[Previous post is active,. After a blogging lull, I think I'm on a blogging spree].
Long time readers might remember this post in which a letter writer and commentors talked about "giving up the dentist" because of Yeshiva Tuition. It seems that trading in health for tuition keeps coming up. These excerpts are from the post 2010 post:
Excerpt #1: But is hard to appreciate the good things in life when you are sitting and staring at a bank account that is emptying out faster than it fills up. It is hard to smile when you have to tell your 12-year-old kid that he can’t go to the dentist this month even though his tooth is hurting because you don’t have the money for it. It is hard to be happy when your wife is frustrated that you are just not making ends meet no matter how hard you are working and how hard you are trying.
Excerpt #2: Giving up the dentist was the hardest of all for us, we also earn income higher than this poster, but when we had no income, the school tuition committee thought we were hiding something and refused us. That was 15 years ago and we still don’t have necessary dental care—the adults in our family have allowed our teeth to rot and become diseased, and have suffered bouts of excruciating pain without seeing a dentist because we couldn’t afford it. The children who needed braces did not get them, nor did they get normal dental care. Along the way we mentioned this to a Rav whose response was What about all the Rabbi’s teaching in Yeshiva who can’t get dental care? So we just keep quiet and suffer. But at least now we pay full tuition.
This week on imamother in a post on does anyone really save (yes!), 2011, someone writes:
I would love to save, but how? My husband and I both work. We make too much to get any benefits. The yeshivos and schools all see our income and will not give any tuition reductions. We live in a too small apartment because we cannot afford to pay more in rent. It is now nearly the end of the month and our account is overdrawn by nearly $100 and we still owe money to the grocery. I was so embarrassed to turn away a meshulach last week--I couldn't even find a quarter to give him! We don't have dental insurance (too expensive), so my kids have not been to the dentist, although they need to and do have cavities.
I agree savings are necessary, but there are those of us who really and truly live paycheck to paycheck without any extras. I don't have even an extra 2 cents.
I understand forgoing vacations, trips, cars, a more comfortable home to provide children with education. I can understand forgoing saving to pay for Yeshiva tuition, even though I think it is a decision that is soon to catch up with far too many people. But I can't understand forgoing the treatment of cavities. I don't like to throw around words like abuse or neglect, but the practice of forgoing basic dental health is dangerous and at the very least neglectful.
I was surprised the follow up comment was:
"If you've gone through your budget, eliminated the things that you can, and still can't save, well, then you can't save right now. Most of us have gone through periods like that. "
Maybe I'm the bad/unreasonable person here, but for us basic health comes before tuition. What else isn't getting treated? Just a month out of school (perhaps Tishrei, followed by begging your way back in come Cheshvan) would solve the immediate need for dentistry. At some point tuition is EXTRA and I think that when your kid's teeth are rotting, that point has been reached.
Do I have any dentists readers out there? Can one of you possibly volunteer a post? Information I'd like to learn most about is if middle-income families can qualify for low cost dental care or take advantage of dental clinics in dental schools.
