Lori: Save $$$...let your kids do their own dental work!

[polecat]

To be fair, dental insurance can be pretty expensive, depending on how many people you have to put on the plan. A lot of people just don't bother, and pay as they go (my mother does that). But that in no way excuses this woman from allowing her child to suffer all summer til the tooth finally came out. That's child neglect/abuse. :(

After suffering a traumatic dental injury in my childhood, I decided that dental insurance can be every bit as important as health insurance. (This is just me personally, mind you; I know there are many people with different priorities due to their own life experiences/financial constraints/personal preferences.)

All that said -- I can't imagine any dentist, upon hearing a family was planning on DIY tooth pulling for an abscessed or diseased tooth, would just nod his/her head and let the family get on with it. Most dentists would do everything in their power to make sure the kid got proper care. Heck, dentists often even provide free or low-cost dental care at dental clinics. There is never a need for a child to have a severe toothache go untreated or to force a kid to pull his/her own tooth. The child might have suffered permanent jawbone loss due to that. It's probably why the tooth finally popped out so easily: because the infection destroyed the socket of the tooth.

[Loveday]

After suffering a traumatic dental injury in my childhood, I decided that dental insurance can be every bit as important as health insurance. (This is just me personally, mind you; I know there are many people with different priorities due to their own life experiences/financial constraints/personal preferences.)

All that said -- I can't imagine any dentist, upon hearing a family was planning on DIY tooth pulling for an abscessed or diseased tooth, would just nod his/her head and let the family get on with it. Most dentists would do everything in their power to make sure the kid got proper care. Heck, dentists often even provide free or low-cost dental care at dental clinics. There is never a need for a child to have a severe toothache go untreated or to force a kid to pull his/her own tooth. The child might have suffered permanent jawbone loss due to that. It's probably why the tooth finally popped out so easily: because the infection destroyed the socket of the tooth.

Oh, I'm right there with you on the importance of dental insurance (with your same disclaimer, of course). We have it, but it only covers about forty to fifty per cent of major things like extractions and crowns, so there's still substantial out-of-pocket to deal with. At this point, it's just for DH and me as our kids have graduated from college and aged out of the plan. But my teeth are a mess, and getting worse as I get older, so it's a priority for us.

And your second paragraph made me cringe (because unlike certain people who shall remain nameless I don't enjoy seeing children in pain). That poor, poor child. :cry:

[Cannelle]

Hey Lori, I'll flip you a quarter if you get that pesky brain tumor out yourself. You do that and I'll pray for you.

[Coco]

That's really sad. At first i thought this post was going to be about coconut oil pulling for minor cavities. (the latest and greatest natural DIY! :hand: making your kids swish a wad of coconut goo around in their mouths for 20 minutes twice a day).

But no, much worse. That mom has probably never had severe tooth pain or they would have taken care of that right away.

ETA: correction since i thought it was about Lori's kids, not just a story she reposted.

[Coco]

i hate it that quiverfull people make other parents feel like sinners for limiting their family size. Then they get on their blogs and legitimize this kind of solution to health problems and call it "faith". Jerks. Why don't they just get real and say it's smart and GODLY to be good stewards of smaller families. :nenner:

[browngrl]

Luckily for Lori she had a tumour and neck pain NOT a dental problem. So she gets treatment and medication for pain but a child with a dental problem just had to wait it out. Lori should decline all pain meds, antibiotic, anesthesia etc the next time she has an issue with her own illnesses. She can just pay the sickness/pain away!

[ViolaSebastian]

Hey Lori, my daughter is missing both her lateral incisors. Do you recommend I use tic-tacs or spitballs to replace them? Do I stick them in with a hot glue gun or Gorilla Glue? Will God approve if I bedazzle them just a little?

Totally off-topic, but I'm missing both my lateral incisors, too! I had milk teeth lateral incisors and then just no adult teeth beneath them. A very talented orthodontist pushed all of my teeth together and then I got crowns to make the teeth look more natural. If I had it to do over again, I'd get implants to replace them--it would look more natural. I feel your daughter's pain!

