The Vent and Rant Thread

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

But the insurance companies aren't really the villains of the piece. They price to cover their costs, and the problem is that the underlying costs of providing health care have soared. I haven't seen anyone propose plausible solutions for reducing what it costs to provide health care in the first place.
______
Dennis

Any discussion past this point requires us to move this into a forum here that I've deliberately not joined.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Any discussion past this point requires us to move this into a forum here that I've deliberately not joined.

I haven't either. I've never liked Religious Arguments. I'm dropping discussion.
______
Dennis

[poohbear_nc]

Broke a molar this weekend (eating a Thin Crisp Triscuit!) - got fitted for a crown (over an hour of drilling, shaping, etc.) with a temporary crown - this will be my second gold crown - lasts forever, but pricey!

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Broke a molar this weekend (eating a Thin Crisp Triscuit!) - got fitted for a crown (over an hour of drilling, shaping, etc.) with a temporary crown - this will be my second gold crown - lasts forever, but pricey!

Oh, jeeze, I just did something like that. (No more Jolly Ranchers for moi!). Broke (yanked off) a cap right off of an old, old root canal molar. <SIGH> I'm saving my pennies, as my VERY bloody expensive self-purchased health plan doesn't, of course, cover DENTAL. (There is no such thing as a good value in a dental plan any longer, unless it's a business group plan. Bugger.)

I feel for ya!

Hitch

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Broke a molar this weekend (eating a Thin Crisp Triscuit!) - got fitted for a crown (over an hour of drilling, shaping, etc.) with a temporary crown - this will be my second gold crown - lasts forever, but pricey!

I was suppose to schedule a root canal three weeks ago, but I got sick and laid in bed for the better part of two weeks. Now that I'm better, the tooth has stopped hurting. The dentist (he was not going to do the procedure himself but was going to refer me to an oral surgeon) said the x-ray didn't show a problem anyway and described the pain I was experiencing as being the result of a "tricky nerve" (I'm not sure if that's the actual technical term). I had thought of forgoing the procedure as soon as he told me the actual tooth was okay. I figure if there's no real problem there I could eventually convince my pain receptors that they were firing unnecessarily and to just cut it out, already. Evidently, they have.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Oh, jeeze, I just did something like that. (No more Jolly Ranchers for moi!). Broke (yanked off) a cap right off of an old, old root canal molar. <SIGH> I'm saving my pennies, as my VERY bloody expensive self-purchased health plan doesn't, of course, cover DENTAL. (There is no such thing as a good value in a dental plan any longer, unless it's a business group plan. Bugger.)

I feel for ya!

I am fortunately past that, because I no longer have original teeth. The lower teeth are a full denture. The upper teeth are a denture except for two crowns.

I inherited bad teeth from both parents. Mom and dad both had full upper and lower dentures when they died. My original teeth were going, one by one. The final straw was when a supposedly permanent crown fell out because the root it was screwed into gave out. I told my dentist "All you are doing is delaying the inevitable. Mom and dad both had full upper and lower dentures by the time they died. That's where I'm going to end up. How about we skip the original teeth going one by one and jump directly to the end result I'm going to reach anyway?"

She agreed it made sense, and began the process of removing the few remaining original teeth and preparing for dentures. The good part was that the original teeth didn't go painfully - they just crumbled. I had very few really nasty toothaches. The process took a bit, mostly because of insurance. I had a corporate insurance plan, but essentially, I was putting aside money for dental work, up to a maximum covered by the plan, and when that max was reached there was a delay before more money was available. I'd have done better to put the money into an interest bearing account and just pay from it as I went, but that wasn't an option my company offered.

The process was finally finished and I have a full set of teeth and an attractive smile. They just happen to be false teeth. But I have no need to visit my dentist for the foreseeable future. Eventually, adjustments will need to be made, but that will be years down the road.

A friend got a replacement crown a while back and sent me digital photos. Previously, such work was farmed out to a dental lab. His dentist had acquired the capability to do it in house. He designed the replacement crown in a specialized CAD program, and a baby CNC milling machine actually manufactured it in his office. I told my dentist and she was aware of the tech but thought it expensive. I said it likely was, but the savings of being able to do it herself instead of sending it to a lab would pay for it pretty rapidly, allow her to retain the revenue stream, and be able to charge her patients less. I expect that trend to continue till only really complex stuff gets sent to a lab.
______
Dennis

[Hitch]

Dennis:

I don't know that it's that horribly expensive--we have a Baby CNC milling machine here, that Mr. Hitch just "had to have," of course (SIGH). He runs it from an older computer that I could no longer really use, but it chugs away merrily driving the milling program.

