Consultation

The muscles in my tempromandibular joint area are sore from smiling so much today. A recap:

I was awoken at 4:23 a.m. with an overriding urge to urinate that was simply not going to go away. As much as I tried to ignore it and go to sleep, I decided to just get up and go. Of course, since I spent so much time trying to get rid of the feeling in the first place, my body had revolted and said, "Guess what, Asshole!? You're staying up!" So, I went and relieved myself and had some breakfast.

Surfed the web and listened to tunes until 8:30 or so, then hit the gym to do some cardio for about 25 minutes. Did some light chest work on the weight machines then headed home to take my shower and catch the bus to the orthodontist's office.

I walked into the office and was greeted with wood paneling along all the walls. The front desk was to my left, so I checked in. The usual information was requested for my insurance. I didn't have my card, but I gave them my name, date of birth and Social Security number so they could contact Delta Dental to get my benefits information while they had me fill out my medical history information.

I turned in my information and waited on the carpeted bench. Meanwhile, numerous patients were in an out of the lobby and operatory. Within half an hour, I was guided into a room with wallpaper that looked like clouds on a blue sky and sat in a dental chair with what looked like a 1980's-era fuzzy seat cover. Up above me and to my right in one corner of the room were porcelain seagulls. I did notice that the operatory where patients were being seen was the ocean. I also saw several assistants working. Dr. Graham came in and said, "So, this is what we do on semi-rainy days." He didn't even introduce himself! That's fine with me, though. It's pretty obvious who my appointment was with, so he didn't even have to introduce himself.

Looking over my medical history, he also saw my occupation and we discussed areas of my job with the Highway Patrol. This went on for a few minutes, then he took a look at my teeth.

In addition to discussing certain problems, notably the absence of tooth #6 and the problem it presents since it's impacted in front of my other teeth, we discussed treatment and he said that he could help me out, with the surgeon or possibly not. My personal preference is to work with the surgeon in order to correct this problem once and for all and get the teeth set up for the surgery since he works in cooperation with the oral surgeon to get this set up. Dr. Graham also mentioned that to me that he could have me set up for this surgery even faster than I thought, giving an estimation of 6 months to a year before I had my surgery! This was an even shorter time than I had previously been quoted when I was in the Navy, where the minimum time I would have to wait for the surgery was 18 months. He then advised me that he would have me in for a final consultation where we would discuss the treatment plan after I had my x-rays taken. The front desk assistant then came in and gave me a breakdown on the costs before and after what will be paid for by Delta Dental Insurance.

My total fee payment for the braces comes to $3,961, with my insurance benefit covering $1,000 of the braces. This leaves me with a balance of $2,961 with $461 dollars due on my banding appointment. The rest will be spread out over 20 payments at $125 a month. I also have to go get x-rays done for the orthodontic survey and Delta covers half of that, leaving me with a payment of $140.

My appointment is scheduled for Monday, February 1st at 9 a.m. and my final consultation appointment is scheduled for February 4th at noon.

And so, it begins...