Thursday, October 22, 2009

tooth

which reminds me that back in our casco bay books days, bean and boo had an ongoing business/design project that for some reason they called "casco bay tooth." i keep thinking of my molar as the casco bay tooth.

here's what i was afraid of: that i'd go to the dentist and be told that i needed a crown (or worse, a root canal and a crown), which my research tells me can cost in the thousands of dollars. i would then burst into tears in the dentist chair, and my dentist would casually walk out of the room (which is his tendency when i bring up the subject of money). not having thousands of dollars, i'd then go to the low-cost dental clinic, where they'd happily pull my tooth for me, for cheap.*

so the very happy ending to my tooth story is that it was fixable through filling, replacing my hideous old evil mercury filling with a shiny new white-ish one. i was sent off with a bill of only $300 and a warning that many of my other teeth are in danger of crumbling to pieces because of how ferociously i apparently grind my teeth at night, and that i should probably get a custom-made mouth guard thing for a mere $400. before i left, the hygienist told me that i could buy a temporary "dental protector" at the drugstore for like $15, which would be much better than nothing. the hygienists at my dentist are so much more sensitive to the money issue than the dentist himself.


*maine care takes great care of children's teeth, but not so much for adults. they will cover the pulling of teeth, but not root canals or preventative care. i so much prefer to keep my teeth in my mouth.

4 comments:

Melissa Crowe said...

Somehow because of a recommendation from a friend, I ended up going to the dentist-to-the-stars in Falmouth, where they serve espresso and you can get a paraffin wax, and he told me I needed that $400 mouth guard, too, but when I suggested the cheapy version from the drug store, he looked at me like I was crazy. And poor. Which I am.

David said...

I heard a thing on the radio about how people are grinding their teeth more because of the bad economy. E & I both have those expensive night guards but mine doesn't fit so well and makes me anxious to put it in. I may have to look into the cheap version!

holly kellogg said...

how about the old lacrosse mouthguards we used to wear? put it in boiling water to soften it up and bite down...perfect fit! they're slim now, they don't have those big nubs coming out the front anymore...
you're good, i don't even GO to the dentist...
xoxo

mama d said...

I used to grind my teeth so much that my dentist told me the muscles in my head felt like weight-lifters' muscles--perhaps just his ploy to sell me a custom mouth guard for $562, and this was over 10 years ago! I wore it for awhile, but it was very hard to keep in, and now it doesn't even fit quite right. They ask me about it at my appointments, but I just tell them I'll never wear it and it was a big waste of money. One of those drugstore ones might be a good idea, though--not as tight and maybe easier to keep in....Mine kind of made me feel like I might die during the night!