Teeth Cost a lot of Money

The kids had appointments at the dentist yesterday. That is pretty normal, to see the dentist on a Friday morning. At least I think so. But when we were getting ready to leave, the receptionist said, "See you tomorrow." I did a quick mental run through of the appointments I had just made- 6 month check ups, sealants in three months, follow up on The Oldest's back right molar in a couple of weeks, but nothing for tomorrow. The receptionist noticed the confusion on my face and quickly rephrased, "We'll see you at the movies tomorrow." The movies, yes, we would be at the movies tomorrow, thanks to a kind invitation from the dentist a few weeks back to welcome the new pediatric dentist with a showing of Alvin and The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.

 Little One under the bright light- Friday, March 16.

 Free popcorn at the free movie compliments of the dentist. Hopefully everybody went home and flossed- Saturday, March 17.

The kids were pretty excited to be going to the movies today. I, on the other hand, sort of wished I was going to the dentist to get any sort of procedure done instead of having to sit through an annoying kid movie. I really don't enjoy kids movies. Usually My Husband is the one who takes the kids to the movies, but he works Saturdays this time of year, so I had to take one for the team. There are a handful of kid movies that I have actually enjoyed. Despicable Me would be my favorite. I chuckled multiple times throughout Gnomeo and Juliet. I liked Up. But that's all I can think of right now. One kid's movie that I can not stand is Alvin and the Chipmunks. To be totally fair, I never watched it with sound, but it was one of the in flight movies on our trip to Ethiopia and I thought it was really dumb.  Even without sound, I could tell every time Dave was yelling "Alllllllviiiiiiiiinnnnnn" because his face got all twisted and red. I swear they played the movie 40 times. (Yes, our flight was 80 hours long. I didn't time it, but I am pretty sure that's how long it was.) That experience, plus my general disdain for kids' movies, made me predisposed to brush off any small hint the kids had previously made about seeing one or more of the multiple Chipmunk movies. And when we got the invitation from the dentist inviting us to a free private screening of Chipwrecked, I almost didn't tell them. Totally selfish, I know, but true. Then I realized that the kids happened to have dentist appointments scheduled for the day before the movie and I figured there was no way we would get out of the dentist's office without them finding out. So I sucked it up and RSVP'd for four. (Had I known there was going to be free popcorn and drinks, I might have been a little less hesitant in my initial reaction.) Plus, as I thought about it, I figured we had really already paid for the movie and the popcorn and the drinks though our regular bi-annual contributions to the dentist, so we might as well get our money's worth.

Kind of like the new, giant salt water aquarium they just installed on the pediatric floor of our dentist. Though there is no honorary plaque, I am sure we were some of the largest donors for the project. I must say, seeing it makes me feel at least a little happy about the piles of money we paid to the dentist two years ago to get me a new tooth. Happier anyway than me thinking about financing my dentist's ski trip to the alps and the fancy watch he showed me that he bought while he was there. 

I had to have one of my front eye teeth pulled about two years ago. Then I had to get a screw in my jaw, but before that they had to actually give me some new jaw bone, so they used something that was a 'bovine derivative'. Yes, some bone-like stuff made from cow bone. I have never yet starting mooing, so I think it is all good. Anyway, between my tooth being pulled and getting my new fake tooth, I had to wear a partial denture that is called a flipper in the dental world. I took to calling mine, "Sheila". I wore her all the time, except at bed time. Then I just had a big hole where my tooth should have been. I was pretty self-conscious about it, which seems silly now, but I am guessing that is the reason I have no pictures of me missing my tooth. I really wish I did, and am pretty mad at myself for being so lame. Oh well. Anyway, the whole process took over a year to complete and cost a lot of money. Money, which I like to imagine has given some fish a nice home and some kids (and a few parents, I am sure) a fun morning at the movies. (I will admit I didn't totally hate the movie, but that could have been in large part because of the butter coma.)

 Best authentic picture of my dental nightmare. This is right after the metal screw and cow bone were put into my jaw- Taken Friday, January 8, 2010.

Best silly photoshopped picture of my dental nightmare- what I would have looked like without Sheila. Even without the fish tank and the free movie, I think it was money well spent- Taken Thursday, March 18, 2010.