Dentist Visit

[Timothy]

I may have talked about my dental problems here before, but if not, the gist of it is that I have to have the majority of my teeth pulled and replaced with partial dentures. I've been putting it off for far too long, but I finally have a good job with good benefits, so I really don't have an excuse to procrastinate anymore. I had my wife call and make the appointment for me, so now I'm scheduled to see the dentist this Thursday. I am so nervous! My stomach ties up in knots every time I think about it.

Anyone else here had to have major dental work?

 

[Salazar]

Best of luck to you, Timothy! I hope it goes well and that you have a smooth healing process. I have to go at the end of the month to have my wisdom teeth out. This will be the biggest dental procedure I've ever had.

 

[Andersson]

A dentist visitor is not something you should put off for too long, I can even attest to that. Looking back I wish I had done implants instead of dentures (or partials) but they were just not around when I needed mine. Rest as much as you can when you get back, you will need it!

 

[Timothy]

Yeah, I'd like to do implants instead of dentures myself, but given the number of teeth I have to have removed, the implants just aren't affordable. Before I signed up for dental insurance through my employer, my wife and I went to the dentist for the consultation and they quoted us $8,000-10,000 for all the dental work that needs to be done - and that's with dentures, not implants. I signed up for dental insurance shortly after that and they are supposed to pay 65% of all the major work, so that's going to help a lot, but I still don't think we can do implants right now. Right now my stomach is just tied up in knots, thinking about where I'll be at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning! At least the dentist was nice enough to write me a prescription for Valium so that I'll be able to sleep tonight.

 

[polamalu43]

Wow, that is a lot of money! Sounds like you put it off for a bit too long. I haven't had any major work done on my teeth yet. They are still in pretty good shape too. My parents both have a great set of teeth so I'm hoping that I follow in their footsteps.

 

[Andersson]

A friend of mine went overseas (to Budapest) for implants and said compared to the US or UK prices it was very affordable. I always worry about going somewhere like this, how safe can it really be?

 

[Timothy]

Polamalu43 - I did put the work off for too long, but I was in a situation for a long time where I really couldn't afford the dental work. You're lucky that genetics gave you good teeth; everyone in my family has dental problems.

Andersson - I don't know how I would feel about having any kind of medical work done overseas. I've heard of stuff like that, but I just don't know. What if they mess up, you know?

Anyways, first visit went better than expected. They pulled 5 teeth from the right side of my mouth and so far, I think I'm healing okay. I go back this Thursday to have the stitches removed and schedule the next appointment.