Injury to Insult

So let me start this post off by saying I hate the dentist. HATE. In fact I don’t think hate even comes close to expressing the strong amount of negative emotions and thoughts that go through me when I think the word dentist. I consider myself a generally pretty level person. Sure I’m dramatic, I never claimed not to be and really it makes life so much more fun. For me anyway. But I really try to be logical and reasonable when it comes to fears and phobias. But dentistry is just one of the things that I have a really hard time being rational about.


So, that said after probably close to about 15 years since I last saw a dentist, maybe even longer, I decided to be responsible and sign us up for dental coverage before my teeth that I already knew were in poor shape got worse. Insurance kicked in the beginning of January, and just last week after 2 months of ignoring it I decided it was time to finally kinda sorta look for a dentist. I only want to keep the insurance for a year if possible because it’s another $70 a month to have it. My health plan covers the basics, cleaning and exams, so if we got major stuff that’s needed done this year, we should be good. Well after a half hearted search, I gave up and decided to try again later.

But life is cruel, and in a week that’s already busting at the seams in stress, one of my molars just could not hang on any longer and broke. So I quickly did a search for a dentist that specializes in patients that have dentistry fears, and spent all of Tuesday feeling sick to my stomach and on the verge of tears about going to the dentist that afternoon.

Thankfully the initial appointment was pretty easy. Just a “Yep, your tooth is broken alright” and an appointment set up for it to be capped and possibly a root canal next Monday. Seriously, I had to stop myself at vomiting at the words root canal. I inquired about being knocked out since that seemed the easiest for everyone involved, but apparently it’s almost $300 to do so. Holy crap. But yes, I am contemplating it anyway. Because seriously. Root canal. How can that sound like anything less than absolute torture?

Well, on top of all this, the nurse called with what we’d have to pay after insurance. And if the thought of the root canal wasn’t cause for Xanax, than hearing that it was going to cost us $750+ for this fun time certainly was. Then I thought that I would check to see exactly what out health benefit plan covers to see if it would possibly makes the hit a bit easier. When reading through the plan book, I discovered something that was not there before when I last looked at these benefits about 2 years ago and I’m so mad that I didn’t know it was there before I signed us up for the separate coverage. It is an option to upgrade our basic coverage to full coverage AT NO ADDITIONAL COST to what we were already paying a month in our health insurance. And the coverage is much better than the one we’re paying for separately. So after several phone calls, questions and all that crap, I upgraded us. The catch is it doesn’t kick in until April 1st, so I have to wait until then to get my tooth fixed. The dentist office also can’t give me a quote until the enrollment kicks in on the 1st, so all I can do is hope that it’s a decent chunk cheaper than the other dental insurance, though I was assured that it would be cheaper. I just hope it’s enough to make waiting a month worth it. Another bummer, I can’t cancel the extra insurance that we’re paying for until the next open season at the end of the year. Sigh.

So, good news, I get to live in denial another month before I have to go for the horrid dental procedures (though, if it starts to hurt or anything then I’ll just have to get it done before than). It’ll be cheaper than it would be now. The bad news I have to be cautious with what I eat and take small bites. I’ll probably be cutting back a lot on sugar in the next month and eating more slowly, which is hard for me. I’ll be brushing my teeth like crazy and gargling hot salt water to avoid an infection. And my tongue is getting kinda cut up by the jagged edge. I’ve heard there is broken tooth home repair kits available, so I’m gonna see if I can find one of those.

So in case I needed one more thing to stress out about this month. It’s all my own fault, I know. But I’m still mad. It would have been a lot cheaper to get a cavity filled a week ago than pay for a crown and root canal now. Ugh. Hopefully I can get the rest of my teeth fixed before they give out as well.

Sorry if this post is boring; it’s just the main topic of the week for me, so I’m blurting it out here. Just be grateful I’m not talking about Lady Jane’s poop. Another key conversation topic in our home this week.