My life is a mess. Now that my face is all scabbed over, I look positvely grotesque. I suppose it really isn't all that bad, but I'm likely to see that girl I met last Friday tonight and I want to look somewhat presentable. I still haven't told that story. I will at some point.
Yesterday I went to the dentist to get my chipped tooth looked at. The tooth was chipped and maybe 35% of the tooth was lost, but it didn't go into the pulp or root. A bond wouldn't have held, she said, because it was a large chunk, it was my front tooth, and I have a strong bite. Another option would have been a crown, but that would have involved drilling away the parts of the tooth that were left, leaving only a stub on which to attach an artificial crown. She didn't like that option either because there is the potential of damaging the root meaning I would lose the whole tooth. It would be a much more invasive procedure and she said it would be very hard to match the color. She recommended that I get veneers on the front two teeth which is basically a custom molded porcelain covering. (Celebrities often get whiter-than-any-real-tooth-could-possibly-be-veeners on their teeth). That way the two teeth would match and its a much less easier procedure. She told me that a veneer was only $100 more expensive than a crown, and that sounded reasonable to me. She made the molds, did the prep work and put in a temporary bond. It takes about 2-3 weeks to get the veneers made.
Everything was fine until I went to pay the bill. $2000!!! I almost fainted. And they wanted it all at once. I wrote them a huge check with money I don't really have. To make things worse, I immediately called my insurance company and discovered that they didn't cover veneers because they are considered "cosmetic". I freaked. They said that only in rare circumstances, but normally it's an "option that they don't cover". I asked them what my other option was and they told me that getting a crown is a preferable option. I tried to explain to them why my dentist said that wasn't a good option, but the woman on the phone wasn't a dentist and told me just to submit the x-rays and paperwork and they would look at it. I immediately called back my dentist and told her that I didn't think my insurance would cover it and that I wanted to go for a crown instead. She told me that I had been prepped for veneers and not a crown and reiterated all the reasons why a crown was a bad idea. She also told me that the insurance I had would probably cover it, although she couldn't guarentee anything.
If they cover it at all, most likely they'll cover 50% of one veneer (50% is what they'd cover for a crown). That would be $500, which would still mean I'd have to pay $1500. If I'm lucky, they'll cover half of both or $1000. If I'm not lucky, they'll pay for none of it and I'll be stuck with a $2000 bill.
I find this incredibly frustrating. All the time I'm trying to save money and paying off my debts by doing little things like taking the T instead of a cab, or making my own meals instead of eating out, but then something like this comes along and blows away any amount of money I could have saved all summer by penny pinching.
Yesterday I went to the dentist to get my chipped tooth looked at. The tooth was chipped and maybe 35% of the tooth was lost, but it didn't go into the pulp or root. A bond wouldn't have held, she said, because it was a large chunk, it was my front tooth, and I have a strong bite. Another option would have been a crown, but that would have involved drilling away the parts of the tooth that were left, leaving only a stub on which to attach an artificial crown. She didn't like that option either because there is the potential of damaging the root meaning I would lose the whole tooth. It would be a much more invasive procedure and she said it would be very hard to match the color. She recommended that I get veneers on the front two teeth which is basically a custom molded porcelain covering. (Celebrities often get whiter-than-any-real-tooth-could-possibly-be-veeners on their teeth). That way the two teeth would match and its a much less easier procedure. She told me that a veneer was only $100 more expensive than a crown, and that sounded reasonable to me. She made the molds, did the prep work and put in a temporary bond. It takes about 2-3 weeks to get the veneers made.
Everything was fine until I went to pay the bill. $2000!!! I almost fainted. And they wanted it all at once. I wrote them a huge check with money I don't really have. To make things worse, I immediately called my insurance company and discovered that they didn't cover veneers because they are considered "cosmetic". I freaked. They said that only in rare circumstances, but normally it's an "option that they don't cover". I asked them what my other option was and they told me that getting a crown is a preferable option. I tried to explain to them why my dentist said that wasn't a good option, but the woman on the phone wasn't a dentist and told me just to submit the x-rays and paperwork and they would look at it. I immediately called back my dentist and told her that I didn't think my insurance would cover it and that I wanted to go for a crown instead. She told me that I had been prepped for veneers and not a crown and reiterated all the reasons why a crown was a bad idea. She also told me that the insurance I had would probably cover it, although she couldn't guarentee anything.
If they cover it at all, most likely they'll cover 50% of one veneer (50% is what they'd cover for a crown). That would be $500, which would still mean I'd have to pay $1500. If I'm lucky, they'll cover half of both or $1000. If I'm not lucky, they'll pay for none of it and I'll be stuck with a $2000 bill.
I find this incredibly frustrating. All the time I'm trying to save money and paying off my debts by doing little things like taking the T instead of a cab, or making my own meals instead of eating out, but then something like this comes along and blows away any amount of money I could have saved all summer by penny pinching.
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Will I be seeing you tonight?