Cavaties and Drills and Needles! Oh My!
April 28th, 2008
The day had finally come when I needed to go back to the dentist to get a couple of fillings. I needed to go to the dentist not just for the fillings, but for general oral health. That, and I needed to use up my Flexible Spending Account that expired on June 30th. I had planned to use some of it on my first visit to the dentist, but I didn’t need to pay anything. Thankfully today was a different story.
I never thought I would be glad to be charged for something in my entire life. The thing is, with a Flexible Spending Account, you either use the money or you lose it. Since this was pre-tax money taken form my check, I had no intention of losing it. Enter the dentist.
The money was reserved to get my wisdom teeth removed, a task I’ve been putting off for darn near a decade. I’ve never had surgery in my entire life and I was planning on keeping it that way. My wisdom teeth weren’t hurting and they weren’t impacted so I didn’t think there was any reason to go through with it. Then I got tired of biting the inside of my cheek. I don’t know for sure if my wisdom teeth are to blame, but I suppose having them extracted is just a part of life.
I arrive at the dentist office and sit in the waiting room, nervous, but not beyond reason. I mean, I was about to have someone drill into 2 teeth. Then a man comes in complaining that his mouth was bleeding, a lot. My nervous quotient jumped a little but still within a reasonable range. The hygienist comes into the waiting room and calls my name. I stand hesitantly.
She walks me down the hall and around a corner leading me to one of those awesome reclining chairs. I sit down and she asks if I want to watch TV, I say yes. She flips it on and I watch Oprah. Great! I wanted to see that episode. Then the dentist comes in and begins the procedure.
Forty minutes later he’s done and I didn’t even feel a twinge of discomfort, aside from the stretching and pulling of my cheeks and lips. Also, my tongue was as dry as the Sahara. The greatest thing about the visit, my bill came to $140! Excellent, I had $360 remaining sure that would cover at least some of my Wisdom teeth extraction.
I asked the receptionist if I can pay for some of my extractions now and then pay the rest when I get the done. By the time my appointment rolls around, I will have more money in my FSA. She says my portion of the wisdom teeth extraction comes to $236. WHAT!!! NO!!! That leaves me with $124 on my card. I was expecting it to cost me $600 or so dollars. Stupid awesome insurance.
All is not lost. I will be going to the eye doctor in a couple of weeks and hopefully I can find some glasses. Still there is a problem, I get a pretty good lens and frame allowance, maybe I’ll also get some sunglasses I’ll never wear! Regardless, I’m doing exactly what I didn’t want to do; scramble to find $500 worth of medical procedures a couple months before my FSA expires.
Tags: dentist
