Can I just say I love my dentist,

Robin Bays, and her office staff? Not only did she NOT run screaming at seeing the shape of my mouth after several years of not seeing a dentist, she 1) went straight to work on the initial problem, requiring a root canal, 2) set up a cleaning (today), 3) did the cleaning herself when the hygienist was unavailable, 4) they all did a really good job of staying in latex-free gloves (although I caught her once before anything came of it), 5) took x-rays painlessly, 6) set up my appointment to see an oral surgeon, rather than making me do it, 7) set up the three appointments I'll need for my treatment plan plus another cleaning in 6 months, so I'm all set and could get good times, 8) have been really good about payment flexibility, and 9) are just so darn friendly. They also took panoramic views of my mouth so the oral surgeon won't have to and gave it to me to take. Plus I saw them work with another patient, a young girl, today who was very nervous and they were explaining everything really well and were going to give her nitrous oxide to calm her down and even explained everything to do with that really well.

The verdict, which I've known for years, is that I really need my wisdom teeth out, have needed them for all this time, and now for the first time I feel fine about going under sedation to do it. (Having survived two surgeries in the past year, I'm not as nervous). Plus I have a broken tooth that needs removal. So that's five to have out all at once. Gack! But once they heal we can start replacing some fillings and work on crowns and spacers.

I'm so glad my flexible spending account is going to have a debit card attached to it starting January 1st. That way I don't have to come up with the cash on hand first before getting it reimbursed. Looks like my main project in the coming year will be my teeth. Maybe I shouldn't have reduced the amount I'm having taken out after all. Oh, well. We're going to try to have the oral surgery done sometime this month. I have an evaluation next week. That comes under this year and I still have about $600 left to spend or I'll lose it. So here's hoping we can get it done soon.