I learned my lesson after 40 years of taking my teeth for granted.  The other day I went to the dentist because one of my molars was hurting.  He took an x-ray of my teeth and found that I had a cavity.  I was not surprised and he quickly filled it.

I had not been to the dentist for over 2 years since that day and so I was really not surprised that I had a cavity.  The visit cost me $127 since I had dental insurance.  I went home thinking my problem was solved.

Over the next couple days I noticed one of my bottom molar teeth fillings was lose.  I found this on accident as I started to floss as I usually did for the few days after visiting the dentist.

So I went back to the dentist thinking that maybe he knocked the filling lose.  The dentist took a full set of x-rays and could clearly see there was decay under the lose filling.  He removed the old filling and ground out the decay.

He told me he could save the tooth and I needed a root canal and a crown.

The root canal, the crown and the work to clean out the decay will cost me out of pocket over $950 = Root Canal $140 + Crown $720 .

In addition to this, I will be past my dental plan maximum so I will have to pay an additional $200 out of pocket so this one tooth is going to cost me about $1150.  Add on the other cavity and we have about $1275 in one month for two teeth.

I learned a lot over this.

1.  The health of your teeth probably has a huge effect on the health of the rest of your body.  If your teeth and gums are not healthy, you bet the rest of your body is paying for it.

2.  Your teeth are worth more than gold.  Take care of them not only because of the cost it will be to repair them if you can, but they effect your entire health and also how you look and feel.

3.  Brush, floss and rinse your teeth daily if not twice daily.  I know that I am not giving up my insurance and I will be getting my teeth cleaned every 4 months. 

4.  Once it is too late, it is too late.  If you let your teeth get bad, there is only so much you can do to repair them.  Then you will have to replace them which can be more costly and painful, less effective than your own teeth, and also detrimental to your health.

Lastly, if you have insurance, and even if you don't, see your dentist regularly for cleanings.   It will make you smile.