First roll of the dice here in Atlantic City:
I had the corner of a tooth break off about a month ago and have been worrying about it disintegrating further or decaying to the point that it turns into an emergency. I rented a car to do a major re-supply today and was checking out the other stores in the shopping center when I noticed that a sign on a dental clinic said, “No Appointments Necessary.”, unheard of.
Less than half an hour later, I was sitting in the chair with a very nice polish woman (here 20 years) looking at my tooth. There was decay under the gold inlay that the chunk came out next to so she said that it needs a crown. Ouch, that will cost about as much as my prop. I’m averaging about one $1000 surprise a week recently.
After giving her my solemn promise that I would have it looked at by my dentists when I get back to Portland in a couple months, she agreed to dig it out as best she could and put in a temporary plastic filling. About $380 later, I was out of there with a load off my mind about the size of the one off my wallet.
Dental emergencies can be worse than medical. You can always go to the emergency room for the latter but an infected tooth can bring a trip to an expensive halt just as quickly and even be life threatening. Anyone who has moved knows how hard it is to find a dentist you can see without buying a house, getting a job, filling out an application, and…. Oh, we’re not taking any new patients.
I expect the proximity of Atlantic City has something to do with the existence of this clinic. Imagine having a toothache to go with your gambling habit and a long anticipated vacation ruined.
Second Roll of the Dice:
I feel a bit better now about coming up here where it has been much more expensive to wait out the weather. I needed to be sure I was here to meet the two crew members that I’ve been emailing back and forth with for weeks about doing the leg to NYC with me. They both just bailed on me at the last minute. People ask why I singlehand. Well, if it resulted in my finding the dental clinic and avoiding waking up some morning with a toothache and needing to put the boat in a marina and fly back to Maine to eat painkillers for a few days until my dentist could fit me in, it was probably a good roll.
Anybody want to take a boat ride?
I had the corner of a tooth break off about a month ago and have been worrying about it disintegrating further or decaying to the point that it turns into an emergency. I rented a car to do a major re-supply today and was checking out the other stores in the shopping center when I noticed that a sign on a dental clinic said, “No Appointments Necessary.”, unheard of.
Less than half an hour later, I was sitting in the chair with a very nice polish woman (here 20 years) looking at my tooth. There was decay under the gold inlay that the chunk came out next to so she said that it needs a crown. Ouch, that will cost about as much as my prop. I’m averaging about one $1000 surprise a week recently.
After giving her my solemn promise that I would have it looked at by my dentists when I get back to Portland in a couple months, she agreed to dig it out as best she could and put in a temporary plastic filling. About $380 later, I was out of there with a load off my mind about the size of the one off my wallet.
Dental emergencies can be worse than medical. You can always go to the emergency room for the latter but an infected tooth can bring a trip to an expensive halt just as quickly and even be life threatening. Anyone who has moved knows how hard it is to find a dentist you can see without buying a house, getting a job, filling out an application, and…. Oh, we’re not taking any new patients.
I expect the proximity of Atlantic City has something to do with the existence of this clinic. Imagine having a toothache to go with your gambling habit and a long anticipated vacation ruined.
Second Roll of the Dice:
I feel a bit better now about coming up here where it has been much more expensive to wait out the weather. I needed to be sure I was here to meet the two crew members that I’ve been emailing back and forth with for weeks about doing the leg to NYC with me. They both just bailed on me at the last minute. People ask why I singlehand. Well, if it resulted in my finding the dental clinic and avoiding waking up some morning with a toothache and needing to put the boat in a marina and fly back to Maine to eat painkillers for a few days until my dentist could fit me in, it was probably a good roll.
Anybody want to take a boat ride?
And that's a good thing! 
