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State of the Dwiv
May. 3rd, 2007 02:40 pmSo....
Cracked a tooth, I thought. Went it to have it checked (as I had a standard cleaning scheduled).
Cracked the side of a crown clean off. It broke enough that the area is damaged and I need to have it rebuilt. The tooth behind this was the extraction I was going to get an implant to fix, and loss of integrity in the area means an implant probably wouldn't be the best thing. Well, not without doing a LOT more work first.
Then, I get told I have a desperate need for a root canal on the tooth behind the extraction hole, which completely rules out the implant. Great. So, scheduled the root canal, and aborted any plans for a simple implant. Bridge, it seems, is the best way to go for now.
More good news.... My very first crown (same spot but on the other side of my jaw from the extraction) has damage down to the jaw. I'm expecting the tooth to break free "soon", says the dentist.
Today, for the first time, I notice it wiggles a lot. Just... great. Without that tooth, I have no molar chewing surface. So, I have escalated getting a bridge on the OTHER side, so I can have THAT side removed, so I can get a bridge THERE next year.
$8000 in dental work, total.
It occurred to me, too, that twenty years ago my max dental coverage was $1500. This year, it's $1500. Why isn't dental insurance increasing with inflation? A quick test with the CPI calculator shows me that just keeping up with cost of living adjustments would put my insurance at $2600.... And, dental costs haven't gone up the same percentage, but by larger amounts because of the demand for malpractice insurance and the rejection of mercury amalgam as a surface material.
But, I shouldn't complain too much -- there are far too many people without ANY insurance.
Hey.... if I get the extraction done first, and can't eat as well, could I use this as a weight-loss plan? I could bite down on preschool pencils without leaving bite marks! I could thread across my jaw with a knitting needle! Well, maybe not, but there has to be some kind of positive here I'm missing....
Cracked a tooth, I thought. Went it to have it checked (as I had a standard cleaning scheduled).
Cracked the side of a crown clean off. It broke enough that the area is damaged and I need to have it rebuilt. The tooth behind this was the extraction I was going to get an implant to fix, and loss of integrity in the area means an implant probably wouldn't be the best thing. Well, not without doing a LOT more work first.
Then, I get told I have a desperate need for a root canal on the tooth behind the extraction hole, which completely rules out the implant. Great. So, scheduled the root canal, and aborted any plans for a simple implant. Bridge, it seems, is the best way to go for now.
More good news.... My very first crown (same spot but on the other side of my jaw from the extraction) has damage down to the jaw. I'm expecting the tooth to break free "soon", says the dentist.
Today, for the first time, I notice it wiggles a lot. Just... great. Without that tooth, I have no molar chewing surface. So, I have escalated getting a bridge on the OTHER side, so I can have THAT side removed, so I can get a bridge THERE next year.
$8000 in dental work, total.
It occurred to me, too, that twenty years ago my max dental coverage was $1500. This year, it's $1500. Why isn't dental insurance increasing with inflation? A quick test with the CPI calculator shows me that just keeping up with cost of living adjustments would put my insurance at $2600.... And, dental costs haven't gone up the same percentage, but by larger amounts because of the demand for malpractice insurance and the rejection of mercury amalgam as a surface material.
But, I shouldn't complain too much -- there are far too many people without ANY insurance.
Hey.... if I get the extraction done first, and can't eat as well, could I use this as a weight-loss plan? I could bite down on preschool pencils without leaving bite marks! I could thread across my jaw with a knitting needle! Well, maybe not, but there has to be some kind of positive here I'm missing....
