BITE ME!!!

A recent article in the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/22/AR2009062201659.html?sub=AR talks about how one of the real "pains" of aging is dental work. They talk about how the "royal pain" (aren't we clever?) is getting crowns. And how expensive it is.

THEY DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT! I am in the process of having $20K worth of dental work done. We're talking implants, kids. If you don't know what those are, don't ask. Or as they say, if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Of course, the dental profession knows how to get you to pony up for MAJOR WORK (for some people that's a facelift; for me it's the dentist!) If you mention in passing that your daughter is getting married they say "You don't want your teeth to fall out during the wedding!" And if they're talking about the difference between getting dentures (which is what normal people do) and implants they say, "Well, if you want to put your teeth in a glass every night...." So of course you opt for the "Gee Doctor will I be beautiful if I have the implants?" "Of course!" "Great, because I was hideous before!"

One of the questions people ask most when they get to be over 65 is why there is very little insurance for dental work, vision and hearing. My answer "If you were an insurance company and all your customers were over 65 would you sell them insurance for dental work, eyeglasses and hearing aids?" DUH! Insurance is about having a random possibility of something happening. You can be pretty sure that lots of your clients over 65 will need "help" in one of these areas.

The hardest thing is, not only am I trying to do this during a recession, when it's hard enough to come up for the scratch, but it becomes my excuse for everything else in the world. Recently two very deserving healthcare organizations asked for a donation. In one case, they may have to close their doors if they don't raise the $. I had to say that whatever I gave would be minimal because of my dental work! Is this what the future looks like? "Gee honey, let's go out to dinner!" "No, we can't....we have to save up for my hearing aids!" It ain't pretty.....