[TrueRebel1]

Can I contribute a slightly different comment on Lori's post??? Now, I'm only going by the information that the girl had a "problematic" tooth than needed to be removed. We don't know if it was infected, or simply growing in the wrong spot, etc.

I've known kids who have teeth that are growing in the wrong way, or have a baby tooth that simply isn't falling out when it should. Their dentist will tell them that the tooth needs to come out, and either they can try to let it loosen up and fall out on their own (especially in the case of baby teeth), or the dentist can pull it on the next visit. So, not knowing all the details of this particular girl, I don't know if wiggling it out at home was the best choice, but I do know that often kids have teeth that are easier (and safe) to loosen up at home. And for all we know, the "going to an oral surgeon" part could have been the dentist conveying what the worst case scenario would be if the tooth didn't fall out soon.

[Luvmyskinnyjeanz]

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Buddy Federer · 43 minutes ago

Yes a clean house is important, but whats wrong with a few pieces of popcorn on the floor after watching a movie with the family, theres tomorrow to pick them up, ad the husband is a big boy, he can clean his own messes up, I could jus see my wife waiting on me hand and foot, that would never happen, but I would never leave her in that situation,

His last post got deleted so I copied this as soon as I saw it.

Hey Lori ( Alexsander is a monster) having a hissy fit and deleting the comments doesn't mean it gone. Oh and send ken back it was fun watching him make a complete wanker of himself. :popcorn2:

Sorry just realised in my rush to preserve evidence I put it in the wrong post, oops my bad.. But at least it's here lol

[usmcmom]

This one is likely to be deleted too:

"Dental insurance is CHEAP!!! I think we pay 20 bucks a month for ours. And...why pay a kid to wash a car when the car wash is only 4 bucks? 4 bucks and 10 minutes is a whole lot cheaper than paying a child to waste water. There are people who get so hung up on "saving" that they do stupid things. If you can't afford to take your kid to the dentist for necessary dental work, then maybe its time to realize that your ideal of a SAHM is NOT working and mama ought to get off her duff and go make some money.

Oh...and if my wedding ring broke or a stone fell out, you can bet your bottom dollar that I would not wait three YEARS to get it fixed. Three hours maybe, three YEARS, not on your life.

I'm all in favor of being frugal but taking it to the point where my child is trying to pry her own tooth out is at the point of medical neglect of a child. There is NO WAY I would do that.

Thank God I'm not a SAHM anymore...I lived that life, saw my kids go without. Not doing that again."

************************************

It was from Retired Navy Wife. She comments quite a bit, but I don't think Lori's going to let her stay long.

[Luvmyskinnyjeanz]

This one is likely to be deleted too:

"Dental insurance is CHEAP!!! I think we pay 20 bucks a month for ours. And...why pay a kid to wash a car when the car wash is only 4 bucks? 4 bucks and 10 minutes is a whole lot cheaper than paying a child to waste water. There are people who get so hung up on "saving" that they do stupid things. If you can't afford to take your kid to the dentist for necessary dental work, then maybe its time to realize that your ideal of a SAHM is NOT working and mama ought to get off her duff and go make some money.

Oh...and if my wedding ring broke or a stone fell out, you can bet your bottom dollar that I would not wait three YEARS to get it fixed. Three hours maybe, three YEARS, not on your life.

I'm all in favor of being frugal but taking it to the point where my child is trying to pry her own tooth out is at the point of medical neglect of a child. There is NO WAY I would do that.

Thank God I'm not a SAHM anymore...I lived that life, saw my kids go without. Not doing that again."

************************************

It was from Retired Navy Wife. She comments quite a bit, but I don't think Lori's going to let her stay long.

Haha she has been making me laugh a bit love the way she kicked Danielle arse in the I clean so good post. Think we need a new subject called 'copy the comment before the dreaded Lori monster deleted it'

[Loveday]

I like Retired Navy Wife's posts (and agree she probably won't last long with Lori), but I think she needs a reality check on the cost of dental insurance. I'm guessing hers is so cheap because the military subsidizes it through her husband's retirement. My husband is retired Navy, too, but he retired as a reservist so won't get retirement pay or health/dental insurance til he's 65. Meantime, we're slogging along paying a LOT more than $20 a month for dental. :?

