s'more panicking

Gah. The need to find way to get dental care feels even more urgent now, and I'm not at all sure how to explain what kind of care I need since it's been so long since I've been to a dentist. ( dental TMI )

I didn't get much done in the search for dentists last week, mostly because I wasn't up to doing much of anything useful last week. I don't know how likely I am to get free care from anyone if something more than simple cleaning or replacement of a filling needs to be done. Aside from the need for cleaning and replacement of an old filling, there probably isn't a thing wrong with my teeth themselves--I've gotten two cavities in my entire life before now, and I've been good about the brushing & flossing. It's the gums I'm panicky about.

My flavor of Medicaid used to offer dental care when I first signed up, but stopped offering it to non-pregnant adults before I ever took advantage of it. Their recent brochures I've seen mention dental benefits for adults, though. And a call to their dental-related voice mail system gives me the name of a dentist near me as if I were eligible for benefits, so I do plan to call tomorrow during business hours & find out whether I can actually visit their dentist or if their automated system is just confused. (On the plus side: In spite of what I was told back in December, I got prescriptions filled in late January and still do seem to have Medicaid, so yay! for that.)

But anyway. Because it's likely that I still don't have dental benefits, I still do plan to look for some alternative way of getting help with my poor abused mouth. I know there's the dental school up in Baltimore--does anyone local know of any other dental schools around here? If you know of any kindhearted dentists, information about them would be helpful too. I didn't get much of anywhere the last time I tried finding dental care for the very poor, so I need some clues. And if Baltimore really is my best or only option, any suggestions/help with transportation would be appreciated as well.

Today

I literally cannot stop thinking about my teeth for more than about two minutes at a time. The fact that my mouth is probably the dryest it's ever been in my life isn't helping any--swallowing sans saliva would probably make me feel like my teeth were being sucked out of my gums even if I weren't already worried about it. Clearly last night's prescription combo does not work well for me.

Mouth aside, I'm in less pain now than I was this time last night, though I do have a fairly annoying headache.

Walked about 1.5 miles this evening (never left the house yesterday). Trip to the store where I discovered that I couldn't afford to buy anything I need except toilet paper, so I bought toilet paper. Oh, it's so glamorous being me.

Had some entertaining conversations with potential housemates. Sometimes housemate interviews are awkward for everyone, but today's people were both relatively quiet yet intelligent and easy to talk with. I hope at least one of them moves in.

Looking around at various political blogs today, I found one conservative blog which linked to two people I've met in person (cue "It's a Small World"). One of those people is a guy I haven't heard from in years, so it's probably time for me to send off an e-mail. It's probably best for all concerned if the first message I send has no political content at all. We can always save the fun arguments for later.