1. For your crown:
If the general dentist said you do not have enought support for the crown, she probably meant that either you have short clinical crown( the "tooth" you see) or maybe not enough tooth structure, or you have bone loss due to periodontal disease(gum problem), which can only be detected clinically or through x-ray by licensed dentists not by self-diagnosis bcz of "gum" bleeding during flossing.
2. Each dental office sets its own fees, other doctors has no clue or not supposed to tell the patients the fees with guessing. If referrals are needed, each doctor is only obligated to provide contact information not the fees.
2. "Gum" doctor---The peiodontist, who is a specialist specilized treating periodontal disease, not only gingivae(gum in layman's term), they treats the problems with the supporting structures(hard and soft tissues) of the teeth.
If you have receding "gum", the periodontist will make diagnosis, discuss treatment options, perform the special procedures as needed, for instance: what causes the problem, do you have calculus below the "gum" as long term irritation? If so, how bad the situation is, is the problem isolated or general? There are many interanl/external factors can lead to gum receding: poor oral hygiene/genetic/medical problems/medications. If the general dentist can not decide what causes your problem, and then she/he can not speak for the periodontist: what sort of treatment the specialist will do for you.
Just FYI, many of the procedures, such as osseous surgery, gingivae grafing, bone grafing,placing implant, sinus lifting etc can only be performed by the specialists not by general dentist, unless the person has additional post doctor education.
3. free consultations: I think this really depends on each individual office, as far as I know, almost no doctor's visit is free, education is not free, so is the service.
Hope it helps, sorry I am normally pretty busy during the weekdays, unable to further reply until weekends. Cheers!
