Little known fact about me: I have had horrible teeth.
I have amelogenesis impecfecta. Which is a fancy way of saying ’soft teeth’ - I inherited the disorder from my Dad, who had dentures at an early age. It’s definitely treatable - - with regular visits to the dentist.
My problem? Well, it’s two-fold, really. One is my previously discussed irrational fear of going to the dentist. I’ve had some really awful dentists in the past - - just some downright horrible experiences. Couple that with a pretty low pain tolerance, and I’m just a mess even when it’s time to go for a simple cleaning.
Second - as a single mother for the past 14 years… there were many years where the finances were pretty tight. The Ex was supposed to provide health and dental for the kids… and he never did… so the kids dental care always came before my own, in terms of making the financial decision of ‘who goes first’. The kids always went - - I never did.
This, of course, suited me just fine - - because the lack of dental insurance gave me the perfect excuse not to go, right? I could martyr myself all over the place! Single Mom! Kids need it before I do! Self-sacrifice! It was a ruse too perfect for the person paranoid of dentists!!
Until - I couldn’t ignore the teeth any longer. Old fillings came loose. Weak teeth got chipped and broken. I would ignore them until the absolute last minute and my head was exploding from pain and infection. The only dental trips I’ve made within the last decade were only the emergent ones.
Over the past few months, I’ve been living with this tremendous pain in my mouth from two teeth in my lower right jaw that were giving me some pretty bad problems. I would ignore it.. ’self-medicate’.. and it would go away for a little while. Then it would rear it’s ugly head again - - only worse this time than last.
Two weeks ago, I finally broke down. I had heard of a dentist in my area that practices Sedation Dentistry. They will put you to sleep and perform days worth of dental work in one office visit! It sounded perfect to me!
I still have no dental insurance - - but am in a much better financial position these days, than in days gone past - so I called and made an appointment.
Dr. Matera is really a wonderful man. As a dentist, he is very patient, gentle, smart - - and he listens to all my tales of woe (the poor guy!). He did the initial exam and then sat down with me for about an hour telling me all of the things he’d have to do to my mouth to get things back into shape again.
He broke the bad news. I would need 10 root canals. TEN!! Plus about 4 cavities that I would need drilled and filled. I had three active tooth abscesses going on. The good news was - - he could save all of my natural teeth. I wasn’t going to lose one of them!
The bad news was… for everything that needed doing? The bill would be about $22K.
/thud.
We talked for a long time that day. He told me that there were some ‘urgent’ things that he would like to do before I went on my cruise - so that I wouldn’t be in the middle of the ocean when one of those problems decided to erupt. I agreed. I had my first three root canals done on that first visit. After those were done, he sat me down again and told me there were 6 others that he’d like to do before I leave. We talked… and decided it would be the best thing… so I scheduled the appointments.
Today - I had an appt at 7:30am and had three more root canals done. On Wednesday of this week - - I have another appointment to have three more done.
That takes care of 9 of the 10 needed before my trip. Holy cow!
Am I nuts?
I feel better, though. I’m not in a lot of pain at all - except for the feeling that my mouth has been stretched around the earth and back! Physically, I feel tons better, with the infections clearing up. And I keep looking into the mirror and smiling - - thrilled as heck to see a perfect row of nice white teeth. (they don’t use any silver for fillings or crowns).
By the time I go on my trip - I will have shelled out approximately $10K for dental work, so far. My checkbook is beginning to hate me. It hasn’t gotten exercise like this in quite some time! But, I have to say - - if I was going to spend a good chunk of money on something - - I’m glad to be doing this.
For being so paranoid and worried about the dentist - - I actually am looking forward to getting all of this work done because I’m feeling better and better as the days go by. And I’m pretty critical about dentists - - but Dr. Matea is just wonderful. I’m feeling like a new person here with all this work getting done, finally. It feels great!
I’m becoming a dental-nazi now, though. Urging my mom to go see him. Urging Chris to go see him. From a person who used to avoid the dentist office like the plague - - that sure is something 
I...
12:35 am on August 23rd, 2005
Oh God, $22,000?!
My mom was in the same position you’re in… only a little worse. She had quite a few teeth pulled when she was young, her mother never took her to the dentist, so about 5 years ago she had all her molars ripped out and had fake (expensive to say the least) drilled with tiny screws into her jaw bone. I think she actually only has a few real teeth left.
7:59 am on August 23rd, 2005
So I suppose you don’t want to hear about how one of the guys who works for me had the dentist start him on fire if he knocks you out, huh?????
8:20 am on August 23rd, 2005
I am so glad that he’s taking such good care of you!
