Dental damn

Last night I spent the entire night dreaming that I needed to pee, smelled bad and needed a shower, and was exhausted and wanted to sleep. Needless to say when I finally forcefully dragged myself from the bed that I went to pee and then crawled into the shower wishing very much that I could go back to sleep. It really isn't the best way to start the day off you know?

Work is annoyingly dull as usual. I have a double batch of evictions to process this week since I missed two days last week while I was sick. One eviction file is enough to make me go cross eyed, two files is enough to make me want to punch someone. Even my iPod isn't making today go by faster.

I have a dentist appointment this afternoon which isn't helping anything either. It is just a routine cleaning. I say that as though dental cleanings were something that have been routine for me in the last decade and a half. Honestly I have seen the dentist more in the last 9 months than I have in the last 10 years.

They have me coming in for cleanings every 3 months and I can't say I am happy about this. It isn't that I necessarily think that this is excessive considering the state my mouth was in last December. The thing is I don't want to spend the money on it. I have dental insurance which is great, but sometimes I have to wonder how much it is helping. Reading Swistle today made me realize that this is all bothering me.

Last week we got to pay  nearly $1000 to put a crown on the husbeast and take care of one filling. He has three more fillings and 8 wisdom teeth to be pulled still. That is going to be close to another $4000 with insurance which I find to be a little ridiculous. I mean if that is what it is like to do things with insurance I am surprised there aren't more toothless people in this country.

Also that was not a typo earlier. The husbeast has 8 wisdom teeth. Two full sets. Isn't he lucky? He also metabolizes pain killers very quickly so it has been determined they are going to have to knock him smooth out in order to pull the teeth. Not cheap but necessary.

Anyways, I am less than thrilled about missing two hours of work to go pay $150 for a cleaning, which will be my third cleaning this year. I am considering telling them they can't flouride my teeth or irrigate them. The irrigation is them simply directly squirting some super mouthwash on my gums and then giving me the bottle to rinse with for a week. This costs more than $50. I already have two bottles of this stuff at the house. I don't need to spend a weeks gas money on another bottle thank you very much.

Of course this means arguing with my dentist. I don't think I am smarter than her, and it is not that I think she is trying to scam me or anything, I just am trying to be reasonable here. I still have the mouthwash, I will rinse with it for the next week if that is what she wants, I just don't want her to charge me for more of this stuff. Does that sound like I am being unreasonable?

I am just happy that my sinus infection is almost completely cleared up. I couldn't imagine trying to do this appointment and not being able to breath through my nose. I am certain that somehow the lingering snottyness will make it less than pleasant.

Ohh well what can I do? Turns out I like having teeth. I just wish it weren't so damned expensive.