Dental Disconnect

I have many friends in the dental profession and this is no way a reflection any of them. But I really do hate the dentist. I think its a phobia. And I have desperately tried not to pass on my feelings to my children. Fail. Last week's dental emergency with Madison made me realize I am not the only one with a {slight} phobia. Sorry Maddie.

Living in Canada we have the luxury of very few out of pocket medical expenses....one thing that is not covered is dental.

Now, I'm no accountant but let me tell you, Dentists are EXPENSIVE!

We do have extended benefits through Superman's work that are pretty good {I thought}....So I wasn't worried when I took Maddie in for her second dental exam in a week....

After about an hour, I am summoned to the exam room to consult with the dentist, Maddie is still in the chair....One look at the chart and I realize this might take a while......Our dentist is very good at explaining what needs to be done and doesn't in the least make me feel incompetent or like a dumb parent, something I am grateful for....But then she mentions that ideally Maddie will need dental implants to replace the two molars that need to extracted by the dental surgeon....

My jaw hitting the floor must have been obvious by her next statement....

Why will this dental work be a stretch [financially] for your family?

My response "How much we talkn'"

The fillings she needs a couple thousand plus...(with insurance we should be ok?)

But the dental surgeon may or may not be covered and the implants are $5000 A TOOTH and will not be covered by insurance....

Good thing I had the door frame to hold me up....Say What??? Wow!

Alrighty then.....There isn't a family I know, that a $10-20 thousand dental bill wouldn't be a stretch for....just saying....

The next morning I get a call from the dental surgeon's office....They have booked Maddie for February. "We will need {nearly $1000} on the day of surgery" OUCH was all I could say...."We do take Visa and MC" like that's supposed to make me feel better....

I hang up not knowing weather to laugh or cry.....My only thought,  If you have to ask "Will this be a stretch for you ??" You suffer from dental disconnect.


I have done a little magic math {at the bank of parents} and research and think I have things covered....we will attack this in stages, dealing with the important things first, dental implants can and will wait, with insurance and spreading this out over the next 6 or so months, it shouldn't be too painful, here's hoping......I think I now have (self-diagnosed) dental financial phobia on top of my Dentophobia (its real I looked it up :)