Let’s figure this out (getting my calculator, you know me):
$22,000 divided by say 40 years, $550/annually.
That’s really not bad, considering you’ll probably only have to go for a check up once in a while and maybe a cleaning. You’re just paying for the next 40 years worth of dental care all up front! (AAHHHHH!!!)
I can’t wait to see your new big smiley cruise pics!
8:55 am on August 23rd, 2005
:smile:Enjoy your post. Glad you have a good dentist.
9:15 am on August 23rd, 2005
Who’s going to notice the smile with the bikini Lisa show us she got?????
11:08 am on August 23rd, 2005
I am glad you like him, but at $22,000 I would have considered the dentures:shock:
Good for you for being brave and facing the fear. I am the same way! I can’t say a dentist has ever actually done anything to hurt me, but I just get sict before I go!
1:44 pm on August 23rd, 2005
yea - 22K is a LOT! Dentures woulda cost $12K.. about half… but he talked me into keeping all of my teeth, because it’s just healthier that way. I’m happy with the decision, though - - even if I’m crying all the way to the bank! lol
And I dunno, Astro - - I think a smile looks better whith a bikini, don’t you?
2:47 pm on August 23rd, 2005
You’re just trying to get the flat head, no teeth, and a bikini comment out of me, aren’t you?
3:05 pm on August 23rd, 2005
*jaw drops* 22k?
*breathe in, breathe out*
Ummm, that’s like a car. Did he put a car in your mouth? *blink* You know, I really didn’t mean that the way it sounded.
3:16 pm on August 23rd, 2005
It sure feels like he put a car in my mouth!
Astro - reminds me of a movie I saw once. I forget the name of it… but the line went something like this:
Guy1: “That girl has a Butter Face”
Guy2: “Butter Face??”
Guy1: “Yea - you know - - ‘That girl has a HOT bod, man! Everything is perfect on her BUT HER FACE!”
3:44 pm on August 23rd, 2005
We had a saying back in college…
“That chick would be really hot if she didn’t have a head.”
Believe it or not, I actually do have a few Butterface DVDs on my desk to review one of these nights…
8:22 am on August 24th, 2005
So glad this worked out for you. I have the same problem with soft teeth and ended up in a similar situation. Within the span of about 18 months, I had my 4 wisdom teeth removed, one root canal (only one!), 12 fillings and 6 veneers. I didn’t have dental insurance either so I shelled out the cash too, but it is so worth it. Glad you found a good dentist, they are out there, but so hard to find!
2:50 pm on August 24th, 2005
They sure are hard to find, Michelle - - and when you find one you HANG onto him for dear life!
This guy? I think I’d travel 100 miles outta my way if I knew that he’s the one who would be doing my dental work!
3:42 pm on August 24th, 2005
7-Out of curiosity, had you gone the denture route, would you still have needed the r.c.’s? You and your teeth were the topic at dinner last night. :smile
I bet you just love that!)
3:47 pm on August 24th, 2005
You talked about my teeth at dinner??
ops:
If I had gone the denture route - - they would not have had to do the root canals, no. They would have just pulled all of the teeth outta my head
What’s worse, I wonder?
4:27 pm on August 24th, 2005
Pulling the teeth! I think you made the better choice:wink:
7:37 pm on August 24th, 2005
Ok - yea, but… why were you talking about my teeth at dinner? lol
7:52 am on August 25th, 2005
My mother always has something wrong at the dentist. She never gets out of there w/out a procedure. She keeps saying she wants dentures etc…so hubby and I were at dinner w/parents and I thought I would use you as an example of someone that is worse off dentally than her. After everyones jaw dropped at the price, and I assured them that I had the right amount of 0’s on the amount, we got into a discussion on ; would she need the root canal if they pulled her teeth. I thought you still would have, but you corrected me. We then went on to my sister-in-law who was born with no enamel on her teeth.
See, that is how you were discussed and it was all good. My dad was trying to figure out a business expense for the cost to you so you could write it off!:lol:
1:53 pm on August 26th, 2005
well, my mom she got the same with the denture…I hope I will not have the same after delivery
8:47 am on September 1st, 2005
I first want to commend you for putting your childrens dental health ahead of your own. expenisive, but noble.
Going the rc route is best, a swedish study showed that removing teeth can sever nerves to the brain crucial to memory. BTW, lovely blog!
9:20 pm on November 13th, 2006
Dave
Interesting topic… I’m working in this industry myself and I don’t agree about this in 100%, but I added your page to my bookmarks and hope to see more interesting articles in the future