Unfiltered Story #228877

Due to an assortment of issues, I was not able to have a normal, annuan dental appointment for a number of years. While I tried to take care of them, I’ve always had ‘bad teeth’, and by the time I have proper insurance and ability to get an appointment, I have a number of minor pre-cavities that need to be filled, but also one tooth that has a sizeable hole in it. I get to the dentist and he starts looking over my teeth.

Unfortunately, this dentist apparently thinks shame is the best motivator. We literally spend the next twenty minutes with him telling me all the problems I have with my teeth, and what I should have done to prevent them. He doesn’t listen to me when I say that I’ve tried to remember to brush, floss and mouthwash daily, I “obviously was skipping most of the time.” He didn’t listen when I said that my dentist when I was younger outright told me the ENAMEL was fine but I was prone to weak interiors, so minor damage got complicated in a hurry. He didn’t listen when I said that I really did want to come properly now but COULD NOT due to insurance and personal finance issues.

By the end of it, I have two cavities filled and a root canal. I asked him to assure me that the root canal was COMPLETELY covered by my insurance, because I didn’t have several hundred extra dollars to spend. He assured me it was. The procedure is done, I go out to schedule the follow-up… And am asked for two hundred and fifty dollars. Because as it turns out my insurance only covered HALF of the initial procedure, and if in the follow-up he put on a full crown like he wanted, that counted as ‘elected cosmetic’ and would not be covered at all. I outright told the woman to forget the follow-up and send me a bill.

I was eventually able to find a free light-work clinic that was able to replace the temporary filling with a permanent one (shocker, no extra crown needed) and it turned out he hadn’t even given a PROPER root canal, it was only effectively a very deep cavity fill. Unfortunately, he put a deep-seeded phobia-slash-anger of dentists in me, and several of my problem-prone molars have now broken down completely. They need surgical removal, which my insurance only covers by half, and replacement by either dentures, bridges or full implants, in order of reducing coverage. So now I either have to chew with partially-covered-by-gum nubs or put myself into bankruptcy. And the dentist I went to is no longer in practice, or at least has moved and I can’t find him.

And then people wonder why I’m such an advocate for single-payer health care!