Alas for Faulty Genetics

My mouth is a minefield. I had my first root canal when I was eleven (preparatory to getting my first set of braces put on), and have had somewhere in the neighborhood of fourteen of them (really, I lost count somewhere after 11). And some of my crowns are now old enough to have grandchildren. Thus, when one such crown fell out the other day I knew it was, like inevitable. This is the second root canal to go south (the first one developed an abcess and was all sorts of fun--but not painful, because of course there was no nerve to hurt).

So the dentist went in today and removed (in pieces) the remnants of the tooth that used to live in that space. Now I have to choose what I want to do with the space (which is, fortunately, not immediately apparent to the casual viewer, at least face-on). I can get an implant, which will cost about $4000-5000 of which about $1400 will be covered by insurance; or I can get a four-crown bridge (because one adjacent tooth is already supporting the bridge for the tooth on the far side of it), at the cost of $4900 of which $1400 will be covered by insurance.

Tra la. This means that we're going to be out of pocket about $3500 no matter what I do. I'm not sure which of my ancestors had the gene for really crappy genes; maybe it's the same one who gave me writing skillz, or the shape of my hands (about which I am vain). I can't regret those things, so I oughtn't repine about the teeth. And yet.