Jecca Mehlota (
jecca_mehlota) wrote2010-11-10 04:12 pm
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Entry tags:
Dentist = all day affair
Because my life is never easy when it comes to health care.
I arrived early and checked in, only to be informed my billing Slide (they have a sliding scale at the place I use. The more you make, the more you pay) had expired in July and because I have health insurance now, no one saw fit to notify me and, when I made the dentist appointment, despite that my account was apparently flagged for an expired Slide (the two offices are linked), no one bothered to inform me! As far as I know, I didn't even get a call yesterday reminding me of my appointment. (I suppose there could have been one.)
So I was told my charge for the morning's appointment would be two-hundred dollars. Because, yeah, I have that.
So I stepped outside to ask Mom, hey, uh, if I can't get this billing issue sorted, um, could you maybe lend me a bit...? And she agreed that would be fine, so, uh, yay, I went in and got my mouth x-rayed to the moon and back (SO MANY SHOTS) and had my gums examined, and they determined that I at least have a very, very healthy mouth (especially considering I've not seen a dentist in two years or so). And, hey! There'd been a cancellation this afternoon, did I want to book my cleaning for today?
And because I am an idiot, I said sure why not, and then I had to run clear across town to the health center to fix my billing, and then run back to the dentist office (I liked it better when they were in the same building... the renovations need to finish soon...), and that leaves, of course, no time for lunch, and I'd skipped breakfast because I got up too late because I was tired.
Fortunately, Mom called me back and said, hey! I've just run a few errands, would you like me to come pick you up? And so instead Mom drove me to the health center and then I was able to eat lunch and brush my teeth and then get a ride back for my cleaning.
And then the guy cleaning my teeth made my gums bleed and bleed and bleed. PURIFICATION?
Whatever, at least they're finally clean again.
Oh, right, and. They applied the scale fee to my earlier appointment and credited the extra (which was a fair bit) to my account, so I didn't have to pay anything for the cleaning and I won't have to pay anything for getting two small cavities filled next month.
Also, this is exciting (NO IT ISN'T). So, all those lovely braces they love to put on everyone's teeth? You know how you can always tell someone's had braces because their teeth look bigger (it's really just because their gums have been forced aside with the moving of the teeth)? WELL. In a couple places in my mouth, that gum recession was severe enough that now, years later, I may need grafting done on my gums to prevent them from disappearing completely.
(And I'm still bitter that ever since my braces ordeal, I've started getting cavities and things get stuck in my teeth now. And also the roots on my pre-molars are screwed up, too, I got to see that on the x-rays today, they were showing me everything, which was actually really neat - though kind of alarming to hear, oh, you must have had braces, huh? Look at this, see? That's how I knew.
And I can't wait to find out all the fun ways the jaw-expander screwed up my face.
So, tell me. How, exactly, is this at all better?)
AND SO ENDED THE LATEST CHAPTER IN JECCA VERSUS THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
... actually, with the changes made and all, I might be able to get back on my parents' dental care... (We're not sure if I could get just the one or if it would have to be complete coverage, and $100-something a month for that is ridiculous, because my health care is cheaper and does what I need it to do.) Which would be nice. Especially if I do need the surgery...
I arrived early and checked in, only to be informed my billing Slide (they have a sliding scale at the place I use. The more you make, the more you pay) had expired in July and because I have health insurance now, no one saw fit to notify me and, when I made the dentist appointment, despite that my account was apparently flagged for an expired Slide (the two offices are linked), no one bothered to inform me! As far as I know, I didn't even get a call yesterday reminding me of my appointment. (I suppose there could have been one.)
So I was told my charge for the morning's appointment would be two-hundred dollars. Because, yeah, I have that.
So I stepped outside to ask Mom, hey, uh, if I can't get this billing issue sorted, um, could you maybe lend me a bit...? And she agreed that would be fine, so, uh, yay, I went in and got my mouth x-rayed to the moon and back (SO MANY SHOTS) and had my gums examined, and they determined that I at least have a very, very healthy mouth (especially considering I've not seen a dentist in two years or so). And, hey! There'd been a cancellation this afternoon, did I want to book my cleaning for today?
And because I am an idiot, I said sure why not, and then I had to run clear across town to the health center to fix my billing, and then run back to the dentist office (I liked it better when they were in the same building... the renovations need to finish soon...), and that leaves, of course, no time for lunch, and I'd skipped breakfast because I got up too late because I was tired.
Fortunately, Mom called me back and said, hey! I've just run a few errands, would you like me to come pick you up? And so instead Mom drove me to the health center and then I was able to eat lunch and brush my teeth and then get a ride back for my cleaning.
And then the guy cleaning my teeth made my gums bleed and bleed and bleed. PURIFICATION?
Whatever, at least they're finally clean again.
Oh, right, and. They applied the scale fee to my earlier appointment and credited the extra (which was a fair bit) to my account, so I didn't have to pay anything for the cleaning and I won't have to pay anything for getting two small cavities filled next month.
Also, this is exciting (NO IT ISN'T). So, all those lovely braces they love to put on everyone's teeth? You know how you can always tell someone's had braces because their teeth look bigger (it's really just because their gums have been forced aside with the moving of the teeth)? WELL. In a couple places in my mouth, that gum recession was severe enough that now, years later, I may need grafting done on my gums to prevent them from disappearing completely.
(And I'm still bitter that ever since my braces ordeal, I've started getting cavities and things get stuck in my teeth now. And also the roots on my pre-molars are screwed up, too, I got to see that on the x-rays today, they were showing me everything, which was actually really neat - though kind of alarming to hear, oh, you must have had braces, huh? Look at this, see? That's how I knew.
And I can't wait to find out all the fun ways the jaw-expander screwed up my face.
So, tell me. How, exactly, is this at all better?)
AND SO ENDED THE LATEST CHAPTER IN JECCA VERSUS THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
... actually, with the changes made and all, I might be able to get back on my parents' dental care... (We're not sure if I could get just the one or if it would have to be complete coverage, and $100-something a month for that is ridiculous, because my health care is cheaper and does what I need it to do.) Which would be nice. Especially if I do need the surgery...