Now, it's likely NOT the same thing, quite, as a dental milling machine, but...then again, why not? After all, it's not like the cleaning etc., occurs then. It doesn't need to be in a clean-room, you can do that later.

How interesting that is! I'd no idea, but you're right--makes perfect sense.

(I, too, have crap Irish-ancestry teeth, but I'm hanging on to mine through a regimen of deranged dental care at home. I'm the queen o'floss, water piks, yadda-yadda. It's silly, but...<shrug> there you go. My mother had full uppers by the time she went. Mine are actually fairly decent, BUT...it's that fanatical flossing, piking, blabbety.)

ETA: Oh, sorry, I meant to say to you, WT, that that occasionally happens to me. If it happens to you again: do you have receding gums, or perhaps pockets near a bridge? I have this one spot, where the gum isn't uber-snug up against the tooth. I have to water-pik it (and under my bridge) religiously, or a microscopic bit of food or liquid something will get caught in there, that doesn't come out with brushing, and then it will form an equally microscopic blister--that hurts like an abscess. If you water pik religiously, it keeps the particles out of there, OR, at the least, it will "pop" the wee blister, providing wonderful relief. Post the waterpik, rinse like a madman with something like Listerine, and it will clear it right up by the following day. Also, if you don't want to be a waterpik-ing madman, IF the abscessed feeling comes back, do the same--waterpik, followed by rinsing with Listerine, and quite often, that will resolve it for you.




Hitch

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I was suppose to schedule a root canal three weeks ago, but I got sick and laid in bed for the better part of two weeks. Now that I'm better, the tooth has stopped hurting. The dentist (he was not going to do the procedure himself but was going to refer me to an oral surgeon) said the x-ray didn't show a problem anyway and described the pain I was experiencing as being the result of a "tricky nerve" (I'm not sure if that's the actual technical term). I had thought of forgoing the procedure as soon as he told me the actual tooth was okay. I figure if there's no real problem there I could eventually convince my pain receptors that they were firing unnecessarily and to just cut it out, already. Evidently, they have.

This happened to me before my first root canal - I had tooth pain that finally built to a level that convinced me to visit the dentist, then it would vanish, then come back, etc. When it finally stopped going away I went in - it was an abscess that developed beneath an old composite filling - which would become inflamed and then subside (probably b/c the pain made me chew on the other side of my mouth).
Moral of story: if you can afford it, get the root canal done - it will stop the pain forever, and give you one less tooth to worry about.

(Dennis - every time I have a serious dental episode, I count my remaining teeth and contemplate going the denture route. Getting closer.)

[ProfCrash]

Little Man has Enamel hypoplasia so very soft teeth. He had three teeth filled a few months ago because the sticky thing was already sticking in his teeth and they were very susceptible to cavities. They put the protective coating on his teeth to try and diminish the chance of having problems in the future. We had to put the Little Man into a twilight sleep to accomplish this. Expensive but hopefully worth it.

I managed to do well in the dental department. I have had a bunch of cavities filled but no crowns or root canals at 44. Hell, I went nine years in between visits (twice) and only had a cavity or two to fill. My hubby has not been so lucky.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I don't know that it's that horribly expensive--we have a Baby CNC milling machine here, that Mr. Hitch just "had to have," of course (SIGH). He runs it from an older computer that I could no longer really use, but it chugs away merrily driving the milling program.

The computer driving the milling machine doesn't have to be big and powerful. The machine where you develop the code the computer connected to the milling machine will feed it might be another matter.

I suspect it's not that expensive either, but my dentist isn't happy about up-front capital costs and isn't as comfortable with newer technology as others might be. I suspect she'll join the party down the road, but doesn't see enough of a reason to do it now.

What she really needs is an x-ray machine upgrade, to a model that saves to a file she can send electronically, but that likely will be costly.

Now, it's likely NOT the same thing, quite, as a dental milling machine, but...then again, why not? After all, it's not like the cleaning etc., occurs then. It doesn't need to be in a clean-room, you can do that later.

The milling machine may not be that different or extraordinary, but I'd love to see the software the dentist uses to design the replacement tooth the machine will make.

How interesting that is! I'd no idea, but you're right--makes perfect sense.

I think we are just seeing the tips of icebergs like that. 3D printers, for example, and getting more extensively used in medicine, to produce things like custom replacement heart valves.

Medicine is like any other industry these days. More powerful, less expensive computers, and more flexible and re-programmable robots are dramatically changing how things are made. There are stories about manufacturing coming back to the US, and it is, but the plants are stuffed with machines that do the manufacture. The number of people employed there is a fraction of what it used to be. The people working there will be programmers for the robots, and techs to maintain the robots. The decent paying low-skilled/unskilled jobs factories used to offer aren't coming back. There is constant pressure everywhere to do things cheaper and lower costs, and if the job can be done by a machine, at some point it will be.

