How does one spend $16,000 on dental?
In a single chunk, probably relatively rare, but over a few years particularly for a couple, not challenging. DH and I have probably accomplished this over the past 3 years -- I've needed 2 root canals and 2 crowns, each running about $1,250 (that's per canal and per crown), plus $300 (each time) for prep of the tooth for the crown, and he's needed two (ditto). So that's upward of $5K per person for two of us, or $10K total. One of his root canals ended up not working, leading to first to an apicoectomy (you can google it!); I honestly don't remember what that cost, but it didn't in the end work and that led to an extraction (again, I forget cost) and an implant (I know the actual "tooth" part of that is $2.2K, I think the cost of getting the post put in first (along with the bone graft that proceeded it) ran in the $3K range. So there you go. I'm having a fractured molar (old filling) that my dentist thinks should be crowned, crowned next week, so that will be another $1.2 K but avoids (touch wood) the root canal, not to mention the cost of a broken molar (again, touch wood).
We do have insurance through my employer that knocks $1k per year (max payout) for each of us off the costs above, but since the insurance itself costs close to $1K per year for the two of us, the savings is only $1K per year total for the listed costs (though the insurance is pre-tax, so it's a little better than that). And of course I'm completely ignoring the cost of routine cleanings, etc.
As for the thought of ...
I don't want to spend the rest of my good years saving up so I can stay in a higher class nursing home when I probably won't know the difference.
Yeah, me either. But I look at my dad, in a nursing home with dementia where, because he's relying on Medicaid, his choice of facilities is basically zero and he's stuck with a roommate in a context where every patient (very much himself included) has issues, the rooms are too small, and the staffing is inadequate. And make no mistake, he does know the difference; it's hard for him to e.g. be stuck in a room where his roommate has the tv on (loud) many, many hours in the day, and the dementia together with his own chronic anxiety has him imagining that every disaster he hears about (say, Sandy Hook, Boston Marathon, Oklahoma tornadoes, to name a few recent ones) is threatening his family.
I don't really want to land there. And sure, I have a living will and general commitment to not ending up like my dad, but one thing his experience has illustrated for me is that it's not necessarily the big, traumatic events that one tries to plan for, but the gradual decline (a stroke, onset of dementia, broken hip) that does it.
The short answer to the OP's question is that I'm much more risk averse than MMM would advocate, and cheerfully so. The longer answer is that -- fates willing -- I'll build up a bigger stash based on a lower SWR, buy more insurance (see below*) and generally try to think about how I'd manage unpleasant eventualities by considering things like how I'll get around if my mobility is limited and I can't drive (or bike) (or walk). I'd like to remodel our house to increase its accessibility (roll-in showers and such) and add a separate apartment that could be an income generator but could also be a dwelling for a care giver.
*I don't currently have (or necessarily plan to get) LTCI, though I would (do so) if I thought decent products were available.