Dentist And Other Things

Dentist And Other Things

A few days ago, I think maybe it was Friday evening we were just sitting around here and suddenly a piece of my filling fell out of one tooth. Great just before the weekend. Fortunately it was just part of the filling, I wasn't in any pain so waited the weekend out, thinking I would go to the dentist on Monday. Monday arrived and I realised that the people had decided to celebrate Benito Juarezs' birthday on Monday instead of Friday, (Good Friday) when it was supposed to be. You can't have 2 holidays on the same day after all. I assumed that the dentist would be closed so put it off until Tuesday. If you know me at all, you know how much I hate going to the dentist, so you will also know that I wasn't too upset about putting it off for another day. So Tuesday arrived and downtown I went to see if I could get an appointment before all the Semana Santa (Easter) vacationing started. Luckily there was only 1 person in line ahead of me and I got in quickly. The dentist examined the tooth, told me he would have to completely remove the filling, so would give me a shot of Novocaine. Yipee, words I love to hear coming out of a dentists mouth. Shots over with, he proceeded with the repair and in a short time I was done. It must have been a big hole as he told his assistent that he needed 2 fillings. Anyway no pain and $40.00 (400 pesos) later I was on my way home. Thank goodness that is done!!

Afternoon was spanish class, I went early and my friend and I had a coffee and a visit before going to class. Class was fun as usual as we discussed various topics in our bad spanish.

This morning we headed for the tianguis and then walked along the malecon to see how they are proceeding on the projects that they want done before the cruise ships begin coming. They have done a lot of work since we were there last. We then headed for the Palacio Municipal (municipal government building) where they have an exposition of photographs from the area on display. We enjoyed looking at the photos and then headed to the plaza to sit in the shade and people watch for awhile before heading home. Onto a bus for home, a stop at the mini market for some groceries and home to relax for the afternoon.

No painting class tonight due to Semana Santa.

Finished With Fillings

Finished With Fillings

The new lenses for my glasses weren't ready yesterday when we went for them, so we made an appointment for this morning at 9 AM.. When we arrived at 9 this morning there was a fellow there waiting for us. He made a phone call and seemed to be double checking what he was supposed to do. No one else was in the building. He took my glasses told us to wait there and that he would be back shortly. He left in his car and we were left holding down the office. Pretty funny. We looked at each other and just laughed, this would never happen in Canada. They wouldn't trust anyone enough to leave them in the building with all of the merchandise, without a staff being there. We sat and waited and in less than a 1/2 hr. he returned with my glasses and we were on our way. Just when you think you are getting used to things, something like this happens to remind you just how different things are down here.

We had lots of time to kill before my dentist appt. at 11, so we walked down to the water at the Statue of the Pescador (fisherman) and then over to the plaza to sit and people watch for awhile.

We then walked back down to the dental office, we didn't want to be late. This dentist has little slips of paper for your appt. and on the bottom of the slip it asks you to be punctual. Different, punctuality is usually not a big deal here. We walked in and it was a different receptionist from the other day, she asked if I had an appt. and I told her at 11, and then pointed out my name in her book. OK, a couple of minutes later the dentist called me into the room. I love it when they expect you to be punctual and they are too. No long wait in the waiting room looking at old magazines. He picked out part of the temporary filling and then dabbed in some more de-sensitiser before putting in the permanent filling. When he finished he grinned at me and said, "see all done, quick and no pain". I grinned and agreed. He also told me that the office will be open until Wednesday if there are any problems. Then they will be closed for Semana Santa. Finished. Yahoooooo!!!

We did notice some of the stores had signs on their doors stating that they will be closed from April 2 to April 8th for Semana Santa.

Dentist

Dentist

We picked up Roys glasses on Tuesday and they seem to be working out fine for him. We also purchased a licuadora (blender), an Oster brand, so hopefully it will be a good one.

Yesterday morning I went to the dentist. I had been told that he spoke english, which I thought was good as my spanish fails when things get too technical. I waited for a few minutes in the waiting room and then was ushered into the room by the dentist himself. He began speaking to me in spanish and I explained why I was there. We discussed it for a minute until I couldn't understand a couple of words, then he just automatically switched to english. Pretty funny. He asked me if I wanted Novocaine and I told him yes. I told him in spanish that I am very afraid of dentists and in english he replied, "me too", and we both had a good laugh. Apparently there were two old fillings that needed replacing, hmmm... the other dentist said 3. So he began to drill. There was a bit of decay starting under one of the fillings he said; but not too bad. He put in medicated temporary fillings to deaden the sensitivity that was present and told me to come back on Saturday. He very nicely told me that he would not need to drill on Saturday as he just picks out part of the medicated filling and then puts the permanent one on top of that. Pleasant news for me. All in all a good experience. He worked quickly, gently and hopefully did a good job. Who knows?

Differences from a dental visit in Canada: 1. no long wait in the waiting room. 2. no extensive xrays 3. no assistant hopping up and down and doing the little things for him 4. cost of 2 fillings--$800 pesos or about $80.00 (400 pesos each--$40.00).

