My dentist removed the part of my tooth that was starting to separate from the cavity. He recommended I try and get the dental surgery right away, so he can put a crown on the tooth. He took xrays of the tooth, and the tooth is cavity free but my filling was just old and deteriorating.

He said if it didn't hurt too badly when I ate food, he wouldn't have to rebuild the tooth before the dental surgery. He knows my insurance only covers a certain amount of dental work per year, and he wants to make sure that I have enough insurance to cover the dental surgery and the crown.

My pre-tax medical flexible spending account will cover most of the crown, but not all. I put away $1,500 for the year, but I've been using it to pay for other expenses. My new glasses costs me $400, I bought $100 worth of contacts, I expensed all my medical doctor visits, the consultation visit to the dental surgeon, and all my chiropractic visits as well. The money went so quickly.

My dental insurance will only pay for 80% of the dental surgery, so the balance will paid with flex spending money. By then, I'll only have enought left to cover about 70% or less of the crown.

I wish I could put off getting the crown till next year, but with part of my tooth gone and some gum area exposed, I can't. My dentist is very good about the dental insurance thing. He said something about charging today's visit to last year, so I don't use up my dental insurance money for this year. I'm not sure how he's going to do that, but he said he could. He then said he was only doing it because I was long term patient. My dentist is so nice. I'm really grateful to him for doing that.

My dentist asked me if I lost weight, and I told him yes. He said I looked really good. He was happy with me and not his usual cranky self today, because he said I was taking better care of my teeth. He requested that I buy an hour glass egg timer, and brush my teeth until the timer was done. The timer goes for about three minutes, and I've been doing it because he was scolding me during my last visit about the state of my teeth.

He says it's really made a difference in my teeth and gum care, that I now brush longer. So if your having peridontal problems, buy a three minute egg timer and brush your teeth for that long. It seems to really help.