Pain in the Dentist

Last week I took Jackson to the dentist for his six-month check up.  If you've followed my son at all, you know that the dentist=Den of Torture in his mind.  I have to admit that this time, things went better than they had in the past, for the most part.

The screaming and uncontrollable crying didn't start until the hygienist started cleaning the back of Jackson's bottom front teeth.  It didn't help me that my face was right next to his when it happened.  Cole, who usually starts crying when someone else does, sat in his stroller smiling away.  Hopefully, one of our guardian angels was there entertaining him, knowing that I couldn't be a comforting mom in two places at once.

Jackson calmed down okay after that, but so was so worried about the dentist coming in because I was going to have him pull Jackson's loose tooth.  You see, this tooth had been loose for almost a year.  The new tooth had already come in behind it, and this one wouldn't leave.  We could have started calling Jackson "Snaggletooth" because of that baby.  We had tried a month before to coax him to let us pull it out.  After an hour of him screaming and us finally getting a string around that sucker and pulling it, only to have it loosen and break the string, I was done.  Nope, not doing that fight again.

That's what the dentist is for. . .

or so I thought until yesterday when we got our insurance statement.  Apparently, pulling out a VERY loose tooth that only took a slight yank is considered oral surgery and costs $90!  Did you know that?  ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?  I had to pay someone $90 to pull my autistic son's tooth because he wouldn't let me do it.  If I'd known that he'd pay ME $90, I would have done it, too.

Guess who's getting a phone call today?

The hygienist who spent the time calming my son and making friends with him even though she was the evil monster and cleaned his teeth deserves that $90 more than the dentist that came in, checked for cavities, pulled a tooth, and shook my hand all in under 2 minutes.  Seriously,  $90. . . I hope his student loans are long paid off. . .

I'm sure he doesn't remember us from Adam each time he sees us.