so embarrassing

[Patte Rosebank]

And without getting into any XXX detail, my boyfriend gets the benefit of a girlfriend with removable teeth. I think that’s every man’s dream.

Thank you for that image, @Galadriel724.  (I think.)

It reminded me of the story of Corinna:  http://youtu.be/474E25rtI24

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[Galadriel724]

That was great!

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[Fabulous]

@Galadriel724, that is an amazing story. I am so glad you did it – what a change it has made in your life!

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[Patte Rosebank]

@Galadriel724, a couple of years ago, the Toronto Star did a series of reports on the need for socialized dentistry.

We’ve had socialized healthcare here for decades, and it’s made a huge difference.  When you no longer have to choose between getting the medical care you need, and losing everything you own, it benefits everyone.  (My dad still remembers the pre-socialized healthcare time, when his family nearly lost everything in order to pay for his mother to be institutionalized for several months, when she suffered a severe bout of depression.)

The Star’s investigation told of a Korean shopkeeper, who couldn’t afford dental care, and ended up going blind when the infection in an abscessed tooth spread to his brain.  By the time he qualified to have the tooth removed as an “emergency” case, it was too late.  Now, he’s permanently disabled, and his care costs the system far more than if it had just paid to repair his infected tooth in the first place.

The saddest case was that of a young man, who’d had terrible teeth his whole life, because his family could not afford any dental care.  As a result, he’d been completely toothless since the age of about 23, which made it impossible for him to get hired for any job.  When the article ran (complete with front-page photo of him), several dentists contacted the Star, offering free dental care.  A few weeks later, the Star ran a follow-up, with new front-page photo of the young man, positively beaming with his new teeth…and with the news that he’d finally landed a job!

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[mulegirltx]

OMG, I laughed so hard…hopefully you understand it’s not at you, it’s at myself. That is EXACTLY the kind of thing I’d do.

And Larynxa, now I KNOW you’re my long lost twin. Making candy dishes out of my wax teeth impressions is just the kind of thing I’d have done if only I’d thought of it. And yes, I clawed one out of my mouth once, too.

Oh, this is such a nice place to hang out after a day of trying to be boring.

 

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[Patte Rosebank]

@Mulegirltx, if you REALLY want to laugh, take a look at the Videos section, especially Bill’s ADDventures (http://totallyadd.com/category/bills-addventures).

Bill is the poster child for ADHD.

You may have seen his other adventures on “The Red Green Show” (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRich227/videos?query=adventures+with+bill).

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[Galadriel724]

@Larynxa, re: socialized medical care- I don’t know how much it would’ve helped… It would have probably made a big difference but there were other factors at play. I had a fear of dentists, almost a phobia. A bad experience as a kid led me to stop going when I was 16. I had always had good dental care- my mom was on top of things in that regard, but her dentist didn’t like kids and I never thought to mention that he kept drilling after novacaine had worn off at one point. That was the origin of the fear.
I got my tongue pierced in college and a bunch of teeth got smashed as a result- just from chomping on it a few times. Here’s where the socialized medicine would’ve helped. I started getting infections and had a couple of root canals, but couldn’t afford to get the posts and caps. When the temporary fillings came out, I was in the same boat again. It would go, abcess, root canal, pain relief, ignore the problem.
When I hit about 30 my mom realized that I was going to lose my teeth and told me that if I would go to her dentist (same old office new dentist), who she trusted to not do unnecessary work, she would keep paying, within reason. The new dentist was great about the fear and I came to trust her. Got a lot done, at least partially done. Then I had to leave an abusive marriage and ended up 2000 miles away. My mom would only pay for her dentist and I was scared to return home even for a visit. Finally her dentist told her that she needed to let me see someone out here, but by then all the temp restorations had fallen apart and nothing was salvageable. So, I guess, at the point of the beginning root canals and when I moved to AZ, my teeth could have been saved.
Life with a mouth that looks like a meth addicts was limited in a lot of ways. My mom kicked in $3000 for the new smile, and I am grateful.
The dentist that was doing the work before I moved out here was awesome. She told me when it would hurt and for how long, if it was going to and couldn’t be avoided. I attribute that to her being a former labor and delivery nurse- she wasn’t uncomfortable with pain, or telling the truth about it. And nurses rock! I know that because I am one!

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