(I, too, have crap Irish-ancestry teeth, but I'm hanging on to mine through a regimen of deranged dental care at home. I'm the queen o'floss, water piks, yadda-yadda. It's silly, but...<shrug> there you go. My mother had full uppers by the time she went. Mine are actually fairly decent, BUT...it's that fanatical flossing, piking, blabbety.)

I managed to keep my teeth longer than I might have expected, but had increasing problems that finally had to be addressed. Had I been born later I might have had less problems, as preventative technology like fluoridation of water started to come in.

But the problems were addressed, and other than no longer existent bad teeth, I'm in generally good health. I know folks who aren't so lucky, and am not complaining.
______
Dennis

[wodin]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Broke a molar this weekend (eating a Thin Crisp Triscuit!) - got fitted for a crown (over an hour of drilling, shaping, etc.) with a temporary crown - this will be my second gold crown - lasts forever, but pricey!

I've had natural teeth and I've had plastic teeth, and I've had a whole lot less trouble with the plastic ones than I've had with the natural ones.

[June]

Arghhh... I've spent two hours today playing Minesweeper (or more precisely a game on iOS which works the same way). AND I hate that I cannot get my ct-scan results directly, but have to wait for the doctors appointment to tell me.

[Katsunami]

I wonder what the deal is with some people. Why do some need to either make noise, be boorish, and/or have noise around?

Why do people sit with their legs crossed left, right, left, right, smashing into their desks each time they switch, complain as soon as there is no noise around (no phone calls and no music), walk through doors as if they forgot to open them, and bring the entire f***** building down when they sneeze? Why do I need to be able to hear phone calls from people three rooms away, and why does a cup of tea need to be set down so hard that I always think the cup's about to shatter?

What's the deal with that? WHY CAN'T PEOPLE JUST DO STUFF WITHOUT MAKING MAXIMUM NOISE ALL THE TIME... and if there's no noise, TURN UP THE RADIO SO LOUD I CAN'T ACTUALLY THINK ANYMORE?!

Sjees.

Maybe I'm the odd one out. My nickname at work is The Ninja... I have been requested to send an email around before I'm going to do something, because people seem to feel that I have the uncanny ability to just appear and disappear at random places around the office.

From my point of view, I'm just doing the stuff I need to do without doing it like I'm trying to tear down the place.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

What's the deal with that? WHY CAN'T PEOPLE JUST DO STUFF WITHOUT MAKING MAXIMUM NOISE ALL THE TIME... and if there's no noise, TURN UP THE RADIO SO LOUD I CAN'T ACTUALLY THINK ANYMORE?!

Some folks need a fairly high ambient noise level. (I'm not one of them, and prefer silence.)

A former co-worker drove me to the point of mayhem. He put his phone on speaker to have both hands free, then carried on extended conversations with his friends ("What up. homey?") and I got to listen to both sides.

I am not able to treat speech as background noise. My mind insists on trying to parse it. (My SO is the TV watcher, and does so with headphones as a courtesy.) The sort of stuff I was doing required peace, quiet, and concentration, and I couldn't get it.

The co-worker got laid off in a move to cut staff and salaries. I fear my main reaction was relief.
______
Dennis

[Hitch]

We have a client.

Very nice guy, and all that. He originally sent us a PDF, but assured us that he had the INDD (inDesign) files for that same PDF. We quoted him, conditioned upon receipt of the INDD files, in addition to the PDF. Right? (n.b.: the fees for conversion from an acceptable INDD file are lower than that for conversion from PDF.)

1. So, end of May, he sends a folder. The INDD files are in there, all right--for the COVER. Not the book.

I email him, recently, saying "do you have those, or do you want me to reissue the invoice--which is still open [gentle throat-clearing noise there]--to indicate that we'll convert from the PDF, instead?"

2. He re-sends me the SAME zipped folder that he sent at the end of May, saying "this is mislabeled, but it's the interior, too." (the folder says COVER).

I write back, saying "sorry, but this is the same folder that only has the cover. Can you send the INDD files for the interior, or...(ditto ditto ditto)."

3. Today, he sends me all the files from WITHIN THE SAME FREAKING ZIPPED FOLDER, saying, oh, well, they must have been corrupted.

AND, I finally open the god*&^%$#@! things, take screenshots, and say "Look, I don't know who is telling you this, but these are NOT mislabeled, they are NOT the interior!"

I'm waiting for the next act. The finale, or where I finally lose it.




Hitch