Oral "Fun"

Not that kind! Get your minds out of the gutter, people! I'm talking about going to the dentist here.

Let me start by saying I'm not a big fan of going to the dentist. Who is? I rather doubt there are too many people out there who actually look forward to it. A few years ago, one of my wisdom teeth was impacted and got infected, and I had to get an emergency yank-out done here in Costa Rica, and honestly it was the worst experience of my life. Worse than childbirth (and I had my son at home, you know?). Apparently a piece of the tooth broke off as she was trying to get it out, and she ended up digging in my jaw for the broken tooth for like an hour. So, you can imagine I haven't exactly been eager to get back to the dentist's chair.

Though, the last two times I've gone have been relatively uneventful. Last year, I had a cleaning done with Dr. Pedro Diaz at Cima, and I would recommend him highly. My teeth glowed in the dark after he was done with them! I don't think they have ever been that clean in my life (and usually I do go in once a year for a cleaning, just so you know I'm not some disgusting person with falling-out brown teeth or anything). Anyway, he was great, and it didn't hurt a bit. (Also, he speaks perfect English and mostly works with kids.)

Now we live up in the sticks, not at all close to Cima, so I had to find another dentist up my way. I got a recommendation from the CRL list for a dentist here in Grecia, Dra. Haidy Vasquez, so I thought I'd try her out. I've had an ugly, evil tooth of pain bothering me for the past couple of weeks, and though I wasn't looking forward to going to the dentist, it was a necessity. So my appointment was yesterday, and I have to say, I'm also highly recommending her. She was very kind and was the first dentist I've ever been to where I couldn't even feel the lido injection (except for the one on the inner side, you can't get away from that, but still it wasn't bad at all). She was worried I might need a root canal (and in case you're wondering, everyone says they hurt, except my mother, who's had a few so she should know, but if you don't believe me, see for yourself), but it turned out just to be a deep cavity. There are some very old "silver" (mercury) fillings in my mouth, all of which need to be removed (and if any of you out there still have them, you might want to look into getting them replaced with porcelain, because when the mercury leaks and gets into your blood stream it's very bad for you). I foresee Dra. Haidy and I spending a lot of time together!