Talking is hard after the dentist sticks a drill in my mouth

By John Toth

The Bulletin

I was sitting in the dental chair the other day as  the dentist’s drill was churning relentlessly in my mouth. He wasn’t drilling. He was trying to remove a crown.

Whoever cemented that crown made sure that it would never come loose. It took about a half hour with a high-speed bur to cut through all that fake tooth (that looks real) and cement bond before he finally got all of it.

We were chatting about cruising before he began his onslaught. He remembered the last time I was there for a cleaning that I was preparing to take a cruise.

We finished that conversation in a few minutes because he had to get that crown removed. There was nothing wrong with it, but the tooth had moved, and since the crown was on a front tooth, it didn’t look perfect anymore. The only way to get it back into alignment was to get rid of the old crown and replace it with a new one.

While he was grinding away, he continued the cruising conversation with his assistant. I was hoping that he would take a short break and remove his hands and the grinding implement  from my mouth, so I could join in, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“That was pure torture,” I told him after he snapped off the old crown.

He apologized. “It was stuck on there really good.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. You had that drill in my mouth, and I was trying to jump into the conversation about cruising,” I clarified.

I think that made his day.

I used to hate going to the dentist when I was much younger, and I later paid the price for it. I caught up on all the dental work over the years. My mouth now contains three implants, and I have no idea how many crowns.

I still don’t like going to the dentist. However, it’s better than having to be fitted for dentures, or paying for a full upper and lower row of implants. That can be pricey.

I saw on YouTube a video about a man in his 20s who traveled to Mexico to get a bunch of dental work done. It’s cheaper, and a lot of people go there for medical or dental reasons.

This young man’s mother then detailed what he had to get done. He was a mess. Root canals, extractions and implants. That made me feel better, even though it should not have. My problems were not that bad. Even in Mexico, he was looking at thousands of dollars worth of dental work. I didn’t pay close attention, but $12,000 sticks in my mind. That would easily double in the U.S.

He and his mother stayed in a beachside Airbnb for a week or longer while he was getting all this work done and had to return in a few months to finish it up. That tends to eat into the savings using a Mexican dentist, but at least you’re also on vacation right by the ocean.

Except that the young man was not really in the mood to do anything vacation related after getting through each day at the dentist. He just wanted to stay in the bnb and take his pain medications.

That’s what happens when one’s dental needs are ignored. It gets very expensive, and the solution does not feel good. I have traveled part of that route, and it’s not pleasant.

Take good care of your teeth, dear reader, whether here, or in Mexico. It makes a big difference and helps to keep you in good health.

After the drilling episode, my dentist left to see another patient and the technician finished the work, like taking an impression of my teeth by stuffing my mouth with some dental version of plaster.

We’ll continue our conversation the next time I see him.