1. When I was in third grade, a metal cap on one of my teeth cracked and became partially dislodged while I was in gym class. My family didn’t have a telephone, so the school couldn’t reach my mother, and I spent the rest of the day with the cap hanging from my mouth, dripping blood. Although the state-provided health insurance plan we had during my childhood included basic dental coverage, very few dentists accepted it, and because of overwhelming demand it was nearly impossible to get an appointment with those who did. When we were lucky enough to…