He had me schedule two appointments for deep scaling at $340 a piece. My insurance only pays $60. He says I have the beginning stages of gum disease, and said that's why my gums were white and bleed easily. In the month since he pulled my teeth my gums have stoped bleeding, and look a lot better because the infection in that tooth is gone.

He said I need to have crowns put on my two top front teeth (the bottom part of both broke off in an accident when I was young) because fillings don't last. I've had the same fillings on them for over 10 years and one just cracked. I also have a temporary cap on one of my molars that I know needs to come off, although it has not gotten infected and he didn't point out anything bad on the xrays. He said I needed one or two fillings, and needed to have fillings replaced. He pointed out fractures or cracks in my old fillings, that previous dentists didn't notice. I guess they could have formed recently.

How do I go about getting the work I need to have done without upseting the dentist? How do I choose a good dentist that is honest? I want to be able to smile again and not feel like hiding everytime I look at my teeth in the mirror. My husband is a medic, and I'm in a police academy, and we have two little ones so we don't have very much money, and can't afford to pay for things that aren't necessary.

Thank you for your time,

-Whitney