Of Alpacas and Other Matters: Off to the Dentist …

It all started 2 or 3 weeks ago at lunchtime. Having eaten most of my lunch, I began to find the last mouthful or two crunchier than the rest, only to realise that the crunchy bits were parts of my tooth! Arggghh!

So we decided a trip to the dentist was in order. We had been to a dentist here once before for a small filling or two, and she spoke some English, which was slightly helpful, but having become familiar with the Cuenca website “gringotree.com” which, among other things, lists recommendations by gringos (or foreigners) living in Cuenca, we decided the time had come to find a good dentist who spoke English.

Having chosen one of the recommended dentists, I looked up Google Translate and entered in English what I wanted to ask and got the equivalent in Spanish. Then I rang the dentist, and got the Spanish speaking receptionist, read out what I wanted to say, and as far as I could work out, we got an appointment for the next day at 2.30 pm. (And yes, I did later tell the dentist the joke about “tooth hurty”. And yes, I did have to explain it, while Brendan rolled his eyes.)

So, what are we having done today?

Going to the dentist may seem a funny thing to write about, and if it was just like a dentist in Australia, I wouldn’t bother. But here, there are some interesting differences. For starters, there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of dentists. You quite often see dental offices scattered around the city, and you can generally get in to see a dentist within a day or two. And they often work alone. The first dentist we went to had a one-room office in the main part of Cuenca, which comprised waiting room, dental area and reception desk all in one. We were surprised that she didn’t have an assistant of any sort, as in Australia there are always assistants, receptionists, etc., and we made the assumption that she probably just did minor dental work, hence no need for an assistant.

The building where our dentist and other medical-types do their thing – her office is on the top floor with the window on the left

Not so upmarket, but hey, it’s just a passage-way – our dentist has the door at the end

The dentist we have been going to also has no assistant. I was a bit concerned at first, as the tooth which took it upon itself to self-destruct was a wisdom tooth, and I had heard horror stories about getting wisdom teeth out, and on a previous occasion in Australia when I had had a tooth out, there was an assistant passing things and being generally indispensable, and I wondered if extractions could actually be done single-handed.

To the left is kind of very small waiting area – but people wait out in the passage anyway. To the right of the screen is where the action happens

We mentioned to our dentist that we found it unusual to not have an assistant, and she said that she (and other dentists) had had an assistant in the past but, unless they are very competent (which hers and others apparently weren’t), it can cause problems. So she just preferred to do it herself and get it right.

So, being somewhat reassured, I submitted to having what was left of my tooth removed.

This is the section of the office to the right of the glass screen

Sometimes people express concerns about the level and quality of medical and dental care in less-developed countries like Ecuador, for instance. Well, I guess like any other country, it would depend who you go to, and how up to date their equipment and training is. We feel our dentist would be of a standard equal to any very good dentist in Australia – and better than some we’ve been to. (Our dentist is currently studying for her Masters degree.) And a whole lot cheaper. We worked out that the dental work we had done – extraction, cleaning and fillings which came to $285 would have cost us over $2,000 in Australia. No wonder people come here and get the dental work done that they couldn’t afford in their home countries.

Checking for cracks in the ceiling?

One thing we liked is that she takes the time to explain (in fluent English) and show you what’s going on with your teeth, via a little camera on a stick which she points at your teeth and then shows up on a computer screen (I’m not sure what the correct jargon is for all that – Brendan’s the computer whizz in our family), and tells you what your options are and gives her recommendation. Unlike dentists in Australia who have a timetable to keep, here we work on Ecuador time: it’s done when it’s done. Which is nice, as she makes sure it’s all done to a high standard and that everything is done properly. But it definitely takes longer without an assistant to mix things and fetch things.

Brendan checking out the view before the fun begins …

There is a receptionist on the ground floor of the building who takes the calls for all the various medical and dental practitioners who have offices there, but other than that, it’s a one-woman show. Her dental office is one room with the necessary things all in together. (There is a little bathroom off the main room, which along with a toilet and sink, etc, houses a compressor! The other dentist we went to had the same set-up with a compressor handy.)

Let the drilling begin!!! (or, How to do dentistry single-handed)

The only good thing about having a wisdom tooth out is that it got me one of the new revised Bibles! Even before we heard about the release of the revised Bible (we haven’t officially received any yet – apparently we will get a shipment in January – one of the disadvantages of being a foreign-language congregation in a foreign land), we had asked any visitors who were coming to Cuenca to bring English Bibles if they possibly could – like most other congregations, we had run out. At the time of the Wisdom Tooth Saga, we had a couple staying with us for 2 weeks. Unbeknown to us, they had managed to locate an extra new Bible and had brought it with them and stashed it away amongst their belongings, which they intended leaving behind as a surprise for us when they left. But the day after my tooth came out, the sister handed me a new Bible as a consolation prize to make me feel better. (Thank you, Sandy!)

After that, Brendan said that he would have volunteered to have a wisdom tooth out too, if it got him a new Bible! But he didn’t have to wait too long, or give up any of his pearly-whites, as we had another couple visit a week or so later, and they had also brought some new Bibles. So then he was happy. And all his teeth were still intact.

On another tack:

Welcome to Ecuador