Last Wednesday I went to the dentist. The dentist came in (oh, by the way, the dentist spits when he talks! Uck!!!), looked at my gums and decided to send me to a periodontist (he didn't even do a cleaning/check-up). I'm not the brightest person in the world, but I knew that was probably not a great thing.
So, today I went to the periodontist (doctor of gums). I guess I should insert here that my dad has receding gums and I've inherited that wonderful trait from him. I have nice teeth, but bad gums. When I was 15 I had two gum grafts, and they've been telling me for a while now that I'm going to need another graft, but it seems I've been constantly pregnant for the last 2 years...)
He started out skeptically, saying "Well, I'll look, but most likely we'll do preventative stuff...blah, blah, blah." All the while I was thinking, "Okay buddy, take a look at my gums and then you will see I am way past putting some kind of past/sealant on the receding parts." (Oh, by the way, I floss and brush daily...so don't think I have bad hygiene).
He did his little examination (about 10 minutes long and the bill was about $150! Thank heavens for insurance.) and as it turns out I need FIVE gum grafts! Did you get that, five!
I've had two gum grafts and they were the most painful things I've ever done (besides labor). But I can tell you this, recovering from childbirth with both girls was a lot easier than recovering from gum surgery. The actual graft didn't hurt, it was the donor spot on the roof of my mouth that killed. I can't imagine recovering from a C-section.
The bill estimate: $2500. Do we have that kind of money. No. That's the other reason I haven't had this done yet. They don't know if our insurance will cover it, so pray that it does. Otherwise, we'll have to get creative. I don't want to loose my teeth though, so I don't want to wait forever! Ugh. Five grafts. That's going to be horrible!
8 comments:
you might be able to have your medical cover part of it as well. we were going to have to do that with joshua. they need plenty of time to process it. it's worth a shot.
When I was in college I got braces and at one point my orthodontist sent me to a periodontist. I went in there not even knowing why I was there and left with a $300 bill with no insurance. And what he did turned my front gums black for a few days. Great! Attractive while in college too!! Anyways...good luck. Just the title periodontist brought back some memories for me!
ever after
That's terrible! I would have been traumatized.
I have dreams about my teeth falling out of my head all the time, yet I haven't been to a dentist in 5 years. My teeth and gums are usually in great condition, but I'm scared stiff that after pregnancy and breastfeeding, my teeth will be rotting. And we don't have dental insurance, so I'd rather be ignorant :)
OH man! That really stinks. I hate dentist types in general, but I do love me teeth. I hope it all works out. I hate getting older.
Oh NO! That sounds absolutely awful. As if the dentist weren't bad enough...
I'm supposed to go in for "crown lengthening" surgery. Yeah, use your imagination, it's as bad as you think.
EEWWWWWW! Good luck with that.
Holy cow! Good luck!
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