Today I went to the dentist for the first time in two years.  Between having no dental insurance and having so many illnesses, my teeth weren’t ranking high, although I know how important it is. But for a month or so my teeth were kind of always bothering me, not major pain, but a dull ache all of the time.  I knew something was wrong, I knew at the very least my teeth were sensitive along the gumline.

I had a coupon, “New patient exam $195, X-rays and cleaning included.”  I was a bit leery of these types of ads, and of the neon sign saying “Dentist” in the window but everything looked pretty normal when I walked in.  It was a nice office and the staff seemed happy, that’s always a good sign.

So I had some good news and bad news from the dentist, who seemed very trustworthy.  The good news is that I have the teeth bone structure of an 18-year-old.  The bad news is that all of my filings, ALL TWELVE, need to be re-done.  I haven’t had cavities in probably 20 years, so my filings, silver, were very old and were decaying.  Oh, and I did have one cavity.  The dentist said this wasn’t bad, it is just the normal progression of filings in your mouth and things could be a lot worse.

Things got a lot worse when I heard the price tag, almost $3,000!  Um, should I say there was more good news when I was approved for some kind of dental credit card, interest-free, that I must pay every month for the next 18 months of my life??

Big sigh.  What can I do, right, don’t have it done and just let things get worse in my mouth, and even more expensive?  It is what it is.  I could make it cheaper by having silver filings again, but with all the knowledge we have about mercury in silver filings…I don’t know, I have enough problems already.  And, um, I’m hoping to live for a while longer so I don’t need any more silver filings.

The dentist is going to do it in two visits with novacaine.  I go back August 5th.  I literally just sighed again.