The Dental Results

Not good. Caps. On most of his teeth. :(  The dentist said that his teeth are all bad. The enamel is bad, most likely due to lack of nutrition during the time he spent in his bio-mother's belly when the baby teeth are formed. I'm so sad for him and for his little teeth. The molars he needs until he is 11 or 12, so they are worth saving. His two front top teeth will get caps too - they will be white on the front so they should look nice. Still sucks though. They obviously have to put him under to do the work since he's so young and would never sit still to have all that done. One of the holes is so deep they're not sure they can save it. He may also need some "root work" (root canals).

I'm angry too. Mostly at my current dentist. I knew that bad teeth were a good possibility given his background so I first brought him to the dentist when he was barely two. Just after his molars came in. They looked funny to me - different colors. The (idiot) dentist said it was nothing to worry about. I brought him back in when he turned 3 this spring. He wasn't very cooperative so they didn't want to push it and didn't do ANYTHING. I wish now that I would have made them give him an exam. Maybe that would have meant his teeth were not so bad now. My poor baby.

Then comes the "How the hell am I going to pay for this???"  I'm waiting for my dental insurance to give their estimate on what they will pay before I totally freak out but the dentist estimated the work to be around $2,250. That doesn't include any of the other charges for putting him under. That would fall under my health insurance...which has a $2,000 deductible. Oh joy. I'm fully expecting that this will cost me about $2500 out of pocket - after the dental insurance pays. We shall see. I'll have to get a loan for it...obviously he needs it done. I can't really afford another payment...and I have my doubts that they will even lend me the money, but I have to try.