Dental Tourism (My long tale of woe)

 My teeth are (were) terrible.

1. Everyone in my family has bad teeth, so it's probably partially genetic.

2.  When we were kids, our grandma didn't make much, so Sis and I were eligible for free orthodontia.  But Grammy considered that "charity" and refused.  Thanks, grandma!

3.  In most of my career, I worked for companies that contracted to the federal government.  That included health insurance, but never dental.

4.  When I spent eight years drinking away my retirement savings, dental health wasn't really a consideration.

I had lost most of my front teeth and most on the right.  My teeth were disgusting:


But I could still chew on the left, until a molar fell out and I could barely chew.

I had already been to a dentist in the US to explore getting dentures. $540 per tooth extraction x 20 teeth, do the math and that's only part of it. 

I explored the Mexican option and found a reliable outfit.  They quoted me $60 per tooth extraction, for a total cost of $3,300 vs. $12,240 in the US.

Even including flights . . . 😂 you can do the math!!!


They are located in the Hotel Zone, the posh part of Cancún.






First they give you a Xanax, then shoot you up with Midazolam for "twilight sleep." You're conscious and can reply to asks like "open" but don't mind that they're yanking out your teeth with pliers or penetrating your flesh with stitches.



It's "retrograde amnesia." Not only did I not only not remember the tooth extractions, I wondered why there was string in my mouth (stitches forgotten) and apparently the nice lady in the hotel helped the driver to get me up into my room?! All forgotten.

For the first couple of days, because my gums hurt so much, I could only eat liquids.


A week later I've added refried beans and sardines (yum!) to my diet.


Oh!


This sucks.

This sucks.

It sucks knowing that at best I'll have 25-30% of my former chewing power.

One of the joys of travelling, and indeed one of the joys of my life, has been the food, and exploring the differences from country to country and region to region.  I have a list of eight specialties from the Yucatán peninsula in México, only one of which I'll be able to eat.

It sucks that I'll never be able to eat pizza again.

It sucks that I'll never be able to eat chips 'n' salsa again.

It sucks that I'll never be able to eat a just-out-of-the-oil crispy hot Colombian empanada again.

I sucks that I'll never be able to sink my teeth into a lovely rare steak again.

Or, at best , a few months from now.  Wish me luck.

Whatever you do, take care of your teeth!

PS I have been relying on AI for encouragement, and it tells me that in a few months I'll be able to eat at least some of the above.  Fingers crossed!





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