Dental rip-off

Well I went to the dentist. A nice guy. Got his quals in Stellenbosch in South Africa, and has an accent to match. Not that I would hold that against him. S35 for the consultation. Gave me a story about how the lower jaw is the strongest bone in the body and he has to remove a molar from it, and that this is serious bone surgery. Pull the other one. No, just take the tooth out. He gave me three options; local anesthetic, which he did not recommend, a general anesthetic, which he also did not recommend, and something in-between, which he recommended. So I agreed to that. The "surgery" will take place in 5 weeks time. And the cost! $360 for the facility fee (something to do with the high costs of keeping his practice going), $170 for the anesthetic, and $180 for the surgery, less what I get back from my health care fund. What a shock. I am in the wrong profession. My daughter is studying law, perhaps she should have done dentistry, but then she is not big on blood. So 5 more weeks of discomfort. Any similar dental stories out there? What happens to all those poor people who can't afford it? This is a real dog-eat-dog world. I pity all those being eaten, or living in fear of being eaten

Having a tooth out

This afternoon I have an appointment to have a molar removed. I had root-canal treatment a year ago. 3 expensive treatments involving significant discomfort and pain. Everything was fine for a few months and then it started hurting again. I went back to the endodontist, who confirmed that it had not worked. It needs to come out. I am now adept at eating out of one side of my mouth, but as I am traveling overseas in a few months I need to get it out sooner rather than later. What a performance. I rang my dentist who declined to take it out. I need to see an oral surgeon. He needs another x-ray, which I had done yesterday. An extraordinary machine, made in Finland, that takes a 180 degree shot of your teeth. It is called an orthopantomograph. I felt like I was on the set of a high-tech science fiction movie. It made strange whirring noises as it did its work. This afternoon I go to meet the oral surgeon who will look at the offending tooth, presumably make a decision, and then I have to organize the final appointment to have it taken out. All this of course at further significant expense. I can't believe that all this is necessary. They already have an x-ray, why couldn't they just take it out like they did in the past? I asked the dental receptionist who is very sympathetic, and who assures me that it is all for legal reasons, and that this is how it is now done. No wonder these people are so busy and have such long waiting lists.

Hello

My first Blog entry, from little things, big things grow. I have written a personal diary for the past 5 years. I will not put that online but will supplement it with my idiosyncratic thoughts and musings