Here at Casa Aloha, we are reeling from the cost of having not one but two recent major back-to-back dental emergencies. Although we have good dental insurance, there are limits to what they will pay out within a year. Treatment costs for these two emergencies have/will overrun both of our individual annual limits so the majority of payment will be coming from our pockets in the end.
This is so not what we needed right now as our shift to retirement is less than two months away.
A couple of months ago, a lower molar cracked in half when I bit into a ravioli sample (!) at Costco. Our dentist did x-rays, determined that the tooth was already dead and put on a crown. Total cost: $950; we paid $487.50 out-of-pocket after insurance. Three weeks later, I was back at the dentist with a horrible toothache, and I ended up going to a specialist when the x-rays didn’t show anything obvious going on. It turned out the crown had apparently capped off a tiny bit of infection which then spread down to my gum and jawbone because it had no place else to go. Ugh (and ouch). A root canal was done (through my expensive new crown, no less 
) and the problem was solved. Total cost for the root canal: $1265; we paid $421.00 out-of-pocket.
However, I still need to have a filling put in the crown to cover the root canal. Since I am now maxed out on dental benefits for the year, the entire $175 cost will be out-of-pocket. Le BIG Sigh.
But, while insurance covered just over half of my dental work, there is still The Big Kahuna’s to be taken care of. A few days after my tooth broke, one of The Big Kahuna’s front incisors snapped off at the gumline when he bit into a bagel (yes, he currently has a big, ugly gap right in the front of his mouth). The tooth was/is dead and, after consultation, because of the location he will have the old root surgically extracted and an implant put in. Total cost for this is projected to be around $4500. He has $1300 remaining of what insurance will pay, so we are most likely looking at an additional $3200 out-of-pocket. Ouch again.
TBK just rolled over his 401(k) into an IRA, and because his company’s stock has been doing so well lately there was a bit more in the account than we thought. We decided to cash out a small amount, enough that along with the rest of our emergency fund we would be able cover all of this extra dental expense. But it looks like we’re still going to come up short, and it’s too late to add anything else to the withdrawal (and we really don’t want to take any more out of our IRA). We will not be putting any of this on a credit card though – hopefully we can work out a repayment schedule with our dentist until we have it all paid for. We are so close to paying off the last of our debt, and it remains a priority to have it all gone when TBK leaves his job at the end of June. We do not want to dip into funds already budgeted for that goal either.
Le BIGGER sigh. I know it will all work out, and I have to admit I am somewhat relieved that this is occurring now rather than after retirement. We have insurance, and we will thankfully still have dental insurance after TBK retires, but it won’t be as good as what we have now. I guess if I have to look for the good, that’s it.
So, here’s to nothing else going wrong . . . at least until we catch our breath again. And here’s to hoping this is not a glimpse of our future, dental wise.
Maintenance is, without a doubt, the most difficult part of weight loss. I’ve been here before, more than once actually, and have always dropped the ball on this. I stopped watching what I was eating, how much I was eating, and stopped monitoring my weight.
