In fact, it sucked. Thursday during Spanish class I started getting a toothache so Friday I went to a dentist here in Mérida. What followed was a tortuous 4 days and unending pain. The whole thing just sucked and I can’t really say it was anyone’s fault except mine for not bailing on the experience a lot sooner. The novocaine was not working very well and by today it was barely working at all. The pain every night was excruciating and I was sucking down the 30mg sublingual pain pills, trying to make it 4 hours but usually giving in after 3. All I got from the dentist was that I was taking too many pain pills and it was dangerous. Fine then, you live with nails being driven into your jawbone and ear and tell me that you wouldn’t take whatever you could.
It’s not like they had another suggestion. In fact, one of the things that pissed me off the most was the constant statement that if I just relaxed and wasn’t so emotional (emociona – it also means excited) about it, and slept more then the pain would lessen. Think about that, how do you relax when you are in horrible pain? How do you sleep? Don’t get me started on the emotional part, when they are drilling and poking into inflamed and infected gums and I’m rising out of my chair from the pain – I’m emotional?
I ran away once only, this morning when the pain had somewhat subsided and he said that the root canal was not going to work and they had to extract the tooth. I’d finally gotten the pain to a dull pounding and you want to start it up again? I just ran out of there. I was fairly out of my mind by that time from pain, no food, no sleep, did I mention pain?
I decided I would drive to my regular dentist in Playa – 4 hours away – but first I needed some money. I went to Monex and requested a check for $5k pesos, I had my computer and my suitcase in the jeep and since it doesn’t lock I had to stand out in front in the heat waiting. When the check came, I signed and walked and as I was getting in the car I noticed that they had closed out my account and given me a check for the whole thing. I went back and then I waited, and I waited, for over an hour in the heat while they canceled one check and issued another. By this time I was near hysterical from the heat and pain and the frustration. I went back home, decided to buck up and give the Mérida dentist another chance and got Mimi to drive me back.
The next 4 ½ hours was pure torture. At one point another guy arrived and with no introduction or explanation he started working on me. There was very little that was numb in my jaw despite repeated injections. Every poke, yank, prod, drill brought me up off the seat. I couldn’t figure out what to do, if I left in the middle then what? I was indecisive and in pain and I felt like a wuss about it. Mimi even started telling them they had to slow down or stop. Finally, I couldn’t take it and started just getting out of the chair. The new guy said ‘oh well, we can leave that piece of tooth in there anyway’ – WTF???? If that is true, then why have you been torturing me?
We just left, he probably wants more money but he can kiss my ass. I can’t believe the torture I went through. As it turns out, neither could the next dentist I went to.
As we drove away I told MImi I was worried about infection traveling into my brain from all this and I had no confidence in these dentists anymore. So, Mimi called my internist and she gave us the name of a dental surgeon that she recommended. We went there and he was not pleased that they had continued to work on me when I had such a large infection and the tissue was so damaged. They also had pulled off 2 neighboring crowns and he thought that was very irregular. I don’t know why they did it, maybe for more room to yank and pound. He said he wouldn’t touch it until the infection had subsided and the swelling. He did take an xray and said the piece of tooth that remained should be fine, it’s small. He told me that with the tissue destruction and the infection it would be impossible to work on it without incredible pain. He said they should have stopped after the first day and waited for the antibiotics to take effect and the tissue to heal. He gave me 2 shots, one for pain and the other for inflammation and I am pain free for the first time tonight since Thursday when this all started. It’s an incredible feeling of relief.
I go back on Wednesday to the new dentist to see what he can do to fix this huge hole in my jaw. At the end, the old dentists were showing MImi my jaw bone and the nerve along it and the piece of tooth they were trying to hack out. Needless to say, it’s a big hole. Truthfully, I could care less at this point about the looks of it all, I am just so glad to finally be out of pain.
There is a lesson about language here. The dentist that was working on me the last few days does not speak English. That was fine the first day and got steadily less functional as the days went on. When you are in pain, and not up to par it is very difficult to use a second language that you don’t have a great grasp on anyway. Unfortunately, he thought I was fairly fluent and he kept talking fast and expecting that I understood. I did in the beginning but by today I wasn’t processing Spanish at all. I would hear the words and think that I probably knew what they meant but it was too hard to think about it.
At one point I didn’t know if he was saying the problem was the hitting of the post or the gluing of the post* – I think they are the same word but I couldn’t suss it out. I kept thinking he was saying my tooth was lazy*, I couldn’t figure that out either. It was like being in the bottom of a well, not quite able to understand what was being said.
The new dentist I went to tonight also does not speak English and I was so tweaked by that time that I called Henry and asked him to meet me there and translate. He’s a doll and he did, I could understand this guy because he wasn’t simultaneously hurting me but I was very glad to have Henry there to explain to him what had happened.
So take heed, while you may function well in another language when everything is OK, it could all fall apart when you most need it. I’m not sure what the solution to that is other than to expect it and perhaps plan for it.
*For those interested I’ve now looked these words up. Flojo does mean lazy but it has another meaning that I did not know – loose as in loose fitting. Pega means glue but it can also mean hit. As it turns out it has a 3rd meaning I didn’t know, to go together, so he could have been using it like that as well. Or, I could have misunderstood him and he was saying pegamiento which has something to do with cement. Welcome to the difficulty of learning another language.
What a horror story! A terrible thing for you to go through, pain can be all consuming .
I hope somehow there is a “good” satisfactory ending…
Jonna, your dental experiences in Mexico have now definitely put