Libby_or_Bust

The tooth saga continues. For those of you who don´t already know (which I´m pretty sure is no one) I got five fillings pretty haphazardly a week-and-a-half before I left for CR from the Health Department. Cheap, yes; in this case I got what I paid for. Ever since the anesthetic wore off I have been in pretty much constant pain. I went back to the HD twice and was told ”It better stop hurting.” Too bad my teeth don´t deal well with threatening language or maybe that would have been effective. Finally yesterday was the last straw. I was bitching about being in pain and Jen (hardened by her stint in the slammer for tax evasion) said, ”Really? I never would have guessed because you hold it in so valiantly.” For a wuss like me it was harsh, but I needed to hear it: I realized that complaining wasn´t doing anything and that I did indeed need to buck up and go to a dentist. So I subtly — or as subtly as is possible in a foreign language — brought up my tooth pain to the owner of our hostel, Eduardo, and he made an appointment with his dentist friend, Gaston Meza, for this morning. The appointment was for 8:30. Jen and I arrived at 8:20. The doctor arrived at 8:40. I guess it all averages out. He looked at my teeth, tested the roots, took an X-ray, and came to the conclusion that I had just gotten bad fillings (too fast, too furious) and that when they were hardened they expanded and are now causing pain and inflammation. So to make a long story somewhat shorter, he wrote me a script for pain killers and I´m going back next Weds to get the deepest filling re-done. At the end, I cautiously asked how much it would be. In total, with exam, X-ray and fillings, it will top out at $40 US. And the best part is, I trust this guy to do a good job. Next time someone in the States makes a comment about universal health care being socialism, tell them about me. Maybe socialism isn´t such a bad thing after all…..

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 16th, 2006 at 11:06 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.