Dental experiences with O.City

[O.city]

Had a pretty interesting day today at the office. Morning was pretty normal, drill and fill, check hygiene, extract a tooth etc. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Pretty normal lunch. Trolled around on CP, ate an apple and a handful of wheat thins.

Then the afternoon hit.

I see inmates from the county jail here in town if they have a tooth ache or something, sheriff or deputy will call up and bring them up in shackles and the whole bit. It's not big deal, most of them are just happy to get out of pain and it's not a problem. So dude comes in, my assistant goes in to ask the normal "which tooth is bothering you, let me get an xray, blah blah". I was in the lab doing something so I wasn't really paying attention. She comes in and says "doc, you will need to come look at something" to which I responded "he need a tooth out, which tooth is hurting"?

"All of them". Huh, ok, weird response but lets go check it out. Sure enough, continued meth use pretty much causes things to not go so well intraorally, so he was pretty much decayed out and most teeth were broken off to the gumline (google meth mouth if you want to see it, i'm not messing with photos). Asked if I could extract all 26 teeth he had left in the 30 minute block we had on the schedule for him.

I laughed, said "nah, which one hurts the worst, we'll take that out". He pointed to one, I numbed it up, used an elevator to take it out, about 30 seconds worth of pressure and it was pretty lose. 2 teeth next to it are super mobile and infected (which starts draining as I get this one out, that smelt nice) so I told him he was getting 2 free extractions since he was already numb in that area and they were loose and I was right there, no harm no foul.

It's always fun when we see the inmates, the Sheriff comes up and sits in the room with them all serious, then when I come in the room we talk about hunting or why the Chiefs always break hearts or something.

He breaks down and starts crying thanking me, that he already felt better (if you saw the amount of infection I drained, you'd see why) and asked if he could make an appointment for when he got out. "Sure, how long you think you'll be in this predicament".

"I figure 4 or 5 years, you scheduling ahead that far yet"? Told him nah, just take care of himself and come see me when he gets out.

Next patient is an amish guy (we have a fairly big amish community near us), super nice guy, needs a crown. Asks if he can barter instead of pay, I ask what is in it for me, said he'd bring me a dozen eggs every week for 6 months (they have chicken barns or something) or I could have a quarter of one of the cows they're butchering. Sold, eggs and beef for a crown, sign me up.

Only problem with that is he scheduled an appointment for himself, but brought 4 other family members who all needed work done.

So we had a waiting room full of inmates and Amish this afternoon. Thought that might be a good name of a band or something.

[bdj23]

Originally Posted by Macroach

My son is getting his wisdom teeth pulled. The dentist we have used for decades recently sold his business and retired. The new dentist wants to charge $300 per tooth for "collagen" which isn't covered by Delta Dental. Is this normal or are they just gouging us?

I got a wisdom tooth pulled for like $98 once. But i specifically requested "as cheap as possible".

[scho63]

Originally Posted by bdj23

I got a wisdom tooth pulled for like $98 once. But i specifically requested "as cheap as possible".

String tied around a door knob connected to your tooth is no longer an option.

[HonestChieffan]

Originally Posted by Monticore

What do they cost down there just curious , getting one soon

1500

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan

1500

About same I guess , just had an implant/post put in 1800$ insurance covered 1100$ , need crown , all on the same tooth I had root canal 5 years ago , pretty expensive tooth so far.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

I was quoted $4000 to remove all 4 wisdom teeth last year. I just kept them. **** THAT!

[kcpasco]

Try 8 crowns , my molars are screwed from grinding them almost flat.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Why does dental insurance not to cover much?

For the same reason every other insurance doesn't cover much.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Macroach

My son is getting his wisdom teeth pulled. The dentist we have used for decades recently sold his business and retired. The new dentist wants to charge $300 per tooth for "collagen" which isn't covered by Delta Dental. Is this normal or are they just gouging us?

They do all kinds of stuff now for grafting....I've never heard it for wisdom teeth but I don't do any of that so I'm out of the loop.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by kcpasco

Try 8 crowns , my molars are screwed from grinding them almost flat.

Not fun.

Those tend to end in full mouth rehab cases which are not the most cost effective.

[Hoover]

Is it a sign that I’m getting old that I always enjoy this thread when it randomly pops up?

[O.city]

Have had some wild shit happen lately.

Came in to the office Tuesday morning, at my rural office and a little ol lady is sitting in here car in the parking lot with the windows down. I walk by to get to the front door and she immediately starts in on me. "These dentures don't fit, I gotta have something done".

Ok, no problem. Come on in. She sits down and just continues to berate me for them. "I can't believe you would make a set of dentures that fit this poorly, how do you live with yourself. If I had any money I would get a lawyer and we would have it out".

So I sit and listen to her for 15 minutes. Finally she stops for a minute to let me respond, so I calmly say "Ma'am, this is the first time I have ever seen you. I don't know where you had these made, but it wasn't here".

She looks at me bewildered, says "Wait, you aren't Dr (Insert some other name)".

"No".

She gets up and walks out.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by O.city

Have had some wild shit happen lately.

Came in to the office Tuesday morning, at my rural office and a little ol lady is sitting in here car in the parking lot with the windows down. I walk by to get to the front door and she immediately starts in on me. "These dentures don't fit, I gotta have something done".

Ok, no problem. Come on in. She sits down and just continues to berate me for them. "I can't believe you would make a set of dentures that fit this poorly, how do you live with yourself. If I had any money I would get a lawyer and we would have it out".

So I sit and listen to her for 15 minutes. Finally she stops for a minute to let me respond, so I calmly say "Ma'am, this is the first time I have ever seen you. I don't know where you had these made, but it wasn't here".

She looks at me bewildered, says "Wait, you aren't Dr (Insert some other name)".

"No".

She gets up and walks out.

I hope you got all her insurance information before she sat down...

[O.city]

Hell nah, I didn't want anything to do with that. Sent her on her way, hopefully she finds the office that made them.

[ChiefaRoo]

Originally Posted by bdj23

I got a wisdom tooth pulled for like $98 once. But i specifically requested "as cheap as possible".

I’ve never understood the whole idea of wanting cheap dentistry. Some people talk about it like it’s a rip off to get high quality dental work.

You need a healthy mouth to function. You need a nice looking mouth so as to not look like a troll when you’re older. Then there’s the mechanicals of keeping your jaw aligned and all the possible TMJ and cervical issues if your bite is all jacked up because of missing teeth. Teeth do so much for us.

Spend the money. ( I’m not affiliated with any form of dentistry)

[O.city]

Kinda falls into the "good, fast, or cheap" thing.