Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Back To The Mexican Dentist

I know I said that I had decided to go to my dentist in the US and pay the extra $300 for a crown but guess what? I couldn't get an appointment until NEXT week because he went on vacation this week. This little fact made him no longer convenient so I took a half day off work and drove down to Mexico. My cracked tooth was quickly turning in to a partial tooth as the broken piece was only held on by the neighboring tooth. I could barely eat anything except mashed potatoes and milk shakes.

A friend of mine picked me up on the other side of the border and I rewarded him with a case of Mt. Dew soda, something he can't get locally. The dentist, Dr. Ivan Gonzalez, was not far from the border I just wasn't sure how to get there because last time I was driven from the other direction. I sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes and the dentist came out and apologized for being late. I'm used to dentists and doctors being late. Since when are they ever on time? I got in the dentist chair at 10am and after gooey impressions, then drilling (no Novocain because the tooth already had a root canal), then more impressions, I got my fake resin temporary crown before 11am. I was so glad that I don't have to worry about that fragile tooth anymore. I paid $140 and they said my real crown will be ready on Thursday and I can come back and get it anytime. That will cost another $140. I'm going to wait until next week because if I don't do it during work hours I will never get to use the other have of my personal holiday. I'm not wasting my weekend driving 1 1/2 hours each way on my own time!

It was a beautiful sunny day so I headed back to the border on foot. The only problem was that I wasn't sure where the pedestrian crossing was. I walked by it the first time, then saw the signs and turned around, then thought the line looked too long so I went to the secondary border crossing. I knew where the second one was because that's the one we used last week. The line was twice as long as the first one so I walked back and got in line. Luckily it only took about 10 minutes and after answering their questions "Are you a US citizen?" and "What was the reason for your visit?" (obviously not shopping since I didn't have any bags), I was on my way back to my car. Mission accomplished.

I had to go back to work but working half a day is not so bad. Before long it was 5pm and I got to go home. Only one more day until my 4 day weekend. I can do it!

2 comments:

MW said...

Congratulations on getting the tooth situation under control. I think it is great you have nearby options that are comparable and cheaper.

Daizy said...

And that don't celebrate the same holidays! Good thing they were open. Liquid meals are no fun.