July 2007
Little
did I know when I ventured out on my 5 months winter hide-away retreat
(2005/’06) to Isla de Margarita, Venezuela, (thanks to EscapeArtist.com!)
that I would spend several hours in the dentist’s chair. Fortunately,
it didn’t turn out to be that painful, especially to my U$ wallet.
Let me share this experience with you.
The 3rd week
into my stay, when at that time I was renting an apartment in Juan Griego,
(on the NW coast of Margarita), I experienced a brief, yet terrible wave
of pain in one of my upper molars. A couple of days later it returned
and I knew it was time to find a dentist. I asked my Austrian tour
guide Andreas, (he gives wonderful all-day tours of the Island) who had
lived on the island for over 10 years and he directed me to a dentist office
in Juan Griego right by the bay.
My first visit
there I found out they were closed and only open at specific days and hours,
so I copied their schedule. I came back the next day in the morning
and was told the lady Dentista would only be there that afternoon.
So, in good faith, I returned a couple of hours later, only to be told
the Dentista had called in saying she would not be in that afternoon after
all. I explained to the receptionista in my best Spanish that I needed
urgent help. Then she mentioned another dentist office in town, where,
she said, they spoke English too!
Hopeful, I
asked her to call that Dentista to make an appointment for me. She
came back to tell me that the Dentista would come over to this office to
pick me up in about 10 minutes! Thinking I must have misunderstood
her, much to my surprise, in about 8 minutes a sweet lady (turned out to
be the Colombian Dentista, married to an Austrian) and her young assistant
were there to pick me up and drive me to her office (about a 5 minute drive)
in her sassy Jeep!
It kind of felt like being in
a dream, but sure enough, minutes later I was in her dentist chair, her
showing me the X-ray she took and pointing to a fracture in an old upper
molar. Her diagnosis: it needed to be extracted! Of course
I succumbed and not much later I was permanently freed from my pain source.
Oh, yes, the bill? All of Bolivars. 60.000.- (equal to about U$25.-).
While I was there, she volunteered
to check out my very aged (24 yrs old) nine-piece upper crowns, and after
another X-Ray, she pointed to an infection that required a root canal.
By the way, I had known about this infection at my last year’s Tijuana,
Mexico, dentist check-up, but the dentist declined a root-canal at that
time.
The Margarita Dentista then handed
me a ‘prescription’ for a “panoramic” X-ray (upper and lower simultaneously)
in a Lab in the big city of Porlamar; she arranged an appointment for me
for the next day. Cost? (equal to U$15). I had never heard of the
existence of a “panoramic” X-ray in the USA or Canada! What a concept!
The next day, I took my panoramic
X-Ray negative back to my friendly Juan Griego Dentista and one of her
young Dentista partners (who spoke some English) performed the necessary
root canal, part 1 of 2, totally painless and with no shots! A week
later, at a 2nd appointment, the procedure was completed. The bill?
Bolivars. 200.000 (about U$ 83.00, ½ of what I would have paid in
Tijuana, Mexico!).
Then I decided
to ask my Dentista about my old discolored plastic upper partial that I
wasn’t happy with. It was made by my Tijuana dentist 4 years ago
(while I lived in San Diego). She frowned and told me this could
be improved 1000% with acrylic in metal, for a price of (Bolivars. 700.000.-
or U$ 290.-) way less than what I paid in Tijuana! I told her I wanted
it done and she took the necessary impressions. Two weeks later my new,
very improved, partial was ready!
Oh, I have
to tell you one more funny detail: one day I came in for a morning appointment,
but as I entered the office, I was told the electricity had gone out (this
happens now and then on the island), so I was told to come back the next
day. No problem for me, I am on vacation. So I decided to take
a stroll back to my apartment, instead of taking the bus.
About 10 minutes
later, while walking on the main street, I hear my name on the street!
I am in shock! Here is the friendly Dentista in her jeep calling
me back, as the electricity was back on! So I climbed into her jeep,
back to the office, for whatever procedure needed to be done. Wow!
What a personalized service! No extra charge!
Which dentist
in North America that you know, would jump in their car (or jeep) and track
down their client and take them back to their office, after the electricity
is restored? Ha! None of them, are you kidding? But, yes, here on
Margarita, that happens. What a surprising, royal treatment!
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