What fun we might have had

[dampscribbler]

Today I spent two and a quarter hours at the dentist, getting prepped for a crown. I have a cracked tooth that started to hurt. I haven't had a dental procedure other than a cleaning in something like 20 years, so this was a rude awakening. Novocaine, grinding, impressions, something involving a nauseating pressure to my gums, more impressions, and finally the temporary crown, while I wait 2 weeks for the official one to be made.

Then the really awful part. The bill. I was expecting a lot. Like, say a hundred and twenty, maybe a hundred and fifty bucks.

Oh, no, grasshopper.

Welcome to the wonderful world of 21st-century dentistry.

Four.
Hundred.
Dollars.

And that's after my insurance covered nearly half of it.

Four hundred bucks.

That's two plane tickets to visit my grandma.

That's two nights in a sweetposh hotel.

That's three incredibly awesome dinners (for two) at Higgins.

That's three weeks of part-time daycare for the wee tot.

Oh, well. It could be worse. I could have just lost the tooth altogether, and had to spend the rest of my life with a hole in my mouth. At least this way I get to eat.

But yikes. I really was not expecting that.

Comments

[fj.livejournal.com]

Wow, your dental plan sucks! I am sorry to hear that.

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Supposedly, we actually have pretty good insurance coverage. I just hadn't realized how expensive some of this work can be. Guess I'll have to practice more preventative measures in the future.

HATE DENTAL INSURANCE!!

[dramaqueenmom.livejournal.com]

I just had a filling replaced for 66 bucks. It was the alternative to crowning it, which was going to run me about 300. She did warn me it could come out and we'd be back to crowning it, but I figured to save the money, I'd take my chances.

Dental insurance is bad bad bad.

Re: HATE DENTAL INSURANCE!!

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Bad, but better than paying cash for the whole thing, I think.

I didn't know you had an LJ!

Re: HATE DENTAL INSURANCE!!

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

There! You're on my friends list now, which means you'll be able to see private entries, on the occasions that I do them.

Is that for just the temporary crown...

[qnetter]

...or the final? Because I paid about half-of-$800 for a crown in 1985, so that seems perfectly in-line to me. A bargain, even.

Re: Is that for just the temporary crown...

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure it's for the whole thing -- the work I had done today, plus the permanent crown I'll get in a couple of weeks.

I sure hope so, anyway.