Brought to you by the letter "E"

Today we travelled to the pediatric dentist.

I love "my" dentist. He's awesome. His staff is awesome. But given my eldest son's reaction to the pediatrician, I just knew in my heart that I needed a pediatric dentist for him as a child. I really do like this practice. When MG knocked an incisor out on SBS's forehead on a Saturday morning, we were able to go to their office with Saturday hours. It was some distance away, but we had that option. Like most practices that specialize in kids, they do work with kids very well.

The problem is that they are a tad on the expensive side. For example, we have 80% coverage for office visits with our insurance - but that is 80% of the ALLOWED AMOUNT. So if the ALLOWED AMOUNT is $100, the most insurance pays is $80, we pay $20. But if the dentist charges $120, instead of paying $24, we pay $40 because they don't pay 80% the pay 80% up to $80.

I have come to deal with this as the price of having a place where my children don't mind going to the dentist. In fact, MG was quite macho about approaching today's appointment. It was not his first extraction and he remembered the previous experience as "not that bad" so he was really not wigging out about it. Plus, over the years we've gotten to know the staff. 

I know, you're shocked that I, PerkyMommy, have bonded with the office staff at my children's dentist. Me, who has bonded with the deli counter lady at the grocery store, the entire staff at my Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, the woman who comes off as cranky at Le Tarjay, and the office and custodial staff at her children's school. But there's more to this particular situation. One of the clerks in the office actually goes to our church and to our Mass. She's the one who took CS's photo with her camera phone during his first visit when I thought I didn't have my memory card with me. The office manager's BFF is the mom of the Most Amazing Babysitter Ever and the daughter of the wonderful Deacon and his wife from our church. So we've REALLY bonded.

Then there was the little matter of CS chipping teeth and then the infection and then needing to have the infected incisor pulled while four people held him down last month.

We've REALLY REALLY bonded. The entire office knows our names and faces very well now. 

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When the dentist first suggested we visit an orthodontist, they naturally referred us to the orthodontist of their choice. I figured I better ask around town. Admittedly, this was before I knew the connection between the Office Manager and The Most Amazing Babysitter Ever, but I asked TMABE and she instantly named the referred orthodontist. She and her sister both used him and really liked him.

Next I asked my friend The Cleaning Goddess and she said the same name - even though she's in the next town over and does not have any connections to any of the aforementioned people. She raved about this orthodontist. She loved his manner but she especially loved the staff and the process. She said that they were always in and out, the staff knows them and uses their names when they visit, they're very professional, and the orthodontist is good.

I went into our consult with very high expectations - and we all know (because I have told you before,) that this is very dangerous for me.

I loved the office from the moment I walked in. The staff addressed MG first, but didn't leave me out in the dust. The orthodontist didn't talk down to me when he explained his assessment of MG's mouth, but he also explained his comments - I would even say he proved or justified his diagnosis to me - in a respectful tone. As in: I know you're capable of understanding this so let me explain it to you. I liked that very much.

The Cleaning Goddess straight out warned me: He's not the cheapest in town, but you're getting a very high quality product.

And boy was she right. While there are two doctors in the practice, and MG doesn't see Dr K every time, both doctors are awesome and Dr. K is there most of the time. He is not what I consider a "factory" orthodontist. Each patient gets a good deal of attention. 

And the staff - oh, they're just very nice and friendly and helpful.

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At our last appointment they told us that it was time for MG to have three teeth extracted: E, H and I. Let's say that again: E, H and I.

I called the ped dentist, asked for BFF Office Manager and made the appointment. I told her E, H and I, and she assured me they'd have the backup paperwork from Dr. K's office. 

Today was our appointment at 1:30, so I had to check MG out of school early. When we arrived a few minutes early, it was still during lunchtime, but Dr. L was there. She actually took MG back herself and his teeth were out in no time. Well, sort of. 

Dr. L told us: "His E tooth isn't there anymore so it must've fallen out, but I took out H and I."

Uhm, he hasn't LOST any teeth in some time, let alone since our last visit to Dr. K. What do you MEAN his E tooth is already gone?????

Dr. L double checked MG's mouth. Nope, it wasn't there. I asked if maybe it hadn't descended? She looked up his most recent x-rays. Nope, it wasn't there either. The E tooth is just... gone.

Meanwhile you need to know that Mr. Bravado psyched us out a bit. Once in the chair, as the dentist was injecting his novocaine, he started to shake. She told me afterwards "He got a little nervous but he did fine." He later confessed that he started to shake the same way he shook when he saw the needle for his blood draw at the hospital last month. Dr. L told him he could hold the other doctor's hand if he wanted to - so he did - and he said he felt much better. Ahhhh. See, this is why we go to a ped dentist.

We still had plenty of time until SBS would be dismissed from school and Dr. K's office is just in the next parking lot over, so MG, CS and I went for a walk to visit Dr. K's office. Once there, I apologized for crashing the office without an appointment, explained why I was there and asked if we could figure out what happened to the E tooth. They pulled his chart and invited us to wait in the waiting area.

About 15 to 20 minutes later, the mystery was solved.

It wasn't the E tooth that he needed pulled, it was the primary B molar. The B tooth.

The staff seemed rather embarrassed by the mistake, as they should have been. I really do still like them very much, but I was NOT a happy mother. Not only will my son have to go through another extraction now, but my thoughts went to: Will I have to start all the way at the beginning to pay for this tooth now, too???

Back we went to Dr. L's office, into the door, straight to BFF still sitting at the front desk. As I walked in the door I said "Ok, I am NOT a happy mom right now... It's the B tooth."

"Wellll, E DOES rhyme with B."

I asked BFF the most important question: how much will it cost to come back for this? Will I have to pay more if I come back for another visit than if we just took it out with this visit today?

BFF assured me we would not. It would be the same price per tooth either way. 

So we asked MG: When do YOU want the B tooth out? Thursday? Next Wednesday? Of course, I did ask if we could do this one after school so I won't have to take him out of class AGAIN.

And so next week we'll go back and do it over again. The B tooth.