In Which Mike Goes to the Emergency Room
I dropped off the health care debate radar for a few days. Friends keep sending me links and articles on the issue. I appreciate all the input and know that there are many out there who have a dog in this fight for many different reasons. I hope to address some of these reasons soon, both left and right. But, right now I want to tell you about the last few days. I'll keep it as brief as I can, but the details are telling.
As a child, I did not visit the dentist very regularly. But, every time I did, I got the same answers: "Not a single cavity. Whatever you are doing, keep it up!" My mother had no trouble with her teeth either. My father did. But it looked like I was taking after mom. My wisdom teeth came in later in life, and I had no difficulty, pain, etc. So many people I knew were having their wisdom teeth cut out or pulled. I really thought I was lucky.
Fast forward to about 1999. One day, a hole appeared in one of my molars, on the top (the chewing surface). Not a "cavity", a freaking hole! It looked like someone had taken a nail and punched a hole in my tooth. I got to the dentist, paid out of pocket to have it drilled and filled, and went on my merry way. No other troubles to speak of.
Fast forward to 2003. Another molar suddenly broke. Broke! Then another. I spoke to insurance agents about dental insurance, knowing I would have some serious work to do. I was told bluntly that the insurance they could sell me would not be worth much. I bought anyway. Basically, it's a discount plan for maintenance, and wouldn't cover much more. I was, and still am, paying out of pocket for dental insurance. Even with part of a procedure being covered, the kind of work I need to have done would be outrageously expensive. I've paid for a root canal, a wisdom tooth extraction, many x-rays. Finally, one helpful dentist told me that I should have had my wisdom teeth removed when they came in, despite not having had any pain. Apparently, they had crowded other teeth, cut off blood supply, and over the years, a chain of problems was quietly forming that had no visible evidence on the surface until that first ominous "nail hole". Even the x-rays at that time had not revealed the trouble to come.
So, for the past 6 years I have had major dental problems. Again, I have dental insurance, but it is only helpful for routine cleanings, simple extractions, etc. I have been to clinic after clinic. I've amassed hundreds of dollars in bills. I've been to the emergency room more times than I can count, only to get some immediate pain relief and an antibiotic (which, of course, is all an ER is required to do).
For the past several days I have been in outrageous pain, popping four Advil and four Tylenol in rotation. Finally, at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning, I went in to the ER again and laid the problem before yet another doctor. He helped relieve some of the abscess pressure on my gums and sinuses (an extremely painful procedure), wrote me pain med and antibiotic prescriptions (for which I have no discount plan), and told me that I "need to get those teeth out" (surgically removed). I asked him point-blank if he had any suggestions as to how to do that given my circumstance and needs. He did not.
Some problems in this world are not black and white. There are individual circumstances that would take way too long, and reveal way more than we may feel comfortable to explain. Cars break down, jobs end, babies arrive, etc. No one can judge anyone else in terms of what we think WE would have done differently. I keep telling myself that I will remember that when dealing with others in the future. It's the lesson that makes all this not entirely worthless.
The obvious answer in this society to problems like mine is, keep insurance. Oh, if only that were so simple. Insurance companies like to quote that they do insure 86% of this country, as though that were sufficient. One of the most insidious factors in this debate is "under-insurance", that is to say, you are paying for insurance, but it is ineffective for anything that would be big enough to break you anyway. And, dental work is seen as a cosmetic thing most of the time. Far from it. Abscesses can be life-threatening. And the psychological factors faced by people who have dental problems are huge. It always amazes me that dental and vision insurances are lumped together, sold separately, and are barely worth anything.
I've seen quite a lot of coverage lately on an outfit called Remote Area Medical (RAM). (Check out the video below for more on them.) RAM was originally intended to help people in Third World countries, but has found it necessary to focus more on the United States. Think about that. We are being aided by organizations as though we were a Third World country! We should be ashamed of this.
Luckily, my wife (who has asthma) and our kids are covered. Of course, we have also been the victim of one of those insurance company charge-backs you've heard of. One day we suddenly owed about $1000 that we had been told was covered. There is, apparently, a (private) bureaucrat standing between us and our doctors.
