My tooth is acting up again. I limped home yesterday evening, took two pain killers and flopped into bed yelling at the kids, please don't bother me tonight I'm on the injury list. My husband called from work a couple of times (he's on the night shift), trying to lend support giving me his remedies and telling me what I need to do. All I want is to be left alone - dammit! I told him quite nicely, I'm just going to lay down for a while. The pain woke me up again at 4am so now i'm going to be popping pain killers until it decides to stop hurting. There are certain times this happens. I've had this cavity since my filling fell out earlier this year. I actually went to the dentist to have it taken out or filled again but couldn't get anything done. Why you might ask? Well, it's like this... I've had it with dental offices and dentists in general! I do have a dental plan with my employer. They dutifully deduct the premiums from my salary twice a month, it's almost the end of the year and I still have yet to get my dental problems taken care of. Let me not even begin to say what our dental needs are, ok so I'll tell you about it, I have to, plus, you can think about something other than politics for a change.
My poor kids, they need cleanings, fillings and one needs a tooth taken out. My problems are even more, I have a gum problem. My gum isn't brown or anything, they're actually normal and looking good but I have bone loss due to all three pregnancies and the last child, who will be three next month, sapped a lot of calcium - at least that's what one dentist told me - from my body. But I dutifully took all my tablets while being pregnant so how did that happened? Well, it happens to some people sometimes I'm told. There's nothing seriously wrong with me medically. I have an annual "everything" religiously. So because of each pregnancy I have some bone loss in the upper area of my mouth. So soon, if this doesn't get taken care of, I guess I'm going to have a very toothless or gummy grin!
So far, I've changed dental offices 4 times and dental plans twice. Here's the scenario - to get an appointment, you have to schedule months in advance and if you are lucky, you actually make it to the appointment. The given being if they don't cancel on you or reschedule your appointment because the dentist have something else he has to do or if you or your child isn't ill at the time of the appointment or you don't have the co-payment. You know how it goes, after paying some or all of the bills you realized, oh no, I won't have the cash for the copay so I've got to reschedule. Then if you actually make it to the appointment, and you cannot be late for your appointment or else it gets automatically canceled and you get charged $25 for that. Then when you finally sit in the chair, they take the X-ray of your mouth. Maybe, maybe you see the dentist. Why? Because some trainee dentist, dental assistant, will see you and say, ok, such and such needs to be done and when they're not sure they run to the actual dentist to confer. Of course you're wondering, what in God's name happened to the actual dentist? Why can't I be seen by the dentist? Oh, because it's your first appointment and you won't have anything done, just X-rays. Then oh, you should make an appointment to have your teeth cleaned. Afterwards at your next appointment (the third visit) you actually see the dentist! Ok, so you go to the third appointment, what happens? Oh, the dentist says, I'm sorry but I have to send you to a specialist. A specialist?! What for? Because if you want that tooth filled, or taken out or a root canal we're not sure how deep the cavity is or if you bleed a lot or ther things and a specialist can determine that. Meanwhile, I'm trying to be nice and decent and not cause a scene. So I take my referral and leave, nicely. Then I get home and vent at anyone in close proximity at the madness of it all! Of course going to the specialist means your dental plan doesn't cover it or only pays a quarter, if as much, and you will be left holding most of the charges - that have to be paid up front at time of visit. Then there's the dentist who will sit with you and chart out a plan of action. This is actually nice, you're thinking. At last, someone who knows what they're doing and now my dental needs can be fixed. Well, that's until you see the cost of all that he plans to do. And on top of that, you still have to go see a specialist. Need I say more?!
Finally, I went around my office asking everyone, what dental plan do you have? What is your copay or do you have a copay? How does it work? I drill them all (no pun intended). The results of my survey was, half the staff doesn't have a dental plan, they just go to the dentist when they have to, it costs too much to have a plan and what's the use anyway, they still have to pay a lot. A few have a plan, not the one I have, at one point they did and now uses the other plan but there's not much difference except they can go to any dentist they want. The rest use their spouses plan and it's much better than ours. Well, there you go. I know my job offers a crappy plan but at least it's there. What I get mad at is I'm paying out all this money since January from my salary and I have yet to get my dental needs or my kids needs taken care of. I've had my teeth cleaned yes, so have the kids, at least one of them. You might say, hah, this is minor stuff. But no, having good dental care is very important for good health, you agree? So, what do I do now? I don't know cause this seems to be a trend here. In the past, I have had dentists who were a lot better and they did everything, in one office. Here, I'm lucky if I can get an appointment. And another thing, the offices close very early, at 12pm or 3pm or they don't open on some days - I'm in the wrong profession. So, now that open enrollment is here again I'm seriously thinking of dropping the dental plan. We'll take our chances. I'll just find a dentist who does everything and go on some plan to pay just the same way I do through my employer. It will just be one who will take care of our needs. So in the meantime, I'm going to have to get some appointments for cleaning and whatever else I can get done for us before the year is out or else all the premiums paid so far would have been for nothing. Now I have to go look in details to see if there is a new dental plan that would meet my needs. Call the dental offices to see what type of services they offer, etc. Dammit, time to go take two more pain killers, this tooth is killing me. Oy!