It's been a long time since Matt has had teeth that weren't crumbling apart, thanks to a lazy dentist who just didn't prepare his teeth properly before applying braces. That was when he was 17, and since he got together with me when he was 25, I've been trying to locate some avenue he hasn't tried yet. "There's got to be something you can do, I kept saying, and he kept telling me he'd tried everything and people just kept treating him as if he's a drug addict and therefore undeserving of help. They take one look at him, his thinness, his oily skin and his severe ADHD, and assume he has what is known as "meth mouth." The piercings in his eyebrows and his gauged ears don't help much.
We tried the volunteer services, where they were very nice to him on the phone, and when he came in one lady handed him some forms and had him go to the senior center to do volunteer work in exchange for dentistry. But when we got back to the office, we had to talk to the coordinator, who had been cool on the phone- her attitude did a 180 at the sight of Matt. She was so nasty to us that I tried to complain to her higher- ups- who just got back to her, who got back to me, and told me there was nothing I could do to make her treat us any better. If there was anyone I'd just love to throttle, it would be that Nancy M. bitch.
There was a glimmer of hope when we got married that we could get on state- funded insurance called PCN, which covers some dental, and they started taking applications a few moths ago. We were finally approved, but that didn't help Matt get all the services he needed. A friend told us about a dentist who was helping her get free services and we went to see him- but it was the same story all over again. One look at Matt, and here come the nasty questions. "So, are you on methamphetamines?" Of course, when he says he isn't, they refuse to believe him. I thought, what do I have to do, have them call his DAD to validate his story??
But he will do extractions for $7.50 each, leaving us only with the $1000 bill for dentures. Which, I just found out, I can cover with my next student loan! I didn't want to do anymore loans, but it's a pretty low interest rate for what would normally be a lot worse. It actually looks like, soon, Matt will have teeth again. Which means the infections in his mouth that threaten to kill him will go away.
Now all I have to do is keep him from falling off a cliff or something on one of his crazy daredevil adventures.
2 comments:
Having had to shuttle my wife around town yesterday to try and get some acute intense pain diagnosed and treated, I can empathize. You never realize just how bad the health care system in this country is, until you really need it.
And people are way too willing and too quick to judge. And, of course, what makes it doubly bad are the petty people with any sort of power. Sometimes, one could just wring a neck or two.
I hope things work out for him. And you.
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