Dental expenses

Not really a flop, I guess, because not taking care of things could lead to worse, more expensive things! But still not easy to swallow the oop amounts!

I have a molar that has a small fracture. They want to do a crown. Cha ching! My portion, after insurance, is about $850! I was told they could do a 3 surface filling as a temporary measure, but who knows how long that would last. The filling route is only $70. But how long will it last? Could be a few years or not. Not doing anything is not an option. If the tooth would actually break, they'd want me to do a bridge. (I say just yank it out at that point!)

13ds has 4 baby teeth that are loose. They need to come out. Soon. So the ortho can finish putting on the braces. Of course, ds is about 2 months shy of the estimated date of getting the braces off. So his slow-growing teeth will extend his ortho treatment time. Luckily, one price no matter how long on the ortho. The bad news is that our portion, after insurance, for getting those 4 teeth out is $96/tooth!! Ds has about 2 weeks to start wiggling, twisting, etc. to try to get them out on his own!!

18ds has a cavity that will have to be filled once he's home for the summer. Not sure on the cost, probably at least $100.

Add all that to the $294 I've already paid this month for just the regular check-ups for 4 of us.