Ouch!

Yesterday was no fun. I had my dentist appointment to deep clean one side of my mouth and do the crown prep work on the lower molar. I was so numbed up, since they had to do both top and bottom that my nose and ear was numb! When she was done with the deep cleaning I went into another room to have the crown work done and got some more Novocain. At least that helped numb the pain for most of the afternoon, but by evening, even after taking 3 ibuprofen I was really hurting.  Finally at 8:30 I was able to take 3 more. It was hurting so bad I almost took one of the pain pills leftover from DD's wisdom teeth surgery. They have expired, but I googled whether recently expired meds are really ok to take (according to the articles I read, 90% of meds are really good for years).  I decided to wait a bit longer and see if the ibuprofen kicked in and apparently it did, as I fell asleep. It's a lot better this morning. More just ache-y.

I go back in a month for the other side deep cleaning and to have the permanent crown put on. I think my out of pocket is going to be like $700-800. I had $456 left on my dental benefits for the year, $458 left on my FSA account and put $562 on my Care Credit account (that thing has been a lifesaver!). I told her to add on the second half of the cleaning and charge it now, so that I'd be offered the best terms on the no interest financing.  The larger the amount, the longer the terms and I would have rather had one charge that I can spread out over 12 months than end up with 2 smaller charges that would only be 6 months to pay. I still don't think she charged me enough, because in looking at my "estimate" paperwork when I got home, I will still owe them another $250 or so.  She was apparently a "fill-in" receptionist, as their regular one was on vacation, so probably not quite up to speed.  I looked at the Care Credit paperwork when I got home and it will be 18 months financing at no interest. Works for me - that will make it about $31 a month, which can easily fit into my budget, though I'm sure I'll pay it off  earlier than 18 months, but it's nice to have the option.  I'm trying not to complain too much......it is my fault for neglecting my teeth for years, but I'm back in the game now and must pay the piper.  I'm just praying the crown work doesn't end up turning into needing a root canal, which happened to me years ago on a cracked bottom molar (don't eat corn nuts!) on the other side of my mouth. I was in more pain after they put on the crown then before and ended up needing a root canal.

I'll have a dental appointment to pay for DD just before she goes off to college, but she won't need x-rays on this visit, so I think it will only be around $160. I dropped the dental insurance I had through work for her. It was costing me $725 a year - for $2000 in benefits and 2 teeth cleanings a year cost about $400 total. She takes good care of her teeth, so I figured it was worth the risk to give up the $1275 a year in potential coverage, which would really be $950 a year, if you factor in the cost of the annual premiums vs. the cost of the annual cleanings ($725 - $400).