I get to be a king… I think.
Lucky for me, I get a dental crown, and I currently have a temporary crown. My dentist has been watching a tooth of mine for about 18 months, and last week while eating a piece of sausage, it finally gave away.
Suddenly, I was spitting out chunks of filling and enamel. Once i got to a mirror, I eventually found out I was missing a quarter of one of my molars. A little concerned, but I knew what it was. I was just hoping the pain would not follow. And I got lucky, it didn’t. Now, how to get it fixed.
My dentist had recently switched to be a premiere dentist, not a PPO. That means they are more expensive for fancy stuff, but cleanings would still be the same. So, since I wasn’t having any pain, Melody and I took the opportunity to shop around. I had a consult set up with my dentist, Dental Health Associates, on the 12th, four days after loosing the filling, and they confirmed that a crown was needed. But, my out of pocket would be near $600. Not what I really I had in mind. Melody called the insurance company (Delta Dental), and found Stacey Dental in Madison. It is a father/son dentistry, and more importantly to me, an insurance PPO. The estimate for out-of-pocket was $450. They could get me in on the 18th, and that was OK since I was not having any pain.
They called on Wednesday evening, saying they could get me in on Thursday (three days early). How awesome, especially for a place that had never seen me before. But because of a crazy work routine, I declined. I went in on Monday, and the place was great. The hygienist was good (but aren’t they always?) and Dr Eric was great too. Best numbing I have ever had, and had no pain while he chunked out the rest of my tooth. Even when the numbing wore off around 6 pm, my pain was more of just from my jaw being open than anything to do with the tooth. How pleasant!
So I will go back in two weeks to get the permanent crown, and then I will officially be a king. And if you ever need a dentist in Madison, check out Stacey Dental. It seems like a nice down to earth place.