always said how amazing my teeth were and how it was so great I took care of them. I one time asked about a black spot I saw in the way back of one, and she said that it all looked fine. She once told me that the sealant (sp?) (that is put on molars when you are young to prevent cavities,) is out dated and no longer used because the edges come up and food gets stuck under and you can't it out until you develop a cavity. She told me I developed a small one, but not to worry about it yet. My mom then saw at another dentist's office that they had a brochure for sealant, and he said that it is still a great practice. She made an appointment for me to see this new guy, and it turned out that I had 6 cavities, two that were REALLY bad (all caused by the sealant coming up that could have been easily fixed by my other dentist way before I developed any cavities.) Apparently my old dentist was waiting for things to get worse with my teeth so that my insurance wouldn't cover it and he would get a LOT more money from when we would have to pay it ourselves. So yea, I feel your pain :-( I wish I would have sued that bastard for screwing up my teeth so badly. :-(

Um. I can tell you this much: I have had a root canal before. They hurt...like ANYTHING. I find this hard to believe because I was in constant nerve pain for about a week until I got mine taken care of. The thought you had no idea you had a root canal until you got to the dentist is hard to believe =/