I don't know if it's just me, or if it's the town I live in or hell, maybe even the color of my skin and the trail of kids behind me and all those stereotypes that go along with that... but just in case I didn't go into it before, the oldest has what is called a failed root canal.
Now I think all of us who adopt get some form of medical assistance until the child reaches 18. My kids get Medi-Cal if they were ever to live in California. In my state all kids under 18 are covered under Medicaid. So my state picks up the bill for my kids. However, I was pissed to find out that in the event of a failed root canal, no other dentist will touch the tooth because Medicaid won't pay.
So, here the oldest sits with an infection in this failed root canal because they left the tip in there and NO one but the jacked up place I refuse to take her back to will touch her. Except, I found one dentist who was willing to give her antibiotics. She was on them for 10 days and it seems to have done the trick for now.
Usually, it takes months to schedule my kids in. This place seemed to be ok. At least, I thought it was the place but, today came to realize it was the hygienist we had, not the place. Anyhow, I digress... the nice woman at the counter said she could get the oldest in for a cleaning the day after her antibiotics finished so that they could also check up on her tooth situation. I said "sure!"
Now, I can't remember if I blogged it or not, but I just dropped a chunk of change to get my own teeth cleaned and looked at because my wisdom teeth are impacted. I was not treated anywhere near like they were. Sure, I paid cash... but this place was fabulous. It was a pleasant experience. I chatted with the staff, they admired my wedding rings. It was like visiting old friends and I only had been there that day. The follow up appointment was just as great. Seriously, I've never been treated the way Hubbins and my kids have been treated. Ever.
Fast forward to today, we get a hygienist with a thick accent, the office is overflowing this time with tons of screaming kids. There are only partitions separating stations no closed rooms. I have hearing loss. When it's loud like that, I can't hear the person in front of me and I try to read lips, but this was difficult. I was about to tell the hygienist that when she totally blew me off. I just thought, "whatever."
She's working on the oldest and I'm thinking "Holy hell! They didn't practically rip my teeth out like that and I hadn't been in 5 years!" Mine was a deep cleaning the first time and the second appointment was a regular cleaning. I do have to struggle a bit with getting the oldest to take care of her teeth, but there's also the decade of abuse and neglect. She has the worse teeth because by the time I got her most of her permanent teeth were in and the damage was done. To me, the fact that she had no new cavities was a victory.
By this time, the loud kids in the next area had left and I heard the hygienist tell the oldest it was her fault the cleaning was so rough. This pissed me off.
When she was done the dentist came in and I asked about the failed root canal. I asked if it would be prone to infection because the tip was left in there. He asked me what I meant by "prone". Uh...yeah. You know, more likely to get infected than if the tip wasn't there? Is this something we should have fixed or was this a fluke? Then he asked me "fluke?" So instead, I asked about braces. She hadn't lost all her teeth. She had like two left and the other dentist suggested that she would need braces once she lost those teeth. I asked if all her permanent teeth were in, he said yes but told me she was fine. I said "really, because the other dentist said she would need braces once the other teeth fell out." He told me Medicaid wouldn't pay for it and that she looked fine.
Hmmmmm.... I don't recall asking who would pay for it. The other dentist had already told me about $4000 is what I should expect to pay at least. When I had spoke to him last about the failed root canal, my point was that the job was done shitty and it should be fixed and she should be able to go some place else and not back to the place that jacked her up. Medicaid should get their money back from the cracker jack I took her to before. (BTW, her godmother told me it was a great place and I took all my kids there once and never again. SS left with bruises on her face and she wasn't even resisting. They were trying to make prebuilt caps fit that just didn't.)
I had it. I had the dentist and the hygienist in there and I said "Look, I'm not happy right now because of something she said to my daughter and what I am hearing now. I have adopted my daughter. My daughter has been through a decade of child abuse and neglect. It is NOT her fault because her parents didn't do what they were supposed to and I'm tired of people like you making assumptions and saying things when you don't know."
I got an "Uh, ok." from the dentist. No apology to my daughter. Nothing. Then the dumb bitch had the audacity to ask me if I wanted to schedule her next appointment.
I said "No thank you." and we walked out. (yes, polite to the end, aren't you all proud. After all I am setting an example for my child.)
Seriously. I'm not on welfare but even if I was, how the hell are you going to treat the people that make you able to live your life, you know: buy food, clothes and shelter for yourself... how are you going to treat them like shit? I understand that there are some people who take advantage of the system (like the kid's egg donor) but then again that's why the kid's teeth are the way they are...because they DON'T take them to the dentist and don't use the insurance, they just collect the check. Duh.
In my mind, if you have a person in there with their kid, you are probably dealing with a person who is using the system the way it was intended to be used and with these economic times... it's probably not a rare thing. And most certainly in our state, where all kids are covered it shouldn't be rare.
Maybe I do have myself up on a pedestal and maybe I should be "grateful". But if we want to play a who's better than who by education and income/status... well... I think they'd be surprised. I don't want to play that game. All I am asking for is to be treated like a human being and the same for my kids. Common courtesy and respect. That's all I am asking.
Is it too much to ask for?
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