well, went to the dentist yesterday for part I of my crown procedure. not fun! but at least i'm half-way done. i had put it off for 3 yrs. mostly due to the fact i have no health insurance. and it's rather expensive, over $600.00!!! but, i've been saving $36 from my paycheck for the past 2 mos, plus my Christmas bonus and the money from my part-time job with the florists (which was just Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend in Dec). the crown's going to be $716. altogether. oh, WOW-age! but my nice dentist gave me a discount of $179. the normal price is $895. she asked me if i wanted gold or porcelaine. i didn't know. the price was the same. i guess the deciding factor was, in order to have the porcelaine done, more of the original tooth would have to be "deducted." that pretty much decided it for me. hope i made the right decision. if nothing else, now my mouth has some bling! woo hoo! LOL