So, pardon my absence. The swelling has gone down, I have been off the pain meds for two days, things are returning to "normal". Which, of course, means that I am waiting for the next disaster, knowing that it's not a matter of "if", but "when".
As a child, I did not visit the dentist very regularly. But, every time I did, I got the same answers: "Not a single cavity. Whatever you are doing, keep it up!" My mother had no trouble with her teeth either. My father did. But it looked like I was taking after mom. My wisdom teeth came in later in life, and I had no difficulty, pain, etc. So many people I knew were having their wisdom teeth cut out or pulled. I really thought I was lucky.
Fast forward to about 1999. One day, a hole appeared in one of my molars, on the top (the chewing surface). Not a "cavity", a freaking hole! It looked like someone had taken a nail and punched a hole in my tooth. I got to the dentist, paid out of pocket to have it drilled and filled, and went on my merry way. No other troubles to speak of.
Fast forward to 2003. Another molar suddenly broke. Broke! Then another. I spoke to insurance agents about dental insurance, knowing I would have some serious work to do. I was told bluntly that the insurance they could sell me would not be worth much. I bought anyway. Basically, it's a discount plan for maintenance, and wouldn't cover much more. I was, and still am, paying out of pocket for dental insurance. Even with part of a procedure being covered, the kind of work I need to have done would be outrageously expensive. I've paid for a root canal, a wisdom tooth extraction, many x-rays. Finally, one helpful dentist told me that I should have had my wisdom teeth removed when they came in, despite not having had any pain. Apparently, they had crowded other teeth, cut off blood supply, and over the years, a chain of problems was quietly forming that had no visible evidence on the surface until that first ominous "nail hole". Even the x-rays at that time had not revealed the trouble to come.
So, for the past 6 years I have had major dental problems. Again, I have dental insurance, but it is only helpful for routine cleanings, simple extractions, etc. I have been to clinic after clinic. I've amassed hundreds of dollars in bills. I've been to the emergency room more times than I can count, only to get some immediate pain relief and an antibiotic (which, of course, is all an ER is required to do).
For the past several days I have been in outrageous pain, popping four Advil and four Tylenol in rotation. Finally, at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning, I went in to the ER again and laid the problem before yet another doctor. He helped relieve some of the abscess pressure on my gums and sinuses (an extremely painful procedure), wrote me pain med and antibiotic prescriptions (for which I have no discount plan), and told me that I "need to get those teeth out" (surgically removed). I asked him point-blank if he had any suggestions as to how to do that given my circumstance and needs. He did not.
Some problems in this world are not black and white. There are individual circumstances that would take way too long, and reveal way more than we may feel comfortable to explain. Cars break down, jobs end, babies arrive, etc. No one can judge anyone else in terms of what we think WE would have done differently. I keep telling myself that I will remember that when dealing with others in the future. It's the lesson that makes all this not entirely worthless.
The obvious answer in this society to problems like mine is, keep insurance. Oh, if only that were so simple. Insurance companies like to quote that they do insure 86% of this country, as though that were sufficient. One of the most insidious factors in this debate is "under-insurance", that is to say, you are paying for insurance, but it is ineffective for anything that would be big enough to break you anyway. And, dental work is seen as a cosmetic thing most of the time. Far from it. Abscesses can be life-threatening. And the psychological factors faced by people who have dental problems are huge. It always amazes me that dental and vision insurances are lumped together, sold separately, and are barely worth anything.
I've seen quite a lot of coverage lately on an outfit called Remote Area Medical (RAM). (Check out the video below for more on them.) RAM was originally intended to help people in Third World countries, but has found it necessary to focus more on the United States. Think about that. We are being aided by organizations as though we were a Third World country! We should be ashamed of this.
Luckily, my wife (who has asthma) and our kids are covered. Of course, we have also been the victim of one of those insurance company charge-backs you've heard of. One day we suddenly owed about $1000 that we had been told was covered. There is, apparently, a (private) bureaucrat standing between us and our doctors.
So, pardon my absence. The swelling has gone down, I have been off the pain meds for two days, things are returning to "normal". Which, of course, means that I am waiting for the next disaster, knowing that it's not a matter of "if", but "when".
posted by Mike at 5:10 PM
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