Took my 8 year old to the dentist last week. Turns out she needs 2 pulled and 2 filled. $185.00 later, nothing has changed. The guy froze her mouth, and she was less than impressed with the needle. So he gives her a choice.... Stay and get her teeth done, or go home. She picks the latter. They tell me she needs to see the dental surgeon to get the job done. Can't get in till April 15th, and that's just a consultation. Meanwhile the girl is in pain, and missing time from school. I call and ask if they have someone good with kids. One guy says he will take a crack at it. I talk to her, my daughter, and she says she'll try to be brave. Back in, no go. As soon as she sees the q tip with the numbing gel, it's a no go. This guy says no charge. Talked to a friend that has his daughter to the surgeon not long ago....$2500 and change. I ask my boss of over 20 years about their group insurance. Only for full-time guys. The public works division of our city is hiring 3. Pension, benefits, and year around work. They have 2 graders, mostly for snow removal, but it is a union job so chances are I'll never see one. But it's more money hourly, 8 hour days not sure what I'd do with all this spare time. No more getting up at 4:30 and working till dark. Hope they don't prefer pimples over a bit of grey hair.
My jaw nerves must have a similar bulletproof sleeve around them, Dentist will numb for work, come back and do it at least three more times before can start work then as he finishes my mouth is almost back to full sensation. He hates to see me walking in although pain threshold is plenty high while he cringes and jumps/sweats more than I do. I feel your pain brotha, take it as you need to and keep the family happy!!
Well, I went in for just a normal teeth cleaning today. The dental hygienist that normally cleans them called in sick . So the dentist had to cover for her. The old ba$$turd hadn't clean teeth in twenty years. He goes at it like he's changing a truck tire. Half way around the bottom he digs down deep and my ancestors jump. He said christ, that'll leave a mark. Normally I don't mind them cleaning and such. On the upside I was in and out in 15 minutes..
The mental game of working for a municipality is worse than the actual work will ever be. It sucks but healthcare/retirement/etc are getting to be more of an issue all the time, I've always meant to start a thread on here to find out how many guys actually pay themselves enough or receive decent benefits working private sector non union. Not sure about Canada, but there is a definite war on the middle class down here to keep you dependent on the government, and a big part of its health care. Either sit on your ass and ride the system completely, or work for the government.(I know a lot of people would see those as the same thing) Hats off to the guys that can be independent or work in the private sector and support a family. P.S., I thought Canada had some kind of socialist healthcare that was the best thing ever? That's what all of the man bun wearing want to be socialist kids that think Bernie has a lot of good ideas would lead a person to believe......?
So trying to not to be political, yes I can go to my family Dr whenever I want, and pay nothing. I had a kidney stone this winter. Spent most of the day in the hospital, pain meds, urine and blood work. A CT scan, an x-ray, went to a urologist, another x-ray, more meds, a medical procedure to blast my stones, a return visit to the urologist, another x-ray, didn't pay a dime. My daughter was born, private room for 3 days, no charge. We pay for prescription meds, eyes, and dental. Plus in order to maintain this health care, I would pay around ten thousand in taxes on thirty thousand dollars earned. I understand you guys are not a fan of paying for someone else's healthcare, but I was born into this, so I'm used to it. A buddy of mine works in the Virgin islands. Last time he came home, he had a mild heart attack. He can't go back for 6 months because insurance won't cover him unless he has been clean for that long. Said he couldn't afford to have a heart attack down there
Rereading that I hope it didn’t come across snarky, I just honestly don’t know about the system up there. Might need to crank this discussion up in a more relevant part of the forum, I’d guess it’s a topic that hits close to home for a lot of guys
Not at all. As an outsider, sometimes it's hard to see why you don't like the idea of paying for other people's healthcare. Trying to stay away from the p word, but I was trying to understand the hate for a political figure. It's hard to separate fact from fiction, but I found an article about it. By reading it, it also gave me a better understanding of the healthcare issue, and I get it
I HATE needles too....have the dentist give her some sweet air( nitros).that will put her in a little la la land and it will be much easier todo dental work, thats the only way I would stay in a dentists chair when I was a little kid up to today...lol...
The first guy ruined it for her by not using gas. The second guy, whom I wish she had the first time, used the gas, but it was too late because she knew what to expect. It's our fault ( her mother and I) we should have been taking her to the dentist all along. It's so expensive. Her first trip was stressful, so she'll be wary of going now.
Better to go and be wary than not go and lose teeth later. One dentist when a Kid did not believe in pain control, just tough thru the drilling and cavity clean outs, his method of forced coercion into giving up sweets. Too bad it was a failure.
Feel bad for the kid. I have to say my wife who turns 62 tomorrow is just as bad, I think she has been to a dentist once in the last twenty years. I told my dentist that my wife would need Novocain to just call for an appointment! Not sure why but I'm just about the opposite. For years I went to one dentist but then he went and retired, he was working as a dentist when I was born so guess I can understand him doing that! Anyhow one day a few years bad I got a bad tooth ache and needed someone fast, first dentist near here said sounds like you might need an extraction and he said he was too old to do that anymore and suggested a new dentist in the area. Called them up and got an appointment in one day. After looking at X-rays she says looks like I need a root-canal job. Had always heard that was not a fun one to have done! Well for me the worst part was sitting there with mouth opened wide for so long. Almost felt cheated as I was expecting pain! Well she did make up for it one of the next times when I needed a filling replaced. She was giving me the shot of Novocain and some how hit a nerve and it felt like a hot poker going from my jaw to my ear! It only lasted a few seconds but sure got my attention. She did explain what caused it and apologized a lot. So being the nice guy I am I try to remind her every time I go in for work!
Doc can find the nerve in the back of my jaw, makes me feel like eyeball gonna fall out, makes him nauseous when he gets that far along!!
I don't do novocaine, gas, or gel. I just tough it out. It isn't really that bad. I always thought the drill looked way smaller than the novocaine needle.
Clove oil works well on hurting teeth. Put on a cotton ball and hold on tooth. Makes ya forget all about the tooth.
I did go that way with the last dentist for several years. But when I heard "root canal" guess I just woosed out and let her inject me. Also never had a problem with needles! Not sure if they have changed the Novocaine over the years but way back the reason I stopped using it was the long term effect of the stuff, mouth would be numb for several hours. The way she does it it is almost worn off by the time I drive home five miles.
This should be posted in the TGIF section I think. It is hilarious and probably most of us have had an experience worth telling. LOL
My buddy that works in the Virgin islands gets his teeth done on the raw. He's allergic to Novocaine. Says the dentist seems to be more careful that way
I'm not going to comment on the dentist thing, aside from saying that I have bit a dentist too, but I was about 8, and he hurt me first. I can still see him in my mind, snap his fingers back with some blood on them, and I smile a little. On the switching from private business to government employee. I was early 30's and left a private family business, for a large union business. And one of the big drivers, was the fact that I had 3 little kids at home and not very good insurance. I am now private business again, and I can't afford the insurance I used to have as a union operator. But I'm just a couple years from my kids being out of the house. Don't worry about leaving your employer for a better job. They will understand what you are doing. I've lost guys to "road money". I don't pay what they can get on the road running shut down/ turn around work, or wind farm work. But if they work for me they are home every night. Everything is about trade off's. You do what's best for you and your family. No one else can make that decision for you, and you have to look out for your family first, because no one else will. In the states, you probably won't make quite as much money working gov't vs. private sector (no overtime), but the benefits and the retirement are usually better. It is usually a whole different pace, and quite often more about dealing with co-workers than the actual work. I think the reason most county /city/ state shops have more " infighting/ petty stuff/ micromanaging" is that they just aren't busy enough with real work.
I agree 100% 10 years ago I gave up self employment for a job at a school district. I was fortunate enough to get hired on as a supervisor/manager. The hardest thing I find is it"s hard to motivate people when there is no way to reward good behavior and little to no discipline for screwups.
Looks like I'm staying put. Today was the last day to apply for the position, and because of the snow storm, I was unable to get my driving record.
The only thing about city/ municipal work is all eyes are always on you. Especially in town/ city. You can’t get 10 minutes peace to eat your lunch.
Only reason I even considered it was the dental plan
Would say to look into private dental just for the kids but those tend to be rather Expensive in any sense. Last one I looked at(My own ran out as I crossed 62) was over $1 a day per year, looked thru the paper work where would only save around 30% of regular work and at most 20% of serious$$ work where even a idiot as me could see who would stand to make money on that deal.
Sounds the same even down under. Municipal (council or government) if you start there fair enough. Going there after a life of being a private contractor Even going to work for a large local contractor, which I did for the last 2 years was nearly as bad . I'll never ever take a "permanent" job in Australia again ! The so called good points of the permanent position don't out weigh the BS you have to take along with the reduction of payrate of "casual" to "permanet". Being an owner operator wasn't as financially rewarding as I'd hoped but the freedom on not putting up with boneheads/imbeciles from top to bottom everyday, far outweighed the $$. At least I can say "I had a go".