So, the last time we came to Costa Rica, I met a gal, who became a dear friend, who'd had some cosmetic surgery done while she was here. And now we have learned that Costa Rica is well-known for its Medical Tourism.
I never knew I was going to partake.
Ana, me, and the lovely gal who is the receptionist/dental tech.
I never, in a million years, would ever have guessed, much less PLANNED on having dental work done in Costa Rica.
I hate the dentist.
Nothing personal... just hate it. I'd rather go to the gyno any day of the week -- sorry TMI.
It's the truth.
So, when we were driving from San Jose to Playa Ocotal, I was innocently munching away on a lemon Starburst when I felt something crunchy in my candy that is not supposed to be crunchy. ;)
It made a nightmare of mine come true... I have a reoccurring nightmare of my teeth just crumbling away in my mouth while I'm talking... literally falling out of my head. Well, now I've lived it.
So, Monday morning, I contacted a friend of mine who lives here in Coco. She recommended I go see one dentist that she had been to. Could not get a hold of her on the phone so went to her office on Tuesday. She is out of the country until next Monday.
Okay...
So, contacted my friend again - "any other ideas?" "Sure - try this guy..." So again, could not get him to answer the phone, so on Wednesday, we drive into town again and go to his office. His hours are: Lunes-Viernes 4pm-7pm
Sabado 9am-14:00
I'm thinking this guy is a beach bum. And might as well work on Saturday all day because the beach is crowded, right?
So, we drive into town a bit - to the "Do It Center" - sounds racey, no? "Do It" is a large store that is the equivalent of our Home Depot. And there is a shopping center attached to it. In the "Do It Center", I noticed a sign that said, "Dental Clinic - English Spoken"
We drove in there and met the receptionist/dental tech/maid in the office. She spoke no english and with my VERY limited spanish, I told her I had a tooth that needed fixed. She gets the phone out and says a bunch of stuff in spanish. The only part that I understood was "GRINGA."
Yes, there is a GRINGA here who needs her tooth fixed.
She hands me the phone and I am speaking to the dentist. Ana.
I make an appointment to come back at 4pm.
At 4pm, Dave drives me in and I fill out a tiny bit of paperwork ensuring the dental tech that I do not have any heart issues or the like. Unfortunately, there is not a check box for "scared to death of the dentist" or "needs valium" or "I'd rather go to the gyno"...
Then, this beautiful, young woman comes in and begins asking me about my dental issues. Ana. Very pretty. Very funny and very nice.
She tells me that I have not, in fact, lost a filling but a piece of my tooth. I have three options:
1. Something very temporary - don't even remember what it was...
2. Remove the metal filling, replace it with the white kind that is better and will eventually need a crown.
3. Get a crown.
Ugh. Did I mention that I hate the dentist?
So, I say, why not just do the crown now? And Dave agrees immediately when he finds out that it will only cost $300. Yes. I typed that correctly. I didn't leave a 1 out of the thousand's place. And yes, that's American dollars. Not collones.
I think we paid at least $1000 for the one crown already in my mouth.
Dude.
So, she tells me it would be $50 to replace the filling and Dave is standing there and knows my dental situation and says, "Why don't we just replace all of the ones that you have in there? Didn't Justin (my dentist at home) say you would have to have them all replaced anyway?"
Leave it to my husband to volunteer me for elective dental work.
Ugh.
Did I mention that I hate the dentist?
And still, I agree. Might as well. So after almost 2 hours of shooting of novacaine, drilling and picking and painting and shooting of novacaine (yes, I'm a weenie. She had to give me a second dose), and some more scraping and drilling, I have a temporary "tooth" in place of the one that was crumbling away.
I will go back on Thursday to have the peremanent crown put in and to have the rest of my whole mouth numbed up to replace the four metal fillings so as to prevent those four teeth from crumbling out of my head.
I will never eat Starburst candy again.
