2005 Already Sucks

Posted on January 7, 2005 No Comments

All my gloating about how 2004 was such a great year caught up to me.

I spent the last few days nursing a toothache and managed to get a dentist appointment yesterday. After shaving a bit off my enamel to make room for some shifting – apparently two of my meaner teeth are bullying a little one out of place – the dentist told me that I must see an orthodontist and an oral surgeon. Talk about a bad prognosis!

Usually I’m content to count my blessings and deal with the bad news – hey, I’m lucky to even have teeth! – but this particular instance seems so unjust. My teeth don’t look bad at all, which is probably why after 10 years of insisting, I’ve still never had braces. My wisdom teeth have been sitting impacted in the jawbone for years, so I do not understand why they now are putting on the pressure.

Financially, this will set me back quite a bit. I have to check, but I belive the wisdom teeth procedure is covered in full. Orthodontics is another story entirely – insurance only pays for 50 percent of costs up until $1,500. The rest comes out of my pocket – a sad day for my savings account, indeed. I may have to adjust my goals for the year.

If this wasn’t bad enough, I have not yet put money into a flex-spending account. This is where you can put money aside each year to spend tax-free on health care expenses. Some companies, including mine, also allow you to set aside money for travel reimbursement and other expenses. However, I’ve never had any major procedures done and rarely get sick, so I have not contributed anything to this tax-free fund!

I suddenly flash back to Miranda’s troubles with braces during SATC and can’t help but cringe. Will I be the mid-20′s career woman with food stuck in my teeth? Will I want to smile if I wear braces (not likely, given the cost)? I’ve got a load of other concerns, but won’t bore you with them.

At the end of the day, I’m thankful to have insurance, glad that my mouth will stop hurting and realize that this work will save me a lot of pain and money in the long run. But pardon me if I complain about the procedures – I doubt anyone has ever used the words braces with glamorous, or professional or sexy in the same sentence.

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