Novocaine

So I had a toothache. Having not been to the dentist in a while I decided to get it checked out. Turns out I had a cavity. Just a little one, and was actuall caused by the tooth being damaged by a previous cavity filling which chipped a piece of enamel off my tooth and made it get a cavity.

Of course the traditional Novocaine didn't work. Three shots and 30 minutes waiting did not numb the tooth. The drill caused pain, and so the doctor rolled out the big needle. Instead of shooting me around the tooth, he injected a huge shot of Novocaine right into the back of my mouth, and into the nerve. 10 minutes later I had a totally numb face, head, teeth...everything.

The drilling was done, and was charge $75 bucks for my visit. The reason I paid the money is because I don't have dental insurance. The miracle thing is that I actually was taken care of. In a day and age when we are told about the numbers of people who are uninsured and stuff, I realized that lack of medical insurance does not mean you will lack healthcare.

People fall into the trap of believing that just because you don't have health insurance you can't get health care.

I think the only thing you really need is catostrophic coverage. For the occasional visit to the doctors where he checks your BP, weight, height and asks how you are feeling I don't think you should use insurance for it. For one, it makes you go to the doctors less, reducing paperwork and reliance on the insurance companies. Since you are paying with money, it will promote competition between doctors to give you the best rate for regular office visits.

By not paying out of pocket for these sort of things you never see the bill, and doctor fees can be raised because you don't pay for it.

My old employer offerd dental insurance at the price of 100 dollars a month for coverage. Since I have not gone to the dentist in about 3 years, they would have paid $3,600 for a $75 exam.

Where is the logic in that?

Posted by psugrad98 at January 13, 2004 02:17 PM