I have had trouble with my teeth since I turned 50. They started chipping and cracking, then it just went downhill from there. I got them pulled rather than crowned because of the cost. I now only have 2 molars remaining on the top and bottom left side, and the same on the upper right side. I have all of them on the bottom right, but the farthest back (no wisdom teeth remaining) is a crown. My left front tooth is also a crown from an injury when I was 2 and fell down the stairs. That tooth went up and into my sinus cavity, scraping the permanent tooth along the way. Anyway, I started having severe pain in one of my remaining molars on the upper left and decided I needed to actually keep some teeth.
This year I got dental insurance. I found a dentist within 1/4 mile. Completely walkable. I got an appointment; they did full x-rays and a consultation about how to manage my remaining teeth all for $20. Insurance was very helpful. The upshot is that the main issue I went in for ended up with me needed to decide whether to extract or get a root canal. The tooth is the first one that would actually be noticed if it was pulled. I decided to get the root canal, which unfortunately my new dentist’s office doesn’t do. I had to find somewhere else that could do it and would take my insurance. So difficult, I finally got so frustrated that I decided the pain wasn’t that bad. (It had actually lessened to a level I could deal with)
One Sunday morning during my hiatus from the root canal search, I woke up with pain in the left front of my mouth. It felt like someone had punched me there. I wasn’t quite awake, so I figured it was a weird dream and went back to sleep. When I really woke up an hour or so later, I still felt it. Just felt a little swollen and uncomfortable, but still felt like I had been punched. I tried to think it through. Could I have bumped something in the night? Could I have punched myself that hard? Could Rob have punched me? No to all of these. Nothing to bump into. The angle was wrong for me to hit myself. The angle was also wrong for Rob to have punched me in his sleep since he is left-handed. Hmmm, I guess I need to go to my dentist.
This time I got a different, younger dentist. I’m really not a fan. I didn’t like the way he talked to me, or his attitude. But the end result was that I needed a root canal on my front tooth that already has a crown. Damn, time to get back to the hunt. The woman at the desk was so very helpful. She was getting just as frustrated as I was trying to navigate the insurance’s website. She finally printed me a list of places that were listed as taking my insurance.
I called around and some didn’t actually take my insurance even though they are listed 🙁 I finally found one, and went this Monday (a week of pain). I had so much trouble communicating with them. English was not their first language. I know some Spanish, but not what I needed to explain what I needed. After they took a new x-ray, and I thought we had gotten everything straightened out, she brought me my bill. $1100 for one tooth with one root, and they didn’t use my insurance. WTF!! I took the paper and said I would get back to them and walked out. I was furious. Later I remembered that I hadn’t paid for my visit, oops 🙁
Rob started hunting for me, and he was getting frustrated as well. Now he realizes why I was so irritated. But he found one. I went Thursday. I understood them and they understood me. They took a look, said they were going to drill through the crown, remove the root, then fill the root and the hole in the crown. $800. Still a lot, but reasonable. They took my CareCredit, and then did it then and there. I like CareCredit because there is no interest for 6 months. If I don’t pay it off in 6 months, they add all the interest on in one lump sum. I don’t like that part 🙁
Today is Saturday, I feel mostly better. Still a bit of pain/pressure at the Novocain injection site, but bumping my tooth doesn’t hurt anymore!!
I really like Green Dental Studio. If I get the same dentist at my new closer dentist, I may switch. I saw one of my neighbors there, maybe I can hitch a ride 🙂
The next step in my dental journey is to get crowns on my front 4 teeth. More expenses 🙁