Living With Bad Dental Karma

So, somehow I've offended the Dental gods.

Back in November I had a crown crack right at the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday. So I had to medicate my way through several days of pain and a jagged tooth before I could get to my dentist, who I have gone to for years. He rocks.

He pulled the cracked crown, put on a temp and said we'd put the new crown on in a week or so.

In one day the temp cracked and broke.

When we finally got the new crown on in mid December, I thought I was done. Two weeks later the new crown broke. Of course, by this point we were in Christmas holiday time and my dentist was out of town for the festivities.

In January, I went back in. He looked at the crown and said the lab that made it didn't do something right. So we ordered a new crown.

In February the new crown came in. As he "installed" the crown he noticed a tiny crack already in the top of the tooth. He said, "I can't put this in because it's going to crack. No doubt about it."

Finally we got a third crown, and I've been good with that since late February.

Then in May I got a terrible infection on the other side of my mouth. Some food debris got lodged, blah blah blah. Irritation. Scrape scrape. Antibiotics. Thought that was it.

Then, yesterday, I went out for a quiet Sunday breakfast at a small local cafe. I ordered something with some mixed green salad in the dish. (You know what's coming now, right?)

As I took a bite I felt a very familiar crunch. I froze. I thought, "there's no way...."

But yes. A tiny bit of dirt from fresh spinach made it's way into my sandwich, and into the path of my right molar. The tiny bit of dirt won.

As you can see from the pic above (courtesy of my iPhone stuck in my mouth because I just had to see what I'd done), I cracked the hell out of my back tooth.

And of course, my dentist is out of town this week being the middle of summer and all. I only have dental issues when my guy is out of town it seems. Not his fault. The dental gods just think it's funny.

Ugh.

I went to another dentist today when I realized something had to be done. And yes, the tooth had to go.

Now I'll state up front I'm a big baby about dental work. I have to take a valium before anything happens, and then I HAVE to have nitrous oxide. On top of that, I have to have my iPhone playing Olivia Newton-John's Grace and Gratitude album while the dentist rips things out of my mouth.

All's well at this point. I have pain meds; antibiotics; and a very quiet night ahead of me.

I'd planned on getting more posted on The Randy Report today, but the universe had other plans.

I will say this: I don't have dental insurance, like many in America don't. But years ago I discovered a Discount Dental Plan. There are several and most cost around $100 a year.

Discount Dental Plans are not insurance, but you join and are provided with a list of dentists in your area who agree to discounted fees for just about every dental procedure you can think of.

I find ONE visit to the dentist a year generally pays for the plan as the discounts can be sizeable. For instance, a single tooth extraction costs (national average) $197 but with my plan I pay $60.

Boom. Plan paid for.

The national average for a root canal is $1,170 for a molar; my plan costs $496.

Routine six month checkup? National average $57; I pay $16. An adult teeth cleaning is only $37.

So, the lesson of my story is: if you don't have dental insurance think about a discount dental plan. You pay about $100 and it goes into effect immediately.

Just thought I'd share since I found my plan really saves me money. If anyone is interested in exploring this whole "discount dental plan" thing click here. And you can use this referral code (21S52R86) to let them know I told you all about it.

Most of the plans also have other benefits like discounts on eye exams, etc... For folks who can't afford insurance, these things offer a lot. I always get my money back every year from the discounts.

So, that's my story for today. More blogging tomorrow. I have to go chill with my pain meds.

Forward.