An anti-dentite no more
So for the past couple of months, I’ve had dentist appointments every couple of weeks. I haven’t mentioned it much here, though (with the exception of that awesome dentist horror story from last month). Why so much dentistry? It isn’t because I particularly like having people jab sharp pointy things in my mouth for hours on end, despite what you might suppose. No, it’s because I actually hadn’t been to the dentist regularly in about eight years. This is one of those shameful facts about myself that I normally take care to avoid mentioning, and it’s the product of spending a long time living in ramen-level poverty with no dental insurance. You know, those years where paying part of my rent out of my change jar was standard practice. And I actually still don’t have dental insurance, but I can afford to foot the bill myself now and finally got around to doing so.
I take good care of my teeth at home, and in fact I didn’t need any serious work done at all, but I did have a number of small cavities that were scattered around my mouth. Because of the sheer amount of time that my dentist had to spend on me (initial exam, full set of x-rays, cleaning, and filling cavities in five different parts of my mouth), it ended up taking six visits over three months and about $1500 to deal with it all. Yeah, I could have bought a new computer with the money I have spent on my teeth this year.
As mildly embarrassing as all of this is, I am telling you about it, dear Internets, because it turns out there’s a really shocking number of people in the same boat I was in: folks in their mid-20s who stopped being able to afford going to the dentist in while college and who just let it slide for a few years after that. My dentist related many of these stories to my numbed-up drooling self while she worked on me, and all of my friends to whom I’ve mentioned this whole endeavor have had stories of their own. So my point is this: if you are like me and have a shameful dental secret you have been meaning to deal with, just go ahead and do it. You aren’t nearly as unusual as you think, and it will only cost more later.
I HAVE dental insurance, and I have spent over $2000 out of my pocket on my teeth since February. I had about 10 cavities and 1 root canal/crown done. I still have one more to go, but I am counting down until I am done with my teeth. You are definately not on your own on this one. I hadn’t had my teeth cleaned by the dentist in about 10 years.
The left side of my mouth is still numb from a dental appointment I had earlier today, and yeah, I was in the same boat you were. I hadn’t seen a dentist since the first Bush was president because of not having insurance since college and then the fear of having major work done once I did have insurance. So after 15 or however many years, I finally went and the total damage was that I need two fillings replaced (the first is what they did today) and I have a deep cleaning scheduled for next month. It was a pretty great surprise that my teeth were gonna make it after all.
I had my wisdom teeth hacked out back in October, but it was not completely unpleasant. I hate needles, and receiving an IV (my first) was pretty fucking daunting. Anyway, not having dental insurance was the most painful part. Shelling out $700+ for the procedure sucked pretty fiercely. I still don’t have dental insurance, because it’s virtually impossible to afford when you’re a student who also works full time, but I am having two cavities filled in a week, again out of pocket. I suppose having to pay such ridiculous sums of money beats the potential lack of teeth in the future, if anything.
i’ve been obsessed with my teeth since having started visiting the dentist again after a long (almost 10 year) hiatus. I was lucky in that I only had a few new cavities and some old fillings to be replaced (never knew they had to do that!), and the worst of it was some gum recession (which is recoverable only with gum grafting -eew!)
my regrets were mainly that my childhood dentists never ever really showed me HOW to floss my teeth and the importance of it was never really explained - i’m one of those people who needs things explained to me.
since getting things in order i started in about getting some ugly bonding on my front teeth replaced with something nicer - like perhaps veneers. the dentist said we can ‘reduce’ this or that tooth, put some veneers on and make your smile something to be proud of.
‘reduce’ means to grind teeth down. make them weaker in order to look better didn’t sound that good to me, so i asked about other options. he told me if i got my teeth straightened (they’re not super crooked, but enough so that sticking veneers on them without reduction would enhance their misalignment), veneers could be put on without reduction and the teeth could be left as intact as possible.
so i’m spending gobs more out of pocket to wear braces for a year.
I’ll tell you now I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself as it’s really forced me to change my habits and keep my mouth clean (there’s nothing worse than a mouth full of braces, except a mouth full of braces full of food chunks!). You really have to pay attention to detail while flossing and get every nook & cranny cleaned out on a daily basis.
Living with a mouth full of metal does take some getting used to, but overall I think it’s kind of fun being an adult male wearing braces; makes for some interesting conversations. The dentist basically said it’s one of the best things people can do for themselves as long as they make those changes in their hygiene habits in support of/response to the braces. also said ‘you won’t regret it.’ he was especially impressed because adult males generally don’t go for braces. vain things we are…
My canned response to any criticism has been ‘i’ll do anything if it means keeping my own teeth in my head for as long as possible!’
Hint: if you tell your dentist you haven’t been to the dentist in eight years, your dentist will discover that you have numerous cavities. Like, every time. Srsly.
i’m 32 & just went to the dentist at the end of june after a 9 year absence. i partly stopped going for asinine reasons (i hated my dentist and his insistence that i floss) & partly because i lost my dental insurance. my dentist told me 9 yrs ago to get my wisdom teeth pulled, but i didn’t do it. so i had them pulled this week! good times. i also have had a total of 11 cavities filled / replaced. i think this week was my third appt. in as many weeks, and i have one more to go. it’s really not been that bad, though. i had to psych myself up to get the wisdom teeth pulled, but otherwise it’s been a decent enough experience.
what a big baby i was. i should’ve just sucked it up and paid. i think part of the problem is that they don’t tell you their fees upfront. i think they should be published in the newspaper or somewhere useful. i am ending up paying about $1500 in CO-PAYS but at least insurance picks up some (about 25%. nice, eh?).
it’s funny, the dentist also suggested i look into braces because my front teeth are a little twisted now (small mouth), and i am contemplating the social/dating implications of having a mouthful of metal at 32. the horror!! i will live, though. and like someone else said, if it means having my own teeth in my head 30 years from now, i’ll just get it over with already.