Last October, during our wonderful Tin Can Bay holiday, an impertinent corner of one of Tracey’s teeth decided it was sick and tired of being a party to all her chewing and smiling and talking, and promptly left her mouth.
And naturally, four months later, she’d done nothing to fix the tooth. Zip. Squat.
You know why? Because, at her request, I’d taken control of the purse strings for a couple of months to give her a break from all the stress. And with Christmas, December birthdays and the high cost of beer I figured we couldn’t afford it. Well not just yet.
Then very recently I was chewing on a lolly when my top and bottom teeth got stuck together. I strained to separate them and as they came apart I heard a CRACK!
(this is not our dentist) |
And naturally, within a very short span of time, we had his & her appointments made with the dentist and Tracey was back in charge of the bills. Also, on a possibly related matter, I haven’t had a beer for a week.
Trouble was we needed a new dentist. You see I read an article in Readers Digest a few years ago about the techniques dodgy dentists use to drain more money out of their customers. Taking photos of the inside of your mouth, for example, has no purpose other than to show you how awful they look (and they always do) so you’ll agree to just about any procedure they suggest.
The last time Tracey went to our previous dentist he took these sorts of photos and then, despite there being zero cavities, suggested we spend $2500 on preventative treatments.
So we were in the market for a new dentist.
Tracey put the question up on Facebook – who do you recommend in town and why? When someone came back with the name of their dentist and said basically, “Dixon! The rest will tell you anything to get the most money!”
So were they right? Well our half hour appointments weren’t just initial consultations, with follow ups in a week or two. By the time we left we had two teeth fixed with one set x-rayed and two sets of teeth cleaned. Total cost – less than $600. Total out of pocket after private health – less than $300.
Ladies & Gentlemen, the Devereaux’s have found their dentist.