You might remember from a fairly recent post that I lost a filling not long ago. That's the least of my concerns when it comes to this issue, for one because I'm not in any pain (and never was, even before the cavity was filled 3 years ago), for two because I'm pregnant and I'd really rather skip the dentist and all the x-rays at the moment, but most of all, because it is such a pain in the rump to try to find a dentist in our area. However, I do realize that an unfilled cavity is only likely to get worse, and the idea of a root canal or some sort of toothy prosthesis before I hit 30 does not excite me in the least.
Given the absurd amount of difficulty I had finding a dentist last time around, I thought I'd get smart. We've been in Binghamton a few years now, and have more connections with people than when I first searched for a dentist. Josh is our insurance provider, so I asked him to ask around at work to see who other troopers and their families see. He came home with a number the first night, and I was relieved at how easily this was going.
Ha.
I called this morning and asked to make an appointment as a new patient, but as soon as I identified my insurance provider, it was like a switch went off: Sorry, we're not accepting any new patients of that insurance. You know what, this is freaking annoying. This is exactly how it went last time. I got a list of dentists, started calling them one by one, found out that 90% of them weren't accepting new patients from our insurance company, la la la. I was so unbelievably irritated that I said to the receptionist, "I wish you knew how hard it is to find a dentist that will accept this insurance." As if she cares. Anyway I hung up and got all hormonal-y teary, which is even more annoying.
So next I go to our insurance company's website. They cheerfully rattle off SIXTEEN dentists in the area who accept our insurance. Cynical by this point, I print off the list. Two of them are duplicates, dumb. We are down to 14. Two of them are the names of a dental practice, not an actual dentist (the dentists for these two practices are listed separately), down to 12. One of them is identified by a symbol that shows she is not accepting new patients (how'd she get on this list then?), down to 11. One of them is the nut job that we went to when we first moved to Binghamton, down to 10. Three of them are oral surgeons, I think that's overkill, down to seven. Three of those remaining belong to a dental group that Josh and I went to when we lived upstate where we had such misfortune (that's a story for a whole other post) getting our claim processed that the company actually chose to write off our bill as a tax deduction or something, rather than put us through continued misery. And, I might add, this is the place that put a filling in my tooth that lasted less than three years. So I am left with four options, all four of which are part of the same dental group, which could very easily mean that my options are zero, if that group decides they're not accepting any more patients from our insurance. I haven't gotten up the fortitude to call yet.
What's the point of having insurance if you can't find someone who accepts it? And what's this malarky about state employees having the best insurance, anyway? I wish I had been smart enough to sign up for MY job's dental insurance... I just figured it was easier to not change anything, plus I had to be an employee for a YEAR before I was eligible for dental coverage, and then there's the whole I'm-only-going-to-be-here-till-we-have-a-kid thought process. It just didn't make sense to make a change at the time. It sure makes sense now.
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