Gradlife

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First off, let me apologize if this blog is particularly disjointed or non-sensical (see – I don’t think that is even a word), but I am working ON DRUGS here. And I don’t mean the romanticized-beat-poet-explore-America-love-freedom type experience, but rather the experience that comes from having four teeth cut and ripped out of your mouth and the painkillers that necessitate as a result. Ah yes, I have finally had the experience of wisdom teeth extraction. And how joyful it has been! My first time under anesthesia, I was reminded of the famous David After Dentist:

 

Or not really. But an experience all the same. And as a result I’ve finally learned to navigate the Grad Student Benefits (via Greenshield Insurance), and figured I could offer some guidance. The first place you should check out is the Graduate Students’ Union page re: medical and dental benefits. Following through with that process, here are some things I’ve learned since:

1. The Greenshield Insurance website is helpful. You can make an account and check your claims online. Just make sure on the log-in page you click the U of T Graduate Students’ Union option.
2.  To figure out your ID number, start with UTG, then add your student number, and tack two zero’s on the end. For instance, if my student number was 121212121, my ID number would be: UTG12121212100.
3. Sad reality: don’t expect your dental coverage to do much other than a regular yearly check up, and perhaps a cavity or two. Your coverage taps out at $500 (tears for me, afterall, I am just a poor blogger – ON DRUGS!).
4. If you plan to claim anything other than prescriptions, bring your insurance information (or your insurance name and number, as explained above) to the dental/medical office. Most offices will automatically register your claim for you. This is much easier and faster than doing the paperwork yourself (and you save on postage). However, if you need the claim forms, all of those can be found on the insurance website.

And while the experience has not exactly been a good time, I can be forever thankful that no one (as far as I know) took video footage like this, after the surgery: