$$$ Our Dental Miracle

Evan - very excited to be going to the dentist. Even more excited when he found out he gets two silver teeth. Is this my child?

If any of you know me very well, you are probably aware of my dental phobias. I have spent multiplied millions (seems like it anyway) of hours in dental, orthodontic, and oral surgeon's chairs since the ripe old age of 3 or 4, and have hated it all the way through. Literally, my fear and apprehension before a filling is very comparable to the apprehension I have before my c-sections. Sounds totally stupid, I know, but it's true. One of my earliest dental recollections was when Dr. Scott, the bologna breath dentist of my childhood, started to give me the novocaine. I knocked the needle out of his hand and it stuck in his chest. My mom told me yesterday that she really feels he would have slapped me if she hadn't been there! It was terrible. He had to leave the room to regain his composure. I wonder to this day if he had feeling in his chest after that!

Anyway, I always tend to put off dental procedures due to fear and $, but I'm starting to learn my lesson. Take care of the problems early!!!

I took Evan to the pediatric dentist yesterday for a consultation due to 2 pretty deep cavities. He was not complaining of pain, but I knew they had to be getting close to the nerve. When I made the appt., the office manager told me she would not charge a consultation fee because Greg delivers to their office. This thrilled me because I had prayed that God would help us to do this in a cost effective manner. When the dentist checked his mouth, she informed me that, since the cavities were so deep, he would need stainless steel crowns on each tooth. My heart sank! My negligence was going to cost us an arm and a leg -- all to save to baby teeth! As I was approaching the reception area to find out what the damage would be, I noticed that the dentist took the office manager aside and whispered in her ear for a couple seconds. After that, she made our appointment, and I saw the scary figure on a computer printout: $623! I immediately started begging God to let that be someone else's invoice! As the office manager pulled out the statement, she began crossing off numbers. Her words, "After your discounts, this is what you will owe. We're only charging for one tooth, and are also removing the charge for the laughing gas." The number she circled was $293! Thank you, Lord! We don't usually get discounts from the places where Greg sells and delivers, and we don't expect them. This happened to be the only pediatric office that I know of in town, and is gorgeous inside and out. Evan especially enjoyed the flat-screen plasma TV that was in the ceiling above his chair, and the decor in the place was incredible -- all African safari with lots of greenery and wild animals. This is my miracle for the week! Please pray for me as he goes for this procedure the morning of April 2nd. I will definitely be a nervous wreck, and he will probably be excited to get to go back. What's wrong with this picture?