Dental Mishap
Randy, myself, and Evie have both medical and dental insurance for a short period (March through end of July). Randy has so much work on his teeth that needs to be done. He had some of it done by a dentist out in Los Angeles when we had our prior insurance. But then Evie came, our insurance ended shortly after her birth, and he didn't go back to do all the rest of the work.
With this new insurance and the fact the life is just busier having a baby, we decided to go with a local dentist rather than having to go all the way out to L.A. We went with a dentist that is literally 10 minutes away.
I liked them. Randy liked them. Evie's first visit... she didn't like them, but what 18 month old would like having a stranger attempt to open her mouth and take a peek.
At Randy's first visit they took x-rays. We already knew the work that needed to be done from the previous dentist x-rays. The only thing (as far as I know since we weren't given a treatment plan) that the new dentist recommended was having the very back top tooth on the left side removed as it had no purpose since the very back bottom tooth has been gone for a long time. So with no opposing bottom tooth, the top back tooth really wasn't doing much because there would be no "opposing tooth" chew action. And the dentist said something about the damage this could cause the top back tooth/jaw over time because of no opposing tooth... something about the jaw needs opposing action in order to remain strong and to maintain density. And something about the tooth above (or below) a missing tooth shifting due to no opposing tooth.
What I do know is that I told Randy that his top back tooth was healthy enough (just a gold filling but nothing else) and it seemed kinda extreme to extract it. It seemed like a better idea to get an tooth implant on the back bottom so that the top would have an opposing tooth. While implants are expensive, I would've (and Randy too) preferred to pay that money for a bottom tooth implant rather than losing a good top tooth.
Now, there was another tooth that definitely needed an extraction. Same side as the top back tooth - just two teeth away from the back tooth. It has been dead for a while. And a dead tooth is no good.
I asked Randy to please get a treatment plan so that we know the exact costs, and we could determine what was affordable at this time (since the insurance doesn't cover the full cost of anything) and also so that he could discuss with the dentist what he wanted to have done versus what the dentist put on the list.
After the initial x-rays (which were a week or so ago), Randy went in this past Tuesday to have the first half of his cleaning done - they did not have a treatment plan ready for him. Then yesterday, he was to have the second half of his cleaning done and they (dentist and Randy) also decided to extract the dead tooth.
The extraction was brutal and painful, but Randy made it through the procedure and went to work right afterwards. Towards the end of the work day the novacaine (or whatever they used to numb him) was wearing off and something didn't feel right. So on the way home (I assume at a stop light), he looked inside his mouth and the dead tooth was gone, but so was the top tooth in the very back!!
When Randy got home he was visibly upset and shaken. He asked me to look in his mouth and verify what he already knew. I was shocked that they took his back tooth out!!
He told me that the dentist never cleared it with him to extract that back tooth and that after the procedure the dentist said something about getting money out of the gold filling that was on the back tooth. Randy thought he meant when (if) they extracted it in the future.
I told him to call the dentist immediately which he did. Randy spoke to the wife who is also a dentist at that office, and he expressed how upset he was and how the (husband) dentist never cleared that particular extraction with him. She was really apologetic, but did say that it was something that was on his treatment plan - a copy of which we still don't have because none was ever officially made. The dentist told him today that he would have a treatment plan written up by his next visit which is in 2 weeks. Overall, the wife was really nice and super apologetic. But it doesn't make things better. Randy has a good tooth - gone, just like that. And he felt so violated since they didn't ask permission. If the dentist had said something before the procedure, Randy would have told him to wait because he was really leaning towards the expense of an implant on the bottom.
Randy is WAY more easy going than me. He's one to go with the flow and there isn't much that gets him shaken or riled up. So for me to see him this upset made me feel just awful... and you know what, there was this part of me (because we're so connected) that could feel his loss. One could argue, "it's only a tooth". But that was his tooth and it was a viable part of him. I felt just... sick for him. And to see him so distressed is just so upsetting. He is my rock and to see him in the states he was/is in shakes up my world.
There are multiple health issues associated with missing teeth that I don't even have enough energy to go into right now. So in addition to the two other extractions he's had in the far past, now there are four teeth missing when there should only be three. Who knows what kind of future problems this might cause. Not to mention that right now, both those extractions are highly susceptible to infection. He should only have one tooth/area susceptible to infection. Let's hope the antibiotics keep things in check.
I really can't explain this. But I feel such a loss for him. Almost like he got a dead toe removed, and they decided to (without permission) also take his pinky toe because "well, it really has no purpose".
It's such a weird empty feeling I'm experiencing. And it's not even my tooth. I can't even imagine how bad my sweet love feels.