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Ibuprofen usually works wonders on The Mommy. I usually take it very sparingly and only if I have to but, for the past 24 hours, I have been eating it like candy. Probably because it’s about the only thing that will fit in my mouth! I still can’t open it very far and it hurts like it’s on fire. I did get in to see a magnificent dentist yesterday morning, however. He and his office staff were amazing. Extremely friendly, reassuring and professional. And they had the coolest panoramic x-ray thingy! They used it instead of the traditional stick-the-wierd-thingy-in-your-mouth kind after trying the first one and almost not being able to get it out of my mouth. I cried it hurt so bad. They even called in a favor with an oral surgeon to get me in to have a wisdom tooth out today when they are techinically booked until September. Wow! Much different than the herd-’em-in, get-’em-out dentist offices I have always been to. Turns out there’s a reason for that, unfortunately.

Let me back up and say that I got a recommendation for this dentist from one of The Daddy’s colleagues the he works with at the school district. She loves this dentist and I can see why after going yesterday. I assumed, as did the dentist office, that we had the same insurance since they work for the same district. They did not take my insurance card because of that and I didn’t think anything of it. Well, I arrived at the oral surgeon’s for a consult yesterday to talk about sedation and so that he could take a look to make sure the other wisdom teeth didn’t need to come out as well and, guess what? HE’S NOT A PROVIDER IN MY LAME-ASSED HMO-TYPE DENTAL INSURANCE PLAN. AAAAAAAH! So, while sitting in the oral surgeon’s waiting room, I am on the phone to the district office’s health benefits person, the dental insurance company, and another dentist that IS in my network to see if I can get in that day so I can get a referral to an oral surgeon that IS in my network. CRAP. CRAP. CRAP. CRAP. Sitting in the waiting room I am about to cry because my mouth is throbbing and it was so reassuring to just know that it was all taken care of. They were just going to get this done. And then it all fell apart. Obviously, I should have been more on top of who was in my network and who wasn’t. I should have called my dental insurance to change my provider before going yesterday. Then I would have known that the wonderful dentist was not in my network. And I would have had a clue that the oral surgeon that they referred me to would not be in my network. Apparently there are two different plans at the school district and we have the plan that does not have access to the wonderful dentists because we don’t pay a premium each month. I guess we just get the crappy dentists. Because the dentist’s office that I had gone to (I’m not even going to tell you how long ago…it’s embarrassing) was crappy. That’s why I was looking for a recommendation for another one.

Well, so as not to bore you any more than you already are (probably too late), I went ahead with the consult ($75 cha-ching) and they calculated the fees for me (cha-ching, cha-ching) and I will be going ahead with the surgery today because it’s only (ha!) $295. I just need it taken care of and The Daddy agrees. It’s not like we have $300 laying around but it’s gotta be done. It would have been better if it was taken care of through insurance but, in the grand scheme of things, it is not going to break us. And I really would rather not go through the entire weekend popping barely safe levels of ibuprofen that will, at best, make me feel minimally human and decrease the insistent throbbing to a dull ache. This way, The Daddy is home to help me with Tater Tot while I recover, which is nice. Worth the money in my opinion.

A couple of good things that have come out of this: 1) I get a rest. Not the way I would have liked to get a rest but it is what it is and I’m grateful for a helpful husband. 2) I have a renewed motivation to keep better track of our insurance and to maintain regular dental visits. Don’t really want to go through this again. Silly Mommy.