Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Teeth, Chicken of the Sea, and Chocolate


Some of you may remember my post about the dentist. Or have seen this tweet:
meags7827 Tired of being a grownup. Can I just call my dad and have him take care of it?

Let me update you.

I started looking for dentists on yelp.com because I needed a cleaning and I yelp everything. My dad has worked in insurance (workers comp) my whole life, but I do not understand insurance of any kind. I know when I call a new doctor to ask if they “accept the insurance provider you have”. So when I was calling dentists I asked the same thing. The first dentist I called told me that they were not in network with my insurance but their prices are comparable to what most insurances cover out of network and I should call and find out. I would have had to pay $20 for a cleaning which isn’t bad, but you know Mr. Bargain (aka Hubby) was not about to pay for stuff out of network. So the next place I called said, “yes” when I asked my do you accept my insurance provider question. Since this was different than the last place I stupidly assumed they were in network.



So I made an appointment and headed on over for a cleaning. Well I loved this new dentist office. Everyone was super nice and they had all the latest equipment. A camera that take close up pictures of your teeth. I had never seen those way in the back teeth or zoomed in so close! They had this water pressure cleaning device so they didn’t have to do all that scrapping. I was in love!



In case you didn’t go back and read I will remind you that I had a cavity filled and it was still sensitive to cold and chocolate. No bueno! The suggested I have that filling redone and there was also a tiny hole in a tooth nearby that could be causing a problem. They also showed me with their nifty camera where I had worn away the enamel of my teeth grinding. I had a mouth guard in the past but it was on my bottom teeth and grinding on plastic made my TMJ (jaw that hurts) worse. So I hadn’t been using anything to protect my teeth. The quote for the two fillings and the custom made mouth guard was around $400. I didn’t know this, but for all of you teeth grinders out there, Target (the happiest place on earth) sells some mouth guards for around $30. Obvs, Hubby wanted to go this route. But I obvs wanted to have my teeth repaired (eat mouthfuls of chocolate) so needed to get the fillings done.



Now, you all know I am a member of the Jessica Simpson fan club. Mostly because I could totally relate to her during the Newlywed days and love her shoes and perfume, etc. The cans of fishy smelling chicken and tuna confuse me too, ok? Remember when she bought some bras and panties, paid for them, walked out of the store and then looked at the receipt? Yeah, I don’t pay attention to how much things cost. So when I got my fillings done, she said you owe us this much and I just handed her the credit card. Mr. Bargain obvs asked me how much the fillings were and by that point I had realized that 37+37 didn’t equal $118.



Hubby called them the next day because I was having trouble communicating with them. They worked everything out, I guess the cavities were more since I didn’t meet the deductible with the expensive mouth guard.



So what lessons have we learned? Ask the people if they are “in network”. Don’t just hand over your credit card like JS unless it is for shoes or perfume that says Jessica Simpson on them, then its ok. If it comes in a can and says chicken or tuna or something of that nature, don’t eat it! Unless, of course, it is chocolate, then just make sure you have brushed and flossed and had all cavities filled, then put the whole can in your mouth. But I don’t think they make chicken of the sea tuna chocolate so avoid those mermaids! Unless, they are Ariel, she is our favorite mermaid. OMG! Best idea ever, Jessica Simpson plays Ariel on Broadway! Ok I’m gonna go eat some chocolate.

Tips and Tricks Thursday topic: Tips and Tricks for having an amazing first wedding anniversary!

4 comments:

  1. Been there, done that. Sorry, girl.

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  2. I freaking HATE the dentist!

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  3. Ahh.... I am glad I am honest when people call me and ask if they are in network. Like you have noticed.. a lot of Dentist aren't honest about it... two Doctors that use to work with us, opened there own practice don't tell their patients they aren't in network.. they just say yes we can file it.

    It sucks... but they are greedy scammers!

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  4. Ooo, I'll definitely be checking out the tips and tricks for a good first anniversary! Mine's coming up in September. :-)

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