Why is dental work so expensive?

I know this has nothing to do with computer graphics or computers in general but for my post today i thought i would complain about the costs of dental work!

Well it had been about 18 months since my last dentist visit where i got 1 new crown and a bunch of fillings. Ok, but then again my previous visit was like 4 years before so that's my fault :) But this time, after moving from CA to WA, i decided to be better about it and start going on a regular basis. Don't know if it was a good idea :)

If i were to get everything done, i would need 4 crowns now and  a mother load of fillings. Jeez, as if i didn't have enough mercury in my mouth already! :) Well not that i mind the dental work to some extent but there is two things that really bug me.

1) The fact that one of the crowns i need done is the one i had done 18 months ago. Apparently, it wasn't done right. And in addition it seems like i need more fillings in an 18 month period than i needed for a four year period earlier. Makes me wonder if most of them are some my previous dentist missed!

2) The cost of dental work is ridiculous!! I mean, if i were to get everything done right away i would be looking at a 8,000-10,000$ bill! Just a crown with the work is around 1500$. Now, i know there is some precious metals in there but for the most part it is just porcelain!

Now, yes i do have insurance... But as with most dental insurance, they have a yearly coverage cap. Which means that if i were to do it be insurance only, it would probably take 5 years to get the work done. The other thing that gets me really grumpy is the difference between what the insurance will pay and what the dentist charges me. For example, for a filling, the dentist might charge me 170$. But when i look at me insurance statement, they only paid the doctor 120$ (because that's what the insurance consideres the norm price for the procedure).

Okay, but why can't i pay the same price than the insurance is willing to pay? I mean if its okay for the dentist to accept 120$ for a filling if it comes from the insurance, why can't I be charged the same amount !?!?!

Sorry for the rant. But I'm looking at a 5000$ bill and 4 hours of dental surgery on Friday. So I'm not too happy and had to get it off my chest :)