The novacaine always zonks me out, so I spent part of the afternoon having a nap. I didn't feel up to my spanish lesson so Roy went up the hill and told the teacher that I would be back on Friday.

Today we have a day off, no appointments or grocery shopping or anything.

Friday I need to pick up the new lenses for my glasses and wait for them to put them in the old frames, then back to the bank and later in the afternoon my spanish lesson. Between new glasses, dentist and rent the cash from Monday is gone. Boy, that was quick for down here. It usually lasts for about 2 weeks. Saturday morning it is back to the dentist. After that we should be good for awhile on the medical side of things.

Medical costs this week: New lenses for me and complete set of glasses for Roy--2900 pesos (about $290.00 dollars). Two dental fillings for me--800 pesos (about $80.00 dollars).

Eye Examinations

Eye Examinations

We decided yesterday morning to try the fishing. There was no wind and it was a beautiful morning to just sit and relax and look at the view. Roy caught one right away and then we sat with no bites for the rest of the time. We saved the one that Roy caught and gave it to Ciro when we got home. The breeze started to come up, so we headed to our friends restaurant for a bit of breakfast and visiting. I had been looking to borrow the book, The Zone of Tolerance by David E. Stuart and someone had kindly said that they would loan theirs to me. They had dropped it off at the restaurant, so I wanted to pick that up also. A nice morning.

This morning we headed uptown intent on having eye examinations. Roys arms are getting too short and I thought that my glasses needed an upgrade. We stopped at one place and were told that the doctor would be there in 10 minutes or so. Instead of waiting inside, we stepped outside and a fellow stopped to chat with us, we chatted with him until the lady motioned to us that the doctor was there. The doctors english was quite good and the examinations were painless. As we expected Roy needed reading glasses and we decided on bifocals so that he doesn't have to take them off everytime he gets up. Cost of his glasses--bifocal lenses $450 pesos (about $45.00), frames $450 pesos for a total of 900 pesos (about $90.00). Not too bad. Mine did need upgrading and I decided to keep my old frames as they are in good shape yet. Cost of my lenses were more as they are a little more involved, and I got the transitional, coated ones for 2000 pesos (about $200.00), which is about 1/2 the price that I paid for them in Canada 4 or 5 yrs. ago. Roys should be ready tomorrow and mine should be ready on Friday.

We then stopped at a dentist and I got an appointment for a filling on Wednesday. One of my old fillings has been bothering me, so I thought I should get it taken care of before we head over to the Baja in May. I decided to try another dentist this time, just to have a comparison. The receptionist said that a filling is 400 pesos, (about $40.00) so we will see on Wednesday.

We then headed to the bank and then over to a computer store to look around before heading home. We accomplished what we set out to do, and had some interesting conversation while doing it.

Dentist--Part Four

Dentist--Part Four

We drove out to San Carlos yesterday morning for breakfast and a visit, then on to look for an easel. The lady said that she had just sold her last one the day before and won't have anymore until January. Oh well. We then stopped at the RV campground and had a visit with our friends from Sask.. We returned home early as I had a dentist appt. at 3 PM. I really was tempted not to go, after the last appt.; but at the last minute decided to get it over with. She needed to remove the temporary crown and put in the permanent one. The glue was solid on the temporary one, so naturally she needed to use her drill some more. She started drilling and it was pretty tender, so more freezing. It didn't take long to accomplish and 3/4 of an hour later I was home again. Roy questioned whether I had even gone to the appt., I was home so quickly. He actually accused me of going into hiding and then just returning home!!! He must have been reading my mind; because the thought did cross my mind. Smile. I am glad it is over!!! I promptly went to sleep in the recliner and slept until 7:30 PM, then went to bed at 9:30 PM and slept straight through until 4 AM. That freezing does strange things to me; thankfully she does not use the type that makes me physically sick. I really did not like that, I much prefer sleeping to vomiting!!

This morning it is chilly and I am wrapped in my quilt. When I got up this morning it was 59 F./15 C. inside the apt. and 56 F./13 C. outside. The weather thingy on the blog is showing 45 F., not sure where they get these temps from; but I am glad that it is not that temperature!!! As I have mentioned before, you need to look at those temperatures and just use it as a guideline, as it is usually not that accurate.
Sunrise this morning.

As most people with blogs do, I also check my stats from time to time. Sometimes there are searches that bring people to the site that absolutely tickle my funny bone. Yesterday someone had searched, "getting turned on by a doctors exam", sorry but you will not find anything like that here!! Made me chuckle though.

