And now, if I may, I will allow a very brief moment to my normally submersed, but at rare and important moments totally visible, woe-is-me-I-should-have-made-my-husband-go-to-dental-school attitude.
When my husband began his anesthesiology residency, the program immediately gave my husband three choices for a dental insurance plan. Of course I worked on our budget, of course I did the research on the available plans, of course I chose which plan our family would have all year, of course my cheapness won out, and of course I chose the managed-care plan rather than the expensive "deluxe" plan.
And why am I allowing this attitude to win out at this moment?
Because I went to the dentist today. And despite my managed-care plan, I will still be forking over a lot of money. BUT, the quality of care during my scary appointment is extremely questionable. It is clear to me now that I should have chosen the deluxe plan.
Why is it important to choose the "deluxe" plan? So that you are not wincing in pain during a check-up and dental cleaning, not to mention constantly wondering with increasing fear of the very real possibility that the attending "dentist" and "hygienist" are actually doing more damage to your teeth than good.
Afterwards, while complaining and describing my fearful experience to my husband, I said to him, "I should have made you go to dental school."
He responded kindly, "Why don't you go to dental school?" Then I said, "Because I would still have to give all of my, or rather, all of your money to a dentist."
Then I said to my oldest son: "You are going to become a dentist." And then, completely forgetting that he is a bit motivated by money lately as he desperately wants to buy more Pokemon cards whenever possible, I added, "You should become a dentist so that you can take care of my teeth for free, so that I will not be poor forever because I give all of my money to dentists."
Without a hesitation he said, "And I will raise my price to a hundred thousand dollars to clean your teeth."
Darn it. I just can't win.
3 comments:
Yea, all my kids WILL be dentists as well. (just kidding, sorta.)
My favorite is listening to dentist wives complain. It cracks me up, and I try so, so hard to be composed about it. "What, you mean he was gone for like a 9 hour shift? That's so unfair!"
AMEN!
I hate the dentist. Dental problems, etc.
They are like a dark hole in my life!
(Sid has the WORST teeth!). I should just plan now to divvy out 10% of every paycheck to dental!
ARGH!
There are ALOT of dentists/hygienists out there like that. But I ASSURE you they aren't ALL like that. If you move back to Utah, I'll give you some good referrals or you could even come see me. :)
I think dental insurance is a rip-off for some people. Thankfully I get free dental for my entire family just for working 2 days/month. If you don't get cavities and only usually need cleanings, it may be cheaper to go without insurance. Plus, most offices will give you 10% off if you don't have insurance and pay in full at the time of service.
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