I dont have dental insurance, and I need to replace all my fillings in my teeth (amalgam, which is cracking my teeth to bits, not to mention scaring the crap out of me because there's mercury in them there amalams)

I had the first 3 teeth fixed in March. Expensive job. Think it was about $1300 just for those three teeth. I have NINE MORE teeth to go! (doing them in bunches of three)

I have no money, but my dad is a nice guy and is paying for my teeth to get fixed because he wants to make sure my mouth is generally healthy. (doesnt want my teeth to cause me any health problems...which I'm sure they are already)

I go for a teeth cleaning next week. I'm going to have her check a couple of teeth for an infection, because I'm thinking that's what's causing my vertigo now. (got checked for an ear infection today...nothing there)

My big problem is that I really really really hate dentists. I've had 3 dentists in my life, and the first two were not very nice. First dentist I had tied me down to the chair (when I was 4 or 5) so he could fill cavities in my mouth.

Second dentist was fairly competent, but he was a jerk.

My most recent dentist (as of last december) is a woman, and she's really nice. She's got the fancy equipment. All sorts of neat computerized stuff. Digital x-rays. So, I dont quite have the fear of dentists that I used to have.

I just wish I had dental insurance, because she's freaking expensive.