All I Want for Christmas

What a great song. Too bad it's

IMPOSSIBLE.

Sorry. Prepare thineselves for a rant to end all rants on the most random of all random topics: TEETH. And dental care. Which PISSES ME OFF.

Guess how much, total, it cost to fix my teeth after knocking them out? This is two teeth, keep in mind, not a million, nor a thousand, nay, not even a mere hundred. Two. This includes an initial trip to the dentist (to stick them in my mouth), a secondary visit (to take off the braces), a root canal from the friendly neighborhood endodontist (graduated from UM, woot) and a final visit to the dentist for two fillings.

Well, I actually don't know for sure, because insurance covered 80% of the costs at all sites. What did I pay? Close to a $1000. Now, I've never been good with math, but if 1000 is 20%, then I'm pretty sure that other 80 comes out to an exhorbitant amount.

Who can afford that????

Answer: Affluent, suburban families. I now understand, better than ever, why so many of the homeless and impoverished suffer from poor teeth. A regular visit to the dentist is 80+, something which many can't afford. Let alone any filling, plug, drill, etc. etc. It's obscene!

And it's dangerous. Two weeks ago a 12 yr old boy died in Ann Arbor because he had an untreated cavity. His family couldn't afford routine dentist trips, and he seemed healthy. Then, abruptly, he grew incredibly sick, fever, etc. and they took him to the ER wher it was discovered that an infection caused by the cavity had gotten into his bloodstream and eventually to his brain.

That is not acceptable. That is not fair.

Do you know how most people in the world treat decaying teeth? Pulling them out, hoping that the root comes with, and thus avoids a potential life-threatening infection. No teeth are better than death, I suppose, but that's just ridiculous.

Granted, the dentist pays to keep the practice open, to pay all employees, to keep up-to-date on techniques, procedures, and equipment. THe price is still too much. My dentist's office has satellite tv. Cut it. He gets paid bookoo bucks. Cut it. Fifteen magazine subscriptions. Cut them.

NOBODY should ever die because of poor dental work. NOBODY should be forced to pull out a tooth because he/she can't afford treatment. Why are the homeless obsessed with white bread, forgoing the more positive calories in multi-grains and wheats? Because, quite simply, they don't have the strength in teeth (or the teeth period) to chew anything. And that is wrong.

Imagine getting a job with no front teeth. Yeah, probably not going to happen.

Well, anyway, that's my rant for the night. In other news:

Pirates of the Carribbean in one minute:

Where's Johnny Depp? There he is. And there. And there. WHEEE!! Best movie ever! Geoffrey Rush is my lovah. Why is Keira Knightley fighting people? WHat, pirates meet in a conclave? Who's on whose side? WTF is going on? Keira's a pirate king? WTF? NOrrington! Norrington = hot! NOrrington is talking about. . .honor? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LOVE? He died. Tragic. AWESOME SWORDFIGHT/MARRIAGE. BEST MOVIE EVER! Oh, suspense, will Johnny sacrifice eternity to save Orlando? Answer: yes. So NOT surprised. But wait. . .undead Orlando = UBER HOT. = Better than NOrrington! HOller. What? Setup for a fourth? NOOOOO. Shit.

And. . .that is all she wrote.
Oh, the Office rocks my balls, and I am mildly in love with John Krasinski. And Garrett Hedlund.