Which likely helps explain why you're so handy with a pair of pliers; at the risk of making ignorant and unwarranted assumptions about anothers life, I'm guessing that's NOT how you handled your kids dental care. If you only had money for you or them it's not hard to figure out which one you picked.

My dental hygiene has been pretty awful, which is my fault and I don't deny it, and as Isaac notes, the DP and cigarettes aren't really great for my teeth either (in fact, it's a double whammy, 'cos I HATE the taste of tobacco and DP is how I remove it. ) We're far from the point where that means my teeth have to come out tomorrow (and God help me, that won't be free either. ) Doesn't matter though, does it?

Meh. If anyone is or ever was interested, rts suggestion about dental schools is a good one; again, I probably (hopefully) would've thought of it myself if I hadn't been running my lazy butt on 3-4 hours of sleep per night for the past two years. Might not have a car payment either; the other one was paid for, but it's a cube in a junkyard now (which is really a shame, because most of the parts were good and usable on the lemon I drive now, when it's not in the shop. ) And the dentists suggestion was a good one, too; I live in TX, and a friend of my moms got a tooth pulled and replaced in Mexico, so I intend to call her this weekend. But that was kinda my original point: If the way we do things is so darned effective, why are so many Americans using the Mexican medical system that we threaten to bankrupt it? That's right, US medical care has become so expensive it's bankrupting TWO countries, possibly three. But, hey, if it ain't broke....