Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Your dentist's name is Crentist? -Michael Scott

I really hate going to the dentist. I always try and remind myself that it's not that bad, but still, I never want to go. I had the same dentist from my childhood until I was 23 years old. And from 23 until now I've had 4 more. Because my childhood dentist was so great I always assumed that dentists were all great. Not so. I've been less than impressed with 2 of the 4 that I've tried in the past few years. Not that they were bad or sloppy, just a couple little things that I wished they'd do different.

Anyway, I had to go to the dentist Monday, and by had to I mean HAD to. Here's a little background. In February of 2010 I had a bit of a toothache. I went to the dentist, had x-rays, and found out I needed a root canal. The dentist put a temporary fill in it and referred me to an endodontist. (My childhood dentist was such a pro, I had no idea that not all dentists did root canals.) During the week of the temp fill and putting off calling the endodontist, I found out I was pregnant. I did some research about dental work while pregnant and I also called the dentist back for his opinion. He said if it's stopped hurting then I should try and wait til the baby is born, and for sure wait until I was out of my first trimester. The pain never returned. Garrett was born. Life got busy. I kept putting it off. Right before we moved I decided to go back to the dentist and try and get it done. But he explained that because the tooth also needed a crown, my insurance, (because Paul was quitting his job) would end before it would cover the dental work for the year. I was mad at myself because I knew that with or without insurance it would cost more in California. Oh well.

We moved. Life got busier. We finally got a good referral and made an appointment. A couple days before the appointment I found out I was pregnant again. Crap! (Not, crap I'm pregnant. Crap, I'm a procrastinator.) We cancelled and I waited for week 12 to pass. I made it to week 19, knowing I needed to do it, but again, just putting it off. Last Wednesday the toothache returned, like, major. Thursday Paul called and made the appointment for yesterday. Thursday and Friday it wasn't too bad, but by Saturday morning I wanted to rip half of my face off. I almost tried to find a weekend ER dentist or something. So first thing Monday morning, (while we were at our ultrasound) Paul talked to the dentist to see if we could move it up a day. Thankfully they fit me in a day early.

So Monday was full, (and expensive!). Ultrasound in the morning, prenatal appointment late morning, 9 month well check for Garrett in the afternoon, root canal in the afternoon, and a massage in the evening. I paid $510.40 for the root canal. Is it crazy that I thought, "Wow, that's not too bad!" ...Once you've spent so many thousands of dollars in less than a month on unexpected medical stuff it all just blends together. It's just money, right!?

Monday was a really good day, but I was glad to have it finally come to an end.

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