So I went to the dentist last week because on Saturday morning I noticed that the back of one of my teeth was missing. So on Tuesday of last week I went into the dentist and had him work on it. As soon as he saw it he told me I would need a crown. I knew as soon as he said that it would be a costly visit. I know that a lot of dentist take people for a ride because really no one knows that much about the inside of their mouth. But I trust my dentist, and since I've lost track of how many crowns I've had, I really wasn't that surprised. As he was putting the crown on, he found that the tooth next to the crown had a cavity. So he went to write that on my records, and when he was doing that he noticed that when I had come to get a cleaning done back in April that he had found a cavity then, but I never came back to get it fixed... :) So he decided to do that cavity as well (probably because he knew if he let me go, I probably wouldn't come back...). Needless to say, my whole mouth was numb, and I knew that I would be getting a very big bill. So everything got fixed, and I was able to go home 2 hours later. With a horrible headache. Fast forward a week. I got my bill today from the dentist, and decided that we need to look into denial insurance. This last visit was over eleven hundred dollars. We could have gone on a really great trip with that.
Now, I know that taking care of your teeth is the least expensive choice (this includes regular 6 month cleanings). After that would be going in and getting cavity's filled when they are first found (only about $100 per filling). But I'll be honest that I just have bad teeth. Some people are born with really good, healthy teeth. Some are not. I've never gone to the dentist without him finding at least one cavity. I've tried all the different tooth brushes, mouth washes, and floss regularly. But I always have at least one cavity. Which makes for very costly visits to the dentist. Oh well. I guess the hardest thing about it is, what can you do? I mean, I can either let my teeth rot and fall out, or I can fork out the money and save my teeth. Sometimes I wish that Chase was still going into dentistry...
5 comments:
I know exactly how you feel. However, I wasn't as lucky as you. My bill was for over 6000.00. I have always had awful teeth. I brush, I floss. Oh, well. There is a discount dental program that isn't insurance, it just gives you somewhat of the price off. I'm not sure the exact name, but if you google it, I'm sure you could find it. The sign up is usually $100, but you save that and beyond the next time you go to the dentist(as long as he accepts the plan.) Good luck!
Have you ever tried a calcium supplement? Brian and I have awful teeth too. But the calcium supplement helped while I was pregnant and nursing (since the baby especially steals calcium from your body while pregnant).
~ Liz Wilcken
Jenny,
I have the solution for your problem! Go to Brazil next time, dentists down there are way cheap! My aunts who live here always go there to fix their teeth, it ends up costing less then here (dentist + plane ticket)! Sorry about the bill... I hope you won't have problems anymore!
I'm glad to know that there are other people out there with bad teeth too! I'm the same way, no matter what I always have a cavity! And then I think maybe if I had done more, I wouldn't have a cavity this time... yeah right :)
Jenny - I am the same way, but when you get a crown it is nice and smooth and perfect (much better than my original tooth). I am lucky our dentist lets us make payments!
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