Dental stuff

[valarltd]

My insurance covers check ups and cleaning completely, and has a $50 deductible, After that, it pays the first $1000 of dental expenses. And for big stuff? It pays 10%.

What I have: 3 abcesses, 2 broken teeth, 1 cracked tooth and a LOT of cavities.

What it's going to cost:
Fillings, $185
Deep cleaning, crowns and root work: $3450, out of pocket.

OUCH!

Dr. R. is good, though. Nice man, gentle big hands.
And he runs a "pay as you go" system. If I can only pay for one filling, I can get just one done.

Also: dental chairs are quite comfy when cramping

Comments

[reannon.livejournal.com]

Whoa! What happened? Did you get punched in the mouth or something?

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Not a clue. My diet and dental habits haven't changed in 30 years.

But since we moved to West Memphis, it's like my teeth are literally rotting out of my head. 5 root canals in 9 years. And the abcesses are on former root canals.

And then in July, I felt a crunch as I bit down on something, and about a quarter of my lower left next-to-the-rear molar sheared. And then I think a filling fell out or the tooth crumbled around the root canal on my upper right back molar.

I asked about the water and the hygenist had no clue.

BTW: let me know next time you have an exchange of prisoners, and I might be able to meet you in Sikeston for dinner.

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

There are 3 main factors that affect your dental health and frankly, none should have caused your current problems.

1) Genetics: some families just honestly have crappy teeth
2) Drinking flouridated water during childhood: if you drank flouridated water when your permanent teeth were forming, they're much stronger and more resistant to cavities and breakage.
3) Oral hygeine: self-explanatory

Since numbers 1 & 2 affect your teeth only during their formation and your oral hygeine habits haven't changed significantly, the only thing I can think of that might be causing this is stress. Increased stress levels can lead to an increase in oral bacteria, which can then lead to more dental problems.

In any case, good luck.

[shullie.livejournal.com]

I need to go and visit the dentist too, and we do have dental treatment on the NHS here but finding a dentist that will take you is near impossible, they don't make enough money that way. sad to say we can't afford it if not on NHS at the present.

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

I don't know how useful these may be, dpending on the local situation, but here are a couple of suggestions from a former dental practice staffer:

1) Check to see if there are any schools with dental programs nearby. Most of them have free/reduced fee clinics so the students can practice on real people (under supervision, of course).

2) If there's a free clinic in town, see if they have a free dental clinic as well. Or if not, see if they know any local dentists who have reduced fees for self-pay patients.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I'm real leery about the school thing.
I've had enough trained dentists screw up my mouth that I'm scared of students.

I think we'll pay as we go and get the big stuff done later, after my insurance cover 25%