Trip To The Denist--Part Three

Trip To The Denist--Part Three

Maybe this should read Part Four, as the other day when I went for my appt. the dentist was delayed and I decided not to wait for her late return and left. Whatever. Yesterday I returned to her office at 4:30 and it was so quiet in the office that I knew she was not in. I sat down with my book to wait. She arrived in about 15 minutes and after catching up on things with her receptionist, she ushered me into the room. I had no idea of what was going to happen at this visit, other than she had told me that she would take the "impression" for the crown. When she started to get her drill ready to use, I knew it was not going to be good! She froze me in two places, and then began to drill away. Unfortunately, either the freezing hadn't taken good enough or she hadn't put enough in, and it did not feel good. She gave me some more freezing and drilled away. At this point, with the drill in my wide open mouth, I could not ask her what the process was going to be. When she took a break, I asked some questions. Was she going to remove the temporary filling that she had put in the other day to take the impression or what exactly was going on? She told me that she had to remove some of the filling to take the impression and then would put in a temporary crown and I would return for the permanent crown on next Tuesday. Now this is just me; but why didn't she do this the other day? Instead of putting in a temporary filling, why did she not do the impression and put in the temporary crown and skip one step. The only reason for this that I can think of is that she wanted to see what the x-ray showed. So, in my wimpiness I am thinking that I went through this extra step because she doesn't have an on site x-ray machine. Or, maybe not-- what do I know? After much grinding, digging, goop in my mouth, the standard dentists lecture on dental maintenance, care, etc. (in spanish), I was done. She kept laughing at me during the procedure and telling me to relax, sure, easy for her to say. Not her with the drill in her mouth. I'd be relaxed if it was in my hand not my mouth!! Anyway, after all this (now 1/2 my nose and one eye feel frozen), I am on my way out the door with instructions to return on Martes a las tres horas (Tuesday at 3 PM). Who cares, just let me out of here, I have had enough.

On a happier note, a couple of the roses have started blooming. With all the wind we have been having at night, I am not sure how they are surviving, much less blooming; but they are pretty. I have to say that it is tough to look out your window and see roses blooming in the middle of December. That is better any time than the view at the dentists office. Here are a couple of photos that I took this morning.

Dentist--Part Two

Dentist--Part Two

We headed to the dentist this morning for my appointment and I survived! The dentist is a very nice lady with a gentle touch. The rest of the filling almost disintegrated and she didn't like the look of the tooth, well teeth as the filling is in between 2 molars. Muy grande problema (very big problem)!! She cleaned out the tooth and put in what I thought was a filling; but she called a crown. I have had problems with this tooth for years, so was not surprised that it is going to cause me still more trouble. She doesn't have an x-ray machine in her office (she is moving her office in a week or so). We discussed some options, before she made an appointment for me for an x-ray at an orthidontists office for 5:30 this afternoon. So, at 5:30 I went to the orthidontists office and got the x-ray taken, she gave me a photo of it and said she would be calling the dentist right away. She has the new type of x-ray machine that shows the picture on the computer screen. Yes, both the dentist and the orthidontist were ladies. I have an appointment on Friday to see the dentist again and find out what is going to happen.

Tomorrow being Wednesday, a couple of ladies and I will be going to the tianguis. It is going to be a man free morning by the sound of it. One lady is unattached, the other ladies husband has the flu and Roy has decided that he will leave us to it. Hmm... wonder why???

Dentist- Part One

Dentist--Part One

I have been losing little bits and pieces of filling from one of my teeth since we were in Albuquerque in September. I hadn't done anything about it so far as it wasn't aching, or maybe I should say because I am scared of dentists. I know this sounds ridiculous coming from a grown woman; but it is true. A couple of nights ago I lost some more of it and it is starting to let me know that it is there, so I made up my mind on Saturday that I would go to a dentist on Monday. Seemed like a good idea on Saturday, this morning it didn't; but went anyway. The dentist that I was going to try was closed and it looks like he may have been closed for awhile. We didn't know where to go then, so I asked a fellow selling newspapers if there was a dentist close by. He told us that there was one about 4 blocks up and then another block north. On our way to find it, I spotted a sign across the street so we headed over there instead. After all one torturer is much like another torturer, no? We walked in and I managed to get across to the receptionist that I had lost part of a filling. She made an appointment for me for tomorrow morning at 10 AM. Safe for another day. While I was talking to the receptionist, I heard Roy talking in english to a lady sitting and waiting for her turn. What a surprise! Anyway, the lady told us that the dentista is actually a lady, and is very good. That made me feel a little better, well not much; but a little. Apparently she also speaks some english. We then went and sat in the plaza for awhile and headed towards home, Roy had visions of shrimp tacos in his head for lunch and we needed to go to the grocery store, also. It's Monday so the taco lady was closed, or I think this is the reason, who knows, so we got our groceries and went home. After eating, I decided I better go to the bank as I am not sure what the dentist charges will be tomorrow and I remembered that I needed to pay the cable/internet bill. Last month the cable bill had gone up by 20 pesos, not much; but I didn't think it was very fair to hand you a leaflet after I paid, that told about the increase and also that if you paid early you didn't have to pay the increase. Information too late to do me any good, oh well. Today when I paid, they took the 20 pesos extra that I paid last month off of the bill. Huh?? No explanation, no leaflet, just took it off. Maybe people complained about the lack of notice of the increase?? I don't know, all I know is that I was given back my 20 pesos. Wonder how much it will be next month? I could have paid for 2 months; but didn't, I don't know why--just didn't think about it.

Tune in tomorrow for, "dentist--part two", that is if I survive. If not, I suppose you will never know what happened.