Our little trip down to Victoria to see Norma's dentist turned out to be expensive. We left home at about 7:30am and got to his office at about 11, one hour early. We had breakfast and went to see him. Norma's top teeth are held by magnets to steel rods that are implanted into her jaw bone. It was the latest technology and they have worked perfectly for seven years. The top teeth are slightly softer than the bottom and are designed to wear down easier ("sacrificial material"). They are fairly easy to take in and out and the individual teeth are easily replaceable. Two years ago we had three replaced in Mexico for $20 each. When they were new, it was very difficult to break the magnetic hold to remove the teeth. Last week it felt as if the magnets were no longer holding and that was what sent us to see him.
He inspected everything and announced that her jaw had changed shape a little over the seven years and that the tiny but powerful magnets were no longer lining up with the implanted rods. Re-engineering and replacement is in order and we were told it would cost around $5,000! He took impressions, took a HUGE deposit and scheduled us for three more appointments, starting in about a month.
We gave up our dental plan after the original job was done, mostly because they would only pay $3,000 of the total cost of close to $40,000 ($35,000 for the dentist and $5,000 for travel, hotels, etc.). That $3,000 was the maximum the insurance would pay out for one patient per year. We were paying almost $1,000 per year for the insurance so we decided it was not worth keeping it.
