I'm still stewing over it. It started about a couple months back. Actually, it probably started last year. I went to the dentist and they had to fix an old filling. But they fixed it incorrectly, and it caused some pain. But instead of going back to the dentist immediately, I waited a couple months -- until the new year -- then found a new dentist and went to him. This dentist said that I needed a crown. OK. I had one of those before, so, whatever. But because I hadn't fixed the tooth immediately, I had caused some trauma to the dental tubes (huh?) in the tooth, and I was advised to wait two weeks before putting the new crown on with the hopes that the pain would subside thus proving the tubes hadn't suffered lasting damage (uh-oh). The cost to take off the bad cap, put on the temporary crown, and craft the new crown: $562.29. That would be half. My insurance was to cover the other half. So, onto the credit card it went, and I moved money from my savings to my checking and paid off the $562.29 as soon as the funds were available. Two weeks later, the tooth still pained me. At which point my dentist said the one thing I didn't want to hear: "You may need a root canal." Sigh. Are you kidding me? No. No, he wasn't. He said to wait two more weeks and if the pain wasn't going away, we'd discuss it more then. Two weeks passed and I was no better. I went in for the root canal a week later.
At the root canal appointment, I was charged $246. Half again. I knew I was going to have to pay something so I had already moved funds from the savings into the checking. Zip, zip went the debit card, and I was vastly relieved to still have some money in my savings as I'm pretty sure my car is going to die at some point.
Yesterday, I went back to the dentist for them to put the permanent crown on. At the end of the procedure, they asked for $389. GAH! What?! You see, it seems I've hit my dental insurance limit for this year already. Whatever dental procedure (or cleaning) that needs to be done, now has to be paid out of my own pocket. I really wish someone would call you and tell you about these things instead of smacking you upside the head with a bill. So, I did the credit card thing. Did the savings to checking thing. And will pay it off as soon as the money clears the account. But I have to say that even though it's nice to be able to chew on the right side of my mouth again, I'm not sure I can afford food any longer.
