How Much Would You Pay For Your Kids' Self-Esteem?

Can you put a price tag on looking nice?
How do you know when it's reasonable and when it becomes a joke?

I think everyone pretty much knows that the cost of dental (and medical) care in America is horrible, but how much of that stuff is actually neccessary to begin with? I really doubt that I periodically had the "vitamins for the teeth" gel applied when I grew up, and my teeth are just fine. ...Well, aside from the obvious lack of vitamins, anyways.

I'm ranting about this today because I "had to" take my boys to the dentist for their 6-month checkup (which, I must admit, is a good thing).

After the diagnosis we received 6 monthes ago that my 6-year-old Jay needs a "Phase 1 treatment" (in which they use an expander to correct the alignment of the arches) as a prereq. for the regular braces and having to take out the $300 spacer only after wearing it for a whole whopping month, we finally had a normal dentist's visit where they cleaned their teeth and told me that there was no cavity in either boys' teeth. Hip, Hip, Hooray!

While they ran into the lobby in order to play millions of the latest games they have out there, I stayed at the counter scheduling the next 6-month visit and realized that it was costing me $200+ in order to have the doctor "check" their teeth. Her almighty wisdom that says "their teeth are just fine" is worth two-hundered bucks??? Seriously? Or is it the utility bill for all those gaming machines that everyone seems to have such immense difficulties peeling our kids off of?


I know that the fact that we don't have to drag our kids to the dentist is priceless. Jay sometimes even wishes that his treatment would actually hurt him a little so that he can negotiate for more tokens in order to qualify for a bigger prize...

At the end of the day, I am one of those parents who would do anything in my power to keep my children's self esteem as high as possible. ...And I'm not sure if that's such a good thing.


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