DR. ALMA GUTINEZ
Over a month ago, during my twice yearly tooth cleaning and checkup in Asheville I was told that my rear upper left molar had a huge hole in it and couldn’t be repaired. I could either go to an oral surgeon and have it pulled or wait and see if it caused pain and then have it pulled. I think my dentist either expects me to die shortly so what happens with my teeth doesn’t matter or he is becoming impatient with me because I have gotten implants and more in Great Kailash, New Delhi, by Dr. Kakar, or had the latest tooth pulled in Colombia by a marvelous woman dentist who played calming music while showing ocean waves videos and soothing me with aroma therapy while causing no pain at all. I already had the trip to San Miguel booked and my one previous consultation with an oral surgeon, since retired, was so expensive that I didn’t want to go back again. So as soon as I got here I called up the dentist of a local friend of Martha.
Today I went, with a little trepidation because a previous extraction of a similar tooth in India had been hour long and very painful.
Dr. Alma Gutines’s clinic was an all female clinic, just as the one in Bogota, Colombia had been. This all woman team soothed my anxiety. Dr. Alma first listened carefully to my story of the tooth that needed to be pulled and the history of an unfinished implant that I was worried about. Instead of extracting the tooth She took an Xray of it and decided that since I had no pain she could save it. She explained each step of the way and in half an hour it was whole again. Then she quickly made an impression and put a post onto the implant that I had done in India two years ago. I go back on Wednesday, she will pop on a crown, and I’ll be set.
I don’t know what this combined work would have cost in Asheville but I am guessing at least twice as much and I would then have wondered whether I needed an implant to replace the extracted tooth which would be another huge expense. The total charge was $800.
So if anyone reading this wants to combine a marvelous vacation with the capable and soothing presence of a great dentist at less cost than getting the dental work done in the USA I can recommend a marvelous dentist in either of two fairytale cities, San Miguel de Allende or Bogota, Colombia.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 