One of those days

UUUGGGHHHH!!!!

We're getting close to paying ourselves back for Cole's heart surgery....like maybe a few more months.  I think that just got blown away from probability.  We went to the dentist, which we had put off for a few months because Cole had to wait.  You cannot go to the dentist within 6 months of a heart valve replacement.  Well, Chase has 2 cavities, Cole had 4 and Chelsi has  2 somethings we're not sure of.  The dentist defended the boys and said they were due to pits that were inherited (I'm pretty sure my mom says she has them) and they're hard to clean.  One of Chase's is a 12 year molar that decided to come in in the past year (yes, that's late) and he said the gum lies over it for awhile and traps stuff in there and the 12 years are extremely common and normal to have cavities.  Chelsi has something going on on her front teeth.  One of her front teeth and the tooth beside it.  There is nothing but a chip looking thing from the outside of each, but the xrays show something very different.  Basically, it looks like it's rotting from the inside to outside, so we would have never known.  He said whatever it is is very near the pulp and that's not good at all.  He said it could have been a birth anomaly even though it's her permanent teeth, poor prenatal care or she could have had an injury in the last year while they were erupting.  We don't remember anything like that I would think we would.  However, the side tooth was pretty crooked and has  been pushing on the front tooth, so he said there's a slight chance it pushed hard enough to damage it.  Regardless, he didn't feel comfortable treating her, so he said we had to take her to a pediatric dentist.  Chaching!  We have no dental insurance as we definitely cannot afford it and have always paid out of our pockets, but this is really going to hurt.  The boys' filling are not worrisome.  They'll be about $40 each and we'll be done.  Not pleasant, but doable.  Chelsi will most likely have a visit to this new guy and they usually charge double what our regular guy charges plus a visit to come back for whatever treatment they need to do.  I'm worried what that treatment will be.  He said they can't do a root canal because her roots are not fully formed yet.  Obviously, you don't want her to lose a permanent tooth at this age.  He's hoping it's just something this other guy is more versed in and is an easy treatment, but I'm worried for her.

Definitely not the most pleasant of dental visits we've ever had, but I guess we've gotten off easy over the years, so it's time to pay up.  I think between medical and dental we pay about $6500/year out of our pockets because we max out our HSA.  I'm also behind on paying ourselves back every year, so I guess in reality it's more than that.  I just don't really want to know.  3 years and over $18000 in medical bills.  I'm praying next year we get a break from medical and car expenses.