"These happy golden years are passing by, these happy golden years." Laura Ingalls Wilder

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

A Break In


... the weather. Yesterday was the warmest day since early October, 2008. It reached 80F at my mountain hide-away and gave this old gal a spring to her step. My garden LOVED the heat and I can just imagine all things sprouting in the next day or two! Today, however, is predicted to be in the mid 60'sF with thunder storms throughout the day. Hey, I'll take it as that means I don't have to water the garden or grass today :0)

Good and bad news: Reported by Ann after her dental appointment yesterday! She only had one cavity (I said that's the good news ;) ... the bad news. She needs all four wisdom teeth removed, the dentist is trying to talk her into having lumineers (caps) on her four upper front teeth, and she informed me she wants (not needs) invisiline braces. Of course my reply was ... which part of that is good news? You want to do what to your teeth? And just where are YOU going to get the money to pay for all of this?? We're talking enough money to buy a nice used car folks. I said yes to the tooth filling, yes to the wisdom teeth, NO to the vaneers, and NO to the invisiline braces. If you as a working adult want to do all the extra stuff to your teeth, than you will have to work very hard and pay for it all. I don't care if you are going into the 'tooth business' (dental assistant), you have nice enough teeth as it is. Her reply: "why are you doing this to me?"

14 comments:

Pat said...

Ok, I just went back and looked at some pictures of Ann, and she has BEAUTIFUL teeth! I see no problem here! Veneers are mega expensive, I checked into them for myself, no way....plus they grind your own teeth down to nothing before they apply them. Tell her to keep smiling, she looks beautiful as is.
Our weather is yummy too, much welcomed after a winter I thought would go on forever!

Mrs. Mac said...

Pat, she has perfectly fine teeth and a good bite (;) This particular dentist is heavy into cosmetic dentistry ... he refers everything out to other dentists (tooth extractions, root canals, etc.) we should probably find a more well rounded dentist. I think he just wants a nice vacation and for us to pay for it :)

Felisol said...

Dear Mrs. Mac,
The Americans are famous for their nice looking, artificial smile.
Just now I could want an expensive dental work done ..on me.
Norway is frighteningly expensive.
My best friend is considering having her teeth fixed in Praha for a quarter of the Norwegian price. Even so it will cost about 5000 US dollars
plus plane fare and hotel.

I'll just have to wait and see.
As you say; If I want it, I'll have to make extra money or renounce on other stuff.

No wonder they call our children the icing generation.
I think you are kind paying for her ordinary dental bills.
Why are you doing that to her??
;)
From Felisol

Margie said...

Teeth are expensive, I spent about $7000 out of MY pocket for Miss Phyllis's teeth! Yikes! but she needed way more than cosmetics! Two surgeries, wisdom teeth, pallet expander AND braces! Miss Ann has a beautiful smile and doesn't need all that!!

Mrs. Mac said...

I agree Felisol. It's becoming main stream in America to see beautiful pearly white, straight teeth. Most are very generic without any character :) Off the shelf to be exact. A few years ago while visiting Disneyland I stood in line next to a family from England. And I was very shocked to see the twisted, crooked, lot of teeth on the entire family. Not one good smile in the bunch. At the time I thought to myself, "Mind, I says to meself ... I would have spent the vacation money it must have cost this family for some orthodontic treatment." I suppose that was a bit harsh in judgment on my part ... and upon further reflection, they must have had one grand vacation to remember. Besides, back in England they might not have stood out as much. I know ... a very shallow conversation with myself ;)

Louise said...

Stand your ground friend. She will, Lord willing, one day understand why.

Pat said...

Call me silly, but I really admire good teeth. Maybe it's because mine were so bad and my Mom sacrificed for braces against my dad's wishe so I wouldn't be embarassed by my smile. I'm not talking about one tooth out of line, you can live with that, but it really affects a person's self image when they don't want to smile because of bad teeth.
I guess when in Rome or England do as the Romans or English. I happen to like the smiles in the U.S!
That was my 2 Cents worth, which I'm sure to some is not even worth 1 Cent!

Jim said...

Hey lady, that girl needs her wisdom teeth pulled. Bad health problems can occur if they are left in.

I know, I had three of mine pulled. The Army pulled one so they believe in pulling them too.

http://health.yahoo.com/oralcare-overview/should-i-have-a-wisdom-tooth-removed/healthwise--aa143778.html ..

Jada's Gigi said...

Dental work is So expensive and they do try to sell you on everything extra.

Jada's Gigi said...

Thank you BTW for your comments on my last blog post.

Diane said...

Oh dear, I so understand where you are coming from. I have had problems with my teeth for a while now and just put off dealing with it due to my husband's illness. I finally went to the dentist and he wanted to do over $5000 worth of work on them! Are you KIDDING?! I am 52 years old! Just fix the 'have to' things and get me into a place where I'm not in pain, that's ALL I want!

I'm quite sure your daughter will do just fine without the vaneers, etc. As you say, when she becomes a self-supporting adult and wants to get them, then more power to her!

I, too, like a mouth with character. Not with teeth looking as though I've had dentures!

So happy you had a day of nice weather to enjoy. Have a great week!

Many hugs.........

Diane

Trish said...

We are expecting temps of 80'today...
We've had frost warnings a couple of mornings this past week. Thank God, it's finally warming up around these parts.
Your Ann is beautiful! And I agree with your decision! But our society today, thinks everything should be perfect...I wonder how much money is spent, just on teeth whitening products? She will, one day understand, when she is raising a family of her own.
~hugs~
trish

Terry said...

hey mrs. mac...i guess you did have a spring in your step all righty!
i bumped into you several times yesterday in the blogging world.!
we still haven't reached no 80 degrees here yet!
as far as ann's teeth are concerned, you are probably right.
when we golden kids were young, braces were a status.
only the rich kids had them!
that mom golden was too good of a mom, the way she made sure that we got our calcium. she can't remember this but i do. when the electric blender made its debut into the world, dad golden bought one and i remember that mom would mix the powdered skim milk with a bit of vanilla, and sugar, a whole egg, shell and all and throw it all into that blender.
to us kids it tasted like a milk shake and trust me all nine of us had perfect and straight teeth.!
smart mom or what, eh?
i still have most of my teeth.
i had trouble with my wisdom teeth too mrs. mac.
i remember when i was forty and going to the dentist for a check up. of course i had my white hair then, when the dental assistant checked my mouth, she explained, "my what a lot of teeth you have!" "well, how many should i have? i am forty!"
turns out that the girl thought i was an old lady!
she was kind of embarrassed!
anyways they had to take two wisdom teeth out, and now i have 28
teeth left..why 28 and not 30 mrs. mac..?
well my other two wisdom teeth never grew in!
now....you behave yourself and don't be telling everyone that i am a long winder, eh, huh, hmmmm...,no!..love terry

Maggie Ann said...

You are the salt of the earth Mrs.Mac. =)