Teeth

I remember Jessica Simpson saying on an episode of Newlyweds, "I hate teeth. I hate everything about them: I hate cleaning them, I hate flossing, I once didn't take care of a cavity for three years and then had to get a root canal."

While I don't completely agree with Jess (I'm all about fixing my teeth when I hear they've got problems), I don't like dentists and dental insurance right now. Here's been my last month....

Four weeks ago, I discover a crack in my back molar. I call my dental insurance. They tell me I need to pick a new dentist, and then I get to wait three weeks until Dec. 1 to go see said dentist.

Two weeks ago, my tooth broke.

Dec. 1, I see dentist. Dentist tells me I need a root canal and writes me a referral.

Dec. 5, I see endodontist. Endodontist tells me he won't do a root canal until I've had my wisdom tooth extracted and had gum cut away. He also tells me that I'm seriously infected, and it's infecting my gums. Then he says that he will have to do the root canal procedure to even see if the tooth is savable, but that it probably isn't. Translation - spend $1500 on dental procedures (that's after insurance pays) before we even know if the tooth is savable.

Dec. 6, I go back to my dental practice and see a new dentist. I was going to have the daggone broken, painful tooth I've been dealing with for a month, extracted and be done with it. The new dentist is also an endodontist and was like, "It's not that bad and doesn't look infected." She did the root canal right then and there. Not only is she able to save the tooth, it's not infected, and my gums are fine. Another fun side note - my first dentist didn't tell me I had two cavaties, but wrote it in my file. When I showed up this morning, the receptionist says, "Is there some reason why you don't want us to remove your cavaties and give you fillings?" In addition, I'm wondering why my first dentist wrote me a referral to see an endodontist instead of having me see one of the two that are in my practice.

While I could have been ridiculously irritated, I was just very grateful to get my teeth taken care of!! I go back next Friday for the final step in the root canal. YAY!!!