Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
So my teeth have always been pretty bad. It's not so much that they are crooked as it is a couple are turned and two are slightly behind the rest. Also one of my canines is one of my baby teeth that never became loose. My family never had insurance, so I never really got the treatment I needed. Eventually we found an orthodontist an hour away who would recognize my state medicard and give a discount, so I went to him for awhile.
I had an expander for awhile, then braces for about a year, but one day the dude disappeared off the face of the planet. A message was left on his machine about "personal issues" and he was never to be heard from again. After a while the rubber bands on my braces began snapping off and I knew it'd mess up my teeth, so we went to an orthodontist in town to have the braces removed and he gave my whole mouth a good look too.
The much more professional-seeming dude in town said that I would need jaw surgery to widen my palate, which the other guy did say, but then he also said I'd need lower jaw surgery to correct an underbite. X-rays also showed that I have a few teeth hidden up in my gums, something like half of a 3rd set (cept for the one canine) that formed and didn't come down. And I would also need surgery to basically take some teeth out, get those out of my gums, and then arrange them all to what they should be. These jaw & tooth surgeries would probably take place at once.
The problem though, is that the jaw surgery alone would cost $40k+, and there is no insurance that covers it. For some reason if I had an overbite instead of an underbite and a slightly crooked palate instead of just a narrow one it would be covered, but as it is the surgery I need is counted as cosmetic even though it presents serious issues in my future. I mean even something drastic like letting my teeth go and getting dentures somewhat earlier in life than most isn't an option, I need to get my jaw corrected (in the very least correct the underbite, because of the way it misaligns the teeth) and those teeth out of my gums.
So what would you do? Start a rock band and write a #1 hit? Start saving up and hope you get the money together before your dental situation degrades to uncomfortable levels? Change citizenship to a country with socialized medicare and hope you get treatment before your dental situation degrades to uncomfortable levels?
I had an expander for awhile, then braces for about a year, but one day the dude disappeared off the face of the planet. A message was left on his machine about "personal issues" and he was never to be heard from again. After a while the rubber bands on my braces began snapping off and I knew it'd mess up my teeth, so we went to an orthodontist in town to have the braces removed and he gave my whole mouth a good look too.
The much more professional-seeming dude in town said that I would need jaw surgery to widen my palate, which the other guy did say, but then he also said I'd need lower jaw surgery to correct an underbite. X-rays also showed that I have a few teeth hidden up in my gums, something like half of a 3rd set (cept for the one canine) that formed and didn't come down. And I would also need surgery to basically take some teeth out, get those out of my gums, and then arrange them all to what they should be. These jaw & tooth surgeries would probably take place at once.
The problem though, is that the jaw surgery alone would cost $40k+, and there is no insurance that covers it. For some reason if I had an overbite instead of an underbite and a slightly crooked palate instead of just a narrow one it would be covered, but as it is the surgery I need is counted as cosmetic even though it presents serious issues in my future. I mean even something drastic like letting my teeth go and getting dentures somewhat earlier in life than most isn't an option, I need to get my jaw corrected (in the very least correct the underbite, because of the way it misaligns the teeth) and those teeth out of my gums.
So what would you do? Start a rock band and write a #1 hit? Start saving up and hope you get the money together before your dental situation degrades to uncomfortable levels? Change citizenship to a country with socialized medicare and hope you get treatment before your dental situation degrades to uncomfortable levels?