I don't have the estimate on me right now, but as I recall it involves going to an endodontist, which they estimated at $1,100-$1,300 to open it and unpack it, 2 separate visits to the dentist for the ozone ($225 for both), a return trip to the endodontist for packing (non-mercury, of course) and someone will put the crown on. The dentist said there is a non-invasive way that he can determine how the bacteria count is doing inside the tooth after that, and that would determine when or if a repeat performance is needed. The staff explained the up side as being that by saving the "base" of the tooth, there may be a future, better treatment to successfully treat the tooth, and I would be able to benefit from it. The downside is that I could spend a lot of money and still be sick, or it could fail and I may end up getting it pulled anyway.

The cost for removal was about $500 with an additional $500 for a night guard that would be needed that would allow me to avoid some sort of temporary tooth. The night guard would have a "built-in" tooth bump that would allow the tooth above to contact it and thus keep the above tooth from erupting. The affected tooth is the back one, so I can't just get a standard bridge.

The emotional part of me wants to save what is left of the tooth, but the logical part knows that that is probably not the best choice. I have read Tooth Truth, and so I understand the concept of the root canaled tooth as essentially an embalmed, dead organ in my body. Even so, I like to fully research options before I make decisions.

P.S. I don't believe that I have a cavitation at this point. The root canal is only about 1 year old. I actually was seeking an estimate to get rid of all of the mercury, and through kinesiology the dentist determined that the root canal is more of an issue than the mercury currently, so he would prefer to treat that first.