Rhonda Bracey: At Random

I drove up to the city on Monday for my consultation with the oral surgeon (see my Expensive date post for why I needed to visit the oral surgeon in the first place). Yes, the tooth has to come out.

The good:

• My appointment was for 11:45 AM. I expected to wait at least 30 minutes as that’s the norm with every medical specialist I think I’ve ever seen. But no. Right on 11:45 he came out with his previous patient and I was called in.
• The oral surgeon is a nice chap. Very warm and friendly. Looks you in the eye. Treats you like a human.
• He had a cancellation for this Friday, so I was offered that spot for the surgery. It was that or February 2010. I took Friday.
• He had no problem with my request to be totally knocked out for the surgery, though he did say that under local my brain wouldn’t process the sounds I was hearing. Um, I think it would!

The not so good:

• The consultation was $100 and his fee for the surgery will be $450. The anaesthestist’s fee will be around $435, and then there will be the hospital fee. My medical insurance will cover parts of some of these bills, but I’ll still have to pay the rest. Add in the cost (time and money) of driving to the city twice in the one week, plus an overnight stay in Perth after my afternoon surgery.
• Driving to and from Perth in one day (about 5 hours round trip), including a visit to the oral surgeon and a potential client is tiring. Having to come back again on Friday is a pain, but it has to be done.
• Having mouth surgery means a certain amount of pain plus eating only soft foods for a period of time. No steak for me for a while…

This is only the second stage of the process (the first was the temporary filling done on the day I bit into that date). In some months (after the gum has healed) I need to decide if I want an implant or a bridge. If it’s an implant, that means more surgery; a bridge would be done by my dentist. Whatever I decide means more trips to Perth and a lot more cost.

They say that as you age, your health starts to go. In our case, it’s our teeth! No-one mentions that. BTW, my husband has to return to Perth next Tuesday for his new crown — another trip for him plus an overnight stay.

Maybe the tooth fairy will help with the costs!