Counting Blessings I

The first blessing want to take note of is this:

I had a dental appointment this past Thursday. I had my teeth cleaned a month or so ago and it was a bad appointment. Not only was it painful but the hygienist argued with me about getting x-rays. Even though I explained to her that I was unemployed and can’t afford the $95 for the x-rays, she kept insisting and then, when I was in the middle of explaining it to her, she interrupted me and called for a form for me to sign stating that I was refusing the x-rays (the form never did show up – apparently they couldn’t find it). She then proceeded to give me a cleaning that was the worse one I had since Torture Guy (my former dentist) gave me a cleaning because his hygienist was busy.

All in all, it made me very disappointed. I love my new dentist and think she is kind, considerate and treats me with respect. Up until this cleaning, all of my appointments were wonderful and I was so pleased I had switched to her from Torture Guy.

My new dental office e-mails out a survey shortly after the appointment to ask for assessment on how it went. When I received the survey, I filled it out and, in the comment box, explained how disappointed I was and what had happened.

A week or so later, the office manager for the office contacted me and said they all felt bad about what had happened to me and the dentist who is the head of the office wanted me to come in so he could try to make it better. He noticed in my record that I have a broken tooth that has a temporary filling in it and that it needs a crown. He understands that I can’t afford the crown but wanted to see the tooth to assess whether or not he could do something to make it stronger until I could afford a crown.

So on Thursday I went in to see him. I asked the receptionist how much this appointment would cost me and she said it was probably going to be $48. I said I could afford that. She then said that, depending on what he did, it could be up to $95. I said I couldn’t afford that. She said to ask the dentist when I go in the exam room to find out how much the appointment would cost me before he started.

When the dental assistant lead me back to the exam room, the dentist was right outside the exam room waiting for me. He introduced himself to me and walked me into the exam room. I settled myself in the chair and then asked him how much this would cost me. He said that he wanted to make things right by me and this appointment was free.

He examined my tooth and said that he could put some bonding on it to build it back up and fix it so food wouldn’t get caught back there anymore. I asked how much that would cost me and he said it was comped and did I have time to do the procedure right now or did I want to come back? I said I had time now.

He proceeded to fix my tooth. It now looks perfectly normal. I can very faintly see the purple temporary filling under the bonding but otherwise it looks like a normal tooth. He said that it should last for a year or so (maybe longer) and hopefully by then I can get the crown put on.

As I sat in the chair, all I kept thinking was that this was an answer to prayer. I didn’t know how I was going to afford a new crown and figured that eventually I would probably have to have the tooth pulled. Since I already had a tooth pulled right next to that one, losing another one would be obvious when I smiled. The one that I had pulled is far enough back that unless someone looks directly in my mouth and compares one side to the other, it isn’t obvious that I am missing that tooth. But to lose the one right next to it would make it look bad.

I have truly been blessed. Abundantly. My tooth is fixed, albeit temporarily. But it is fixed enough to last until I can afford a permanent crown and it didn’t cost me a thing. A true blessing!!

Tomorrow…the second blessing from last week…