My son, 14 yrs old, has an ingrown tooth. Two years ago I found out about it when the dentist showed me an x-ray of his lower jaw. There was one on each side of his lower jaw. They were growing sideways while the teeth above them refused to give up their parking spots. The dentist suggested I see an orthodontist, so I did. When I made the appointment I told them the reason for the visit, and explained that I would have the x-rays with me when I came for the appointment. They said that would be fine.

As my son sat in the chair the dentist looked him over and proclaimed that braces would help, but he would have to have them on longer than is necessary. What was that!?!?! It turns out he didn’t even look at the pictures I had brought, and was trying to sell me braces for my kid.

My son is by no stretch of the imagination, but his teeth look normal to me, has nothing that would strike anyone as being “Deliverance” looking. So, I asked him specifically about the pictures I brought, and he advised me I should wait a while to see if they take care of themselves, but keep an eye on them.

Last year pictures were done again, and they were still there. The dentist referred me to someone else, and we had that appointment recently. There was only one name on the building as we walked by a busy waiting lobby to the desk. Behind the desk sat a woman poring over her work, and a younger lady standing behind her. Now, when I say the room was busy, I don’t mean there were people waiting. It was designed with an angled bench facing the desk, with chairs for waiting patients lining the walls, and a little playroom. After keeping me waiting for 15 minutes past my appointment time they ushered us back, only to keep us waiting another 5 minutes for the dentist to come in and tell us he would be right with us. He kind of peeked around the corner, eyes fluttering as if in deep thought and said as soon as he was done with whatever he was working on he’d be there.

So, I looked around. There were many things on the walls to suggest they were looking to make kids feel comfortable. There were Disney prints on the walls, not just pictures of Mickey, but the large expensive ones with a name signed with a flourish in the corner. One of them even depicted its scene with elaborate pop-outs, all in nice tasteful frames. Through the entryway leading into the rest of the work area I saw fancy mobiles hanging from the ceilings.

In comes the dentist with his wife… I knew it was his wife because there was a family portrait of them on the wall which included their child. He looked at my son’s mouth while dictating to her notes concerning, I assume, the dimensions and characteristics of my son’s mouth. I watched all this in silence, I’d seen it before after all, but thought I had made myself more clear this time. Apparently not, because they again tried to sell me braces. They were more slick about it though, telling me the braces on the bottom were necessary before the baby tooth was extracted to allow the tooth underneath access to the spot. The removal would be done by an oral surgeon, then a spacer linked to the braces would provide leverage to keep the space open while the tooth comes in. He even suggested that the gums might have to be cut open, with attachments pulling the tooth up to encourage proper growth.

He left, leaving his wife to go over details. I was upset, but I expected this from them. What I didn’t expect was my son taking over the conversation, sitting there like Howard Hughes discussing the procedure with the woman as if it were a done deal and cost wasn’t a factor. That got me fuming. It wouldn’t have been so bad, as I explained to him later, after I had cooled a little, except that we discuss incessantly his responsibilities with school work and the few chores around the house. You see, he says he wants college whenever asked, but I explain to him that in order to succeed he will be required to see to his responsibilities all on his own, without me riding his ass about it. Right now that doesn’t happen at all. I went over it all again, exchanging Bill Gates for Hughes, because he hasn’t a clue who Howard Hughes was, and asked him how much he thought all this process would cost. He guessed about $200.

So, when he was finally done with having the woman explain things to him, I asked her to go over the details of the transaction. She filled out a paper explaining the costs, and for braces all around it would come out to a little under $6000. With 25% being paid by insurance it came out to $4450, roughly. I asked how much for just he bottom braces, and he she pulled an even $4000 out of her ass and wrote it down. She then informed it would take 20 minutes to do the preliminaries for the procedure, and I could have them done then or make an appointment for a future date. I chose the latter option because I desperately needed to vacate the premises to allow a cooling off period.

I talked it over with my wife, raving about how I would have to talk to the other dentist again to explore other options, when she suggested the insurance company might be able to help. Of course!! They didn’t want to pay $2000 any more than I wanted to pay the balance! They were called and they offered up several oral surgeons we could see. They also said they weren’t aware this guy was the only one in the building, their records indicated there was a practicing oral surgeon in the same office as well. Only thing I saw was an office with a dentist surrounded by dental assistants.

More to come on this one, I’m sure……..