My Dentist, My Therapist

I went to the dentist today to start the beginning of the crown for the tooth with the root canal. I had some other questions about teeth that are already slated for work or have been giving me problems. When she told me I might need yet another crown, I almost burst into tears. She numbed me up and asked me what was wrong--I seemed "off." I am in insurance hell right now. As I mentined earlier, my insurance company is refusing to pay for the trip to the ER because the diagnosis was dental, and they don't cover dental. I have the right to appeal. To make the whole situation worse, while I was talking to the hospital to get the paperwork lined up for the appeal, the hospital people noticed something was off. After some investigation, it turns out I owe even more than I originally thought. I am taking tomorrow off, and I will spend most of the day rounding up paperwork from two different places that show I had no clue the reason my face swelled up was dental. And I didn't. One person at the insurance company told me none of this matters--the only thing that matters is that final diagnosis and that was dental. They will not cover anything that begins with a tooth, therefore I am SOL. (Honestly, this was the short version.)

Anyway, I spilled all of this to my dentist without crying. While I was getting all numb, she talked to their insurance person. Obviously, they can't file anything (although my dentist began to wonder if there was something she could do or write that would help, but she didn't think so), but they all had suggestions. Basically, they said, insurance companies want you to give up and that is what they count on. So, according to my dentist, the key is to never give up. The HR guy where I work told me to talk to the highest level person possible. If one person doesn't seem to know what they are talking about, ask for their manager and then their manager, etc. Of course, when I called the insurance company today and asked for the manager I found out the nastiest person I had talked towas the manager. I stood my ground, refused to talk to her again and asked for her manager. The next step may be the state insurance commissioner. Again, short version.

I did the crown without Nitrous. And a cavity. I needed a filling in the tooth next to it so they went ahead and did it too since I was there. And unlike the endodontist who did the root canal they told me if I wanted Nitrous, I could have it, nooooo problem. I was proud of myself for not using it, but I think I was tense ans shaking the whole three hours. (Yes, three goddamn hours.) And it was uncomfortable. And I needed extra Novocaine. And you know what I was thinking the entire time? The new season of The Real Housewives of Orange County starts on tonight. Hey, if that is what gets me through someone drilling my tooth to a nub only to build the damn thing back up, I make no apologies. Next crown? Nitrous.

I had other questions about other teeth. I had some serious concerns, but after more checking and poking and biting down on things, everything looks like it was when I was there last month (one more crown and one more filling).

I can't tell you how happy I am to have a five day weekend. I need it.