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dental blues

August 28th, 2016 at 02:10 pm

I had a dental appointment on Thursday and I feel bad because I was a good 15 minutes late. Woops. It's a long drive and I need to plan to leave earlier next time. It was scheduled as a routine cleaning, but the billing office had checked with my insurance company to see if they would cover full x-rays, which hadn't been done in many years. Wow, that procedure is completely different - the hygienist took digital x-rays as I sat in the dental chair in the room where she did my cleaning. Apparently they will be covered and I really hope that's true! I was informed that I have four cavities, three on the bottom on one side and one on the bottom on the other side. The fourth one is under a crown, which will need to be replaced in order to deal with the cavity. Ugh - that's a lot of novocain, drilling and soreness in my future. The silver lining, of course, is that I have dental insurance, for which I feel very grateful. Their estimate of what I'll owe out of pocket is between $800 - 1000. They are waiting to hear back from my insurance company to see what my actual estimated OOP will be.

Technically, the work could be done in two appointments. The first would involve removing the crown, taking care of all four cavities at the same time and fitting a temporary crown. Then the permanent crown would be installed during the second appointment. I would need to have the temporary crown in place for three weeks. I am taking a 10-day walking trip in Portugal starting in October and I don't want to travel with a temp or new crown. So, I've scheduled an appointment in September to tackle three of the cavities, then I will schedule two appointments for after my trip to take care of the fourth cavity and crown. Blech.

According to my dentist, one of the reasons that I develop cavities quickly is that I grind my teeth at night. I have a mouth guard that he made for me years ago, but he has always wanted me to invest in an alternative mouth guard scenario which runs about $2K and is not covered by insurance. I have resisted for years because I didn't want to pay for it and I wasn't sure if it was legit. I need to do some research, but I'm starting to lean towards going for it and I'm regretting not acting sooner. I mentioned it to the receptionist and she said that some patients can be referred out to another dentist who works with a similar method who can bill medical insurance and have this method at least partially covered. I think that my insurance company paid for my original mouth guard under medical, so I'm going to call and ask if I have options. We'll see if I follow through on this.

I did start looking at hiking boots/shoes after my appointment, but I'll save that scenario for a future post. In response to comments on my previous post, I see that "breaking in" new boots is no longer the correct term. In the past when hiking boots were leather, they needed to be broken in to stretch and soften the leather. Now that most are made of soft materials it's more a period of getting used to them and making sure that they are comfortable, which is what I want to do before my trip. The tour is 10 days of walking/hiking for 10 - 18 miles a day, so supportive and comfy footwear is a must!

I didn't spend any money on Thursday besides purchasing three pairs of boots, at least two of which will be returned, so I'm not sure what that total will be yet. I am happy that I quickly packed a lunch to eat after my dentist appointment and before my boot shopping. I was able to eat healthy food and avoid spending money on lunch in town. That decision is also what made me late, so again, I'll need to plan better next time.

A few groceries were my only purchases on Friday. They were expensive items, though, but worth it. The Pennsylvania peaches that my local natural food store has been carrying are amazing - so delicious and juicy, so I've been splurging on those for a few weeks. And a local vineyard grows a very tasty table grape that is only available for a few weeks and sells out quite quickly. I noticed them when I went in to get more peaches, so I grabbed a bunch of bunches. Smile

Groceries 38.99
2.94 lbs peaches (5) @ 2.49/lb 7.32
2 lb local grapes @ 4.99/lb 9.98
bulk whole wheat organic pasta 2.23
32 oz organic olive oil (on sale) 12.99
small bag bulk nutritional yeast (for popcorn, saw recently that a few other bloggers enjoy it this way, too!) 1.36
I met a friend for an hour walk n' chat in a nearby small town on Friday evening and then came home and relaxed with my cat.

Found a dime last weekend and a quarter this week. I always think of CB when I pick up found money! Oh, a few months ago I found a crumpled $10 bill in a washing machine at a laundromat! That was fun. Smile

7 Responses to “dental blues”

  1. ceejay74 Says:
    1472394884

    Those are really not bad prices for that quality of produce! Yes, I'm one of the nutritional yeast ("nooch") on popcorn fanatics. Big Grin I sprinkle it on while the popcorn is still in the pot, and some of it trickles down and toasts a bit, which makes it even more delicious.

  2. CB in the City Says:
    1472399656

    And I always think of Baselle! (Who doesn't post here any more, but is remembered fondly!)

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1472417953

    You rated on the produce prices. Good show!

    Sure hope you can get your dental or medical insurance to help with your dental as well as the mouth guard.

  4. VS_ozgirl Says:
    1472466345

    Sorry about your teeth especially the crown! Hope it all goes smoothly good idea to do it before the trip.

  5. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1472489701

    my dentist told me buy the $20 guard from walgreens and mold it myself and use it. I think it works fine. Considering I used to spend $500 buy mouth guards to break them this is a better investment. I too have an implant now because i ground my teeth and still do. And yep you get cavaties from it.

  6. PatientSaver Says:
    1472517852

    Ouch on the dental costs...that out of pocket sure is high with the insurance...i just dropped my dental coverage while out of work....

  7. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1472614107

    I grind my teeth at night too ... which is probably partly why I get so many cavaties.... I had a mouth guard at one time ... but didn't use it and then lost it. I probably should try one of those $20 ones LAL mentions ... Dental costs are no fun.

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