15MB of fame

Free market vision correction

I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but I keep wanting the procedure to get even easier and less freaky. Maybe it is there now? I just don’t think of my self as a guy in glasses, even though I’ve worn them for a decade now.
Here’s an interesting post I read arguing that the success of this procedure is due in part to not being part of the health insurance mess. When people spend there own money, they shop for the best practioner and competion insues, leading to higher satisfaction and falling prices:

Laser eye surgery has the highest patient satisfaction ratings of any surgery, it has been performed more than 3 million times in the past decade, it is new, it is high-tech, it has gotten better over time and… laser eye surgery has fallen in price.  In 1998 the average price of laser eye surgery was about $2200 per eye.  Today the average price is $1350, that’s a decline of 38 percent in nominal terms and slightly more than that after taking into account inflation. via Marginal Revolution
Update My wife got it this year and I guess I’m now ready to give it a go.

See more progress on: get corrective eye surgery or lasik

Oh, my teeth

Because of my misspent youth and questionable genetics, I’ve had terrible problems with my teeth. My dentist described them as “in a state of advanced decay” almost 15 years ago, when I was only 20. After two extractions, a crown, 4 root canals, and countless fillings (more than 20) all within two years, I’ve had almost no new problems. I think what made the biggest difference was upping my dental cleanings and checkups to every 4 months instead of every 6 and the advent of the SonicCare toothbrush.
But all that work 15 years ago is getting old. My front tooth, which I broke while skateboarding (and never fixed) started to decay and abcess. I ended up getting a root canal on it. Man! Let me tell you, when your front tooth accesses it hurts!
Anyway, last week I rebroke the tooth. I’m going to need to get a crown on it as the partial filling keeps breaking. problem is, adding a new tooth to this crooked smile is like putting lipstick on a pig. I’ve already had to start bleaching my teeth because they don’t make crowns that are light tan like the rest of my mouth. I’ll probably end up with a whole new smile and veneers and crowns all across the front. Look out Tony Robbins.
I made the appointment today to wade into the morass that is my own mouth. The excitement starts after Thanksgiving.

See more progress on: get my teeth fixed