Saturday, November 27, 2004

This afternoon I went to see a dentist for a cleaning and checking of my teeth.

It has been over 9 years since I’ve visited a dentist, so I was expecting to have a bunch of cavities, thinking I would have a replay of seeing a dentist when I was 18 years old, this following not seeing a dentist for 6 years. At that time, though I had never had a cavity in my life, the Armenian-American dentist found 6 cavities and milked me for a few hundred dollars. At the same time, I was told that I need to have my impacted wisdom teeth extracted, or else I will have lots of pain and problems later. I didn’t take the advice of the dentist and until now, have had no pain, shifting of teeth or problems other than maybe wisdom, which I guess could be viewed by some as a problem.

Well, the cleaning here in Yerevan I knew was going to cost 10,000 dram ($20) and took about a half-hour to do. I want to add that this dental clinic was very clean and modern.

When the dentist finished, I asked if I had any cavities? He said yes, I had one, but it was not critical to have fixed now and since it was on a wisdom tooth, instead of filling it, he suggested I consider extracting it. He added that they will photograph it and if it is a difficult extraction, he will send me to another clinic where I will have to be sedated to have it removed. If it’s a simple extraction he can do it and it will cost me $10.

If it’s a difficult extraction and maybe even a simple extraction, I’ll just have it filled, as I’ve never had a tooth extracted and though this clinic is very clean, I don’t like the idea of any kind of unnecessary medical procedures that could later cause me problems in terms of infection, as we know that Armenia is not the place you want to get sick.

Well after I get my wisdom tooth fixed or pulled, I’ll mark my calendar for my next appointment that will probably happen in 10 years.

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