Bm had custody, no health or dental insurance. Dh is responsible for
all uncovered expenses according to the court order. My health and dental
covered stepkids. '97 my work let me know they'd be offering orthodontic
insurance 1/98. We took
my girls and stepkids to the orthodontist to see if they'd need braces.
Ortho said my ss may be able to only be treated with a couple of years
of retainer. We made the appt to get his retainer at his next
visit.
Bm wrote angrily that his dentist did not want ss checked for braces.
We wrote his dentist and asked him, cc'ng bm. He appropriately wrote back,
"It's fine with me if he gets checked for braces."
Bm wrote our orthodontist that he's not allowed to treat ss.
She took ss to UCLA Orthodontic school, a 1 1/2 hr one way trip, and
wrote that the dentist had "suddenly" said ss was ready for
braces. She declared how much money she was saving having ss
treated at an ortho school, and demanded full immediate payment from dh.
We asked that she wait til my orthodontic insurance was in place. She
refused. We wrote UCLA that they weren't allowed to treat ss. She
filed in court to be able to get treatment. She called asking dh to
stipulate that she could get ss treatment. Dh explained ortho was
cosmetic and he's not required to pay ortho uncovered bills. Dh said he'd stipulate to
her getting treatment only if it stated he wasn't paying for it. She agreed.
Ss started full braces and headgear 2 months before my 1/98 ortho
insurance was in place.
My girls started orthodontic treatment later with an experienced
orthodontist. They never required headgear.
Bm wrote that the orthodontic appts were inflexible, scheduled only
by the orthodontist, no one could change them, and dh's visitation would
be denied if they were in conflict with the appointments.
We wrote UCLA, cc'ng bm, asking if that was true, and if the appts could be
scheduled around visitation. Appts were only available Wed mornings. If
you missed one, you had to wait another month. They could be changed.
Bm wrote us that the UCLA orthodontic staff does not have secretarial
staff and thus cannot accept correspondence from us. Even if it were
true, that wouldn't stop
us if we felt the need to write.
As another court visit regarding her visitation denial approached
'99, she tried to convince ss that he can't live with his dad cuz his
ortho treatment needs to be completed, and they might keep him in braces
longer cuz they were "learning" from working on his mouth.
Custody was changed summer '99.
Concerned stepmom
"She" can be one too!
When you look at the deadbeat sites, ask yourself if you're
behaving like a deadbeat, and remember that men are victims of "her"
deadbeat mentality also.
