Time to Research

I used the time I had to start researching my options. I sent an e-mail out to the USCF-NE list to see what folks would say there. I got lots of good advice, offers from dentists around the area to check me out, but ultimately, nobody had the silver bullet.

I started talking to the dentists to see what they recommended. I made evaluation appointments at a few places and went in to get checked out. As a low cost alternative, I went to Tufts Dental School to get an evaluation, but ultimately did not feel comfortable there. Penny wise & pound foolish.

A good friend of mine's wife (Kathi) used to work for the "denying" side of the insurance industry. She gave me lots of great advice, plus a good dental contact. I went to see the folks over at the Dentist's Collaborative (http://www.superdental.com) and boy was I impressed. I got an extremely thorough exam, no jumping to conclusions on treatment until a complete evaluation by 3 separate specialists was completed. I knew I had found the place to do my work.

Now it was just going to be a question of how to PAY for all the work. My initial grievance with Blue Cross Blue Shield was denied (sorry, you're not covered). I was pretty angry by this point with BCBS - but Kathi had warned me nothing would come easy. Here I was, with full medical and dental coverage, plus race insurance and I was looking at $14k out of pocket. HOW COULD THIS BE!

I got a phone call from BCBS around this time - a customer satisfaction type of call. I was so pissed. "How's everything going?" SCREW YOU. I let 'em have it, told them they should be ashamed of themselves, blah blah blah. The insurance industry is so bad. They are fine for small stuff, but boy, when you need 'em for something big, poof - they hide behind their contracts and fine print. Complete BS. Start jumping through hoops and be persistent...