dentist

Yesterday my Spousal Unit and I both went to the dentist.
I have TERRIBLE teeth which I inherited, and I wish I could blame my dad, but he inherited them also and also suffers terribly, so I won't.

My teeth crumble in my mouth if I happen to breathe wrong. That may sound like an exaggeration, but remember, I live in a place where the temperature can dip below -40 Celsius in the wintertime and I HAVE had my teeth crack by opening my mouth in such weather.

We called to get an appointment with the dentist and we were told that there was nothing available until October. We made the appointments in October and then asked if we could be placed on the "short" list or "cancellation" list because we both had toothaches. A few days after we made our appointments, we got a call saying the dentist could fit us in on the 23rd, yesterday. So we went.

As always, for me, the experience was straight from where Satan dwells. The freezing NEVER takes and while my muscles are frozen from eyeball to bunghole, the nerves in my teeth are fully functional and the second the drill is turned on my nerve reacts - after all the needles poked in my face to "freeze" me, somehow the nerves in my mouth are on edge and I can feel the vibration of the needle from 3 feet away. I am in complete agony, tears streaming out of my frozen eye, down my frozen cheek, and under the dental dam which is jamming my mouth open with the aid of the door stopper shoved half way down my throat so the dentist can rest his arm on my lower lip. (my lip by the way has been turned inside out by the dental dam and completely dried out by the plastic.) Unfortunately I can't communicate any of my pain to the dentist because my entire body is frozen in the chair.

As it happens, the procedure was only able to be partially completed and so I have to go back for more agony. Tonight I looked at the bill. I was charged for the x-rays. I was charged for the "pre-emptive" phase to the preparation of the root canal system for obturation, AND I was charged for an "EMERGENCY" exam. I'm sorry. I took a LOT of freezing into my body, but my BRAIN is not frozen. An "EMERGENCY" examination? Last I knew, the word meant "a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action" (thanks dictionary.com)

There was nothing sudden, urgent, or unexpected about this visit that took SIX weeks to happen. Granted we had our names put on the short list, but should that short list be renamed the "bend over and take it up the A@# list?"

Now, I know that I have GREAT dental insurance, which I happen to pay a LOT of money for, and my insurance pays 80% of my bill, but seriously now. Emergency services charge? Something is wrong with this picture.