[feministxtian]

I like Retired Navy Wife's posts (and agree she probably won't last long with Lori), but I think she needs a reality check on the cost of dental insurance. I'm guessing hers is so cheap because the military subsidizes it through her husband's retirement. My husband is retired Navy, too, but he retired as a reservist so won't get retirement pay or health/dental insurance til he's 65. Meantime, we're slogging along paying a LOT more than $20 a month for dental. :?

I am the Retired Navy Wife...and right now our dental insurance is about 26 dollars a month for family coverage through my employer. I had a feeling my last comment would get deleted...because I advocated mama getting off her arse and getting a job. Oh well...I wouldn't trade my BSME for all her bullshit.

[lilwriter85]

Oh, I'm right there with you on the importance of dental insurance (with your same disclaimer, of course). We have it, but it only covers about forty to fifty per cent of major things like extractions and crowns, so there's still substantial out-of-pocket to deal with. At this point, it's just for DH and me as our kids have graduated from college and aged out of the plan. But my teeth are a mess, and getting worse as I get older, so it's a priority for us.

And your second paragraph made me cringe (because unlike certain people who shall remain nameless I don't enjoy seeing children in pain). That poor, poor child. :cry:

I was going to mention the same thing. The women who is mentioned on Lori's blog could have researched and found one of those clinics if she lived in a good size city. A family friend of mine who is a dentist used to do work at low cost clinic a few times a month, in addition to his own practice. Also, there are some dentists out there, that will do payment plans or other payment methods such as bartering, if patients or parents of children patients are having money issues.

I agree with previous posts, Lori is an idiot to be reposting that story. It will look embarrassing on her son who is a dentist, if he has colleagues or friends from the dentistry world who read Lori's blog.

[Loveday]

I am the Retired Navy Wife...and right now our dental insurance is about 26 dollars a month for family coverage through my employer. I had a feeling my last comment would get deleted...because I advocated mama getting off her arse and getting a job. Oh well...I wouldn't trade my BSME for all her bullshit.

Oops. :embarrassed: I stand corrected...and I'm green with jealousy over your low dental insurance rates. :lol: DH's employer doesn't offer dental insurance so we had to find our own. It's not prohibitively high, but it's high enough. Worth it, though, for all my dental woes.

Oh, and congrats on your post being deleted. I love it when people get under Lori's skin. :clap:

[nelliebelle1197]

When two of us lined up for some significant dental bills as teenager, my dad skipped the praying part completely and got a second job for a few months. What he did not do is get ot his not insignificant tool collection and tell us to have at it.

You have a good dad.

[Mama Mia]

Can I contribute a slightly different comment on Lori's post??? Now, I'm only going by the information that the girl had a "problematic" tooth than needed to be removed. We don't know if it was infected, or simply growing in the wrong spot, etc.

I've known kids who have teeth that are growing in the wrong way, or have a baby tooth that simply isn't falling out when it should. Their dentist will tell them that the tooth needs to come out, and either they can try to let it loosen up and fall out on their own (especially in the case of baby teeth), or the dentist can pull it on the next visit. So, not knowing all the details of this particular girl, I don't know if wiggling it out at home was the best choice, but I do know that often kids have teeth that are easier (and safe) to loosen up at home. And for all we know, the "going to an oral surgeon" part could have been the dentist conveying what the worst case scenario would be if the tooth didn't fall out soon.

That's what I thought too, especially as it appears the kid also needs braces. I was thinking the dentist said something like " we need to wait for this baby tooth to fall out before we do the braces, the orthodontic surgeon can do it, or we can wait" and the poster turned it into some big dramatic event that proves how resourceful they are and blah, blah, blah. Of course one of my kids baby teeth seemed to have been cemented in and took forever to come out.

[lilwriter85]

I think maybe years from now, dental insurance may under full health care insurance plans. The general public is becoming more aware of how oral health problems lead to other problems in the body and also, not all dental problems are caused by a lack of hygiene. The family friend dentist that I mentioned in a previous post, always tells people that other health problems can take a toll on your teeth. He has had patients whose dental problems are linked to medications and chemo treatments.

[ViolaSebastian]

Who needs fancy store-bought braces when you can just hand the kiddos some paper clips and rubber bands and tell them to do the job themselves!?

[gezykah]

My wisdom teeth came in when I was 12. Since they were growing in at a weird angle I had to go to a few dental appointments in a six month period so they could closely monitor it. Luckily when they were done growing they didn't cause the damage it was feared they might. A few years ago I had my top two removed since they were preventing me from getting other dental work done and it was a pretty complicated procedure. Due to the way they were impacted they needed to break them and take the pieces out. As bad as dealing with those dental situations was with professional assistance and family to sympathize with me I can't imagine what it was like for that poor child dealing with dental problems with no professional help and un-supportive parents.

[Hane]

Even if it was just the case of a baby tooth taking its sweet time to fall out--no infection or impaction involved--encouraging a kid to fiddle around with a kind-of-loose tooth for weeks is asking for trouble. Why put the poor kid through that kind of discomfort? When my baby sister was about 8, she got a bad cavity in a baby molar and it got abscessed. My mother actually made me (I was 20) take my sister to the dentist to have it out because she was afraid the dentist would rip her head off for letting the situation get so bad. He did, but secondhand.

[Geechee Girl]

Hey Lori, my daughter is missing both her lateral incisors. Do you recommend I use tic-tacs or spitballs to replace them? Do I stick them in with a hot glue gun or Gorilla Glue? Will God approve if I bedazzle them just a little?

I'll contribute E600 and a gross of Swarovski AB rhinestones to embellish her grille.

[RachelB]

When I was young, my parents had dental insurance, but it was focused on non-orthodontia care (cleaning, fillings, removal).

I had a lower jaw that was too small to accommodate the teeth I was eventually going to have as an adult, even before accounting for wisdom teeth. The dentist, who was a family friend, went out of his way to come up with solutions my parents could afford. He also did some work for what the insurance would pay and forgave the rest.

My childhood dentist was an unusual and awesome person, but I think it also helped that my parents were able to say, "Normal orthodontia is financially out of the question for us. Setting aesthetics aside, is there anything you would recommend that would help assure that our daughter has a more functional set of teeth?"

I look like someone who didn't have great dental care when I was young. But I can eat without pain.

[mockingbird]

We've maxed out on Headship's insurance since Cloudlet, the one with the missing lateral incisors, also had two impacted baby teeth that had to be taken out by a real surgeon, complete with anesthesia and all - no wiggling required. Luckily my insurance kicked in, but if I would still be working in my old place we would have to pay out of pocket. Don't tell me a nice Godly woman can't make a few extra bucks babysitting, running errands for people who are house-bound, tutoring or teaching if she has the education, doing yard work around the neighbourhood, even with her children in tow. But it's not about making a few hundred dollars, which runs the risk of making her feel empowered and in control of her life. No, it's about acquired helplessness, while letting your kids bear the consequences along the way. Apparently God doesn't like his believers to be self-sufficient. Funny but some of my religious friends are financially stable, independent, and still pray. Fundie logic at large, again.

I had to have surgery to get my braces on, because some of my permanent teeth were (partially?) impacted and I ended up with chains connected to my braces to pull them up. My sympathies to your daughter!

My teeth are (were) royally messed up due to a bad family history and as someone else mentioned, chemo treatments. I officially hold the title of most complicated case/teeth in my dentist's practice :lol:

(And to jump on the dentist love - mine was awesome. He came in after hours for patients even for small things like a popped braces wire. I don't remember us having any problems with our insurance, but I wouldn't doubt that he helped people with that too. I have been going to him still because I've been able to get home every 6 months, but I think I will need to switch soon and I'm a little sad about it... we spent a lot of time together due to my braces situation, lol.)

I really hope this was more of a "let's wait to see if this tooth falls out before we start braces" type situation, than an infected tooth or something equally bad. Teeth aren't something you mess with.

[Phoebe]

O.O

Pulling an infected tooth can lead to a widespread infection. You. Do. Not. Do. That.

*waves hand vaguely* Oh, just rub some of Lori's black salve on it and it will be fine. The stuff cures cancer, don't you know. :roll: