Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Brilliant Ideas and Not So Brilliant Ideas

I decided that I'd get some exercise and stroller over to the bank (1.4 miles away) with a stop at the post office along the way. I looked outside and saw that it was still fairly windy, so I bundled Thomas up to protect him from the wind. He had a long-sleeved onesie, corduroy pants, socks, and his new tomato hat. Once out on the street, I realized that it was in the high 80's and that the wind was blowing straight from the desert. I strip Thomas down to his onesie, and stupidly, decide to soldier on. We made it there and back (with many breaks for water), but now I have two lovely, swollen blisters in the center of my foot. And, wouldn't you know, Thomas seems to only be happy if I'm walking him back and forth.

While I was at the bank, I stopped at the grocery store next door (mostly to suck in some air conditioning). I got Curtis and I new toothbrushes. The Wall Street Journal has a "tricks of the trade" feature where they ask experts how they perform common tasks. Recently, it was how a dentist cares for her teeth. She recommended using an electric toothbrush with soft bristles for two minutes twice a day and changing toothbrushes every three months. It turns out that a battery-operated toothbrush is only $6.50, so I got us each one and put a digital timer in the bathroom. I have to say, the vibrations are really weird and may take a while to get used to, but my teeth do feel cleaner. Curtis noticed the same thing. I still need to find us a dentist, though, since we are overdue for checkups. Anyone have any tips for finding a good (reasonably-priced) dentist?

1 comment:

Zifnab said...

I had a really tough time finding a dentist recently, it was mostly due to finding one that could a) take my particular dental insurance plan, b) could take someone on short notice and c) was reachable without a car.

I went to a few review websites, e.g. http://los-angeles.doctoroogle.com or others (saw a few linked via dentistreview.org as well) and tried looking for ones that were rated highly, or at least didn't have bad ratings. Called tons of those. Most couldn't take new patients, or new patients with my coverage.

I eventually settled on one that was new (not a lot of reviews, but none bad), but over the phone they were really helpful.

I can't help you much about price - they usually will give free assessments, and I ended up going to this one because the place L uses wouldn't take my insurance and wanted a huge amount, we ended up still spending a lot, but it was just a fraction of the non-insurance quote. I guess you can try several places and see which you like. :)

If you don't mind the travel, the one I'm going to is the Hastings Ranch Dental Group (www.hastingsranchdental.com), and L or I would be happy to watch Thomas if you're over this way if it'd make it easier. :)