I have to go to the dentist next week, near a mall. So when I told mother where I was going and where it was located, she was like; “I am going as well.” I was like; “You are coming with me to the dentist?” She replied; “Hell no, you do that on your own. When you are finished, come and find me in the shopping mall to take me home!” At least she has her priorities straight. Her shopping is way more important then way below that which is my pain… thanks Mom!
But speaking of straight priorities, let me tell you about when I went to my last dentist, key word there? “Last.” You will see why. I have a rotten mouth with lots of problems with my teeth, so much so that I have been going to the same dentist for the last forty years. So about ten teeth are sheared off at or below the gum line, they have to be extracted and then implants put in. So I go to this dentist, forty years of going to him, key point top remember here. I show him what I have and what work needs to be done. He agrees that this work has to be done but first we have stuff even more important. Really? You need to know that these teeth, all ten stumps are slowly dying. Very slowly and it takes weeks before they die and the pain fades away. So as I eat, food gets into them, and they eventually die from that, I guess, or die on their own from other cause that I don’t even know why. All of which is spectacularly painful. A cruel pain that very little will help resolve except to drink beer or alcohol. That helps, somewhat. So something more important to do? Well, considering the agonizing pain I have been having, let’s get that done first. I don’t want anything worse than the pain I already have. So he does what Dentists do and fills in three small nicks, which I did not even notice on the front teeth! They caused me no pain and were no problem to eat with etc, but unlike extraction which I needed to stop the pain, extractions are hard to operate and remove, especially when they are molars and below the gum line. Those small nicks are the easiest things to do, in front and on the top. Best of all, they pay the most as they can charge the most for repairs. He can and did charge me like 250$ each, extractions pay only like 75-100$ per tooth. There goes my insurance coverage of one thousand dollars, all of it spent on three cosmetic fillings. All because it was important that I keep my “Hollywood smile.” Direct quote. Only problem is? I don’t smile. I am in too much pain from those teeth that should have been extracted or should have if this practitioner of over 40 years had done his job instead of thinking with his wallet before thinking of the patients well being and health. So I walked away from there. Canceled my next appointment and have not booked another one with that “dentist”. It has been over a year now that I have not gone near a dentist. I will try again with this new one and see what she is like. Only I will tell her my story and make sure she understands; no filling only extractions. No cosmetic repairs, only pain relief. There is a war in my mouth, teeth are dying and I need someone to stop this agonizing pain from crushing my spirit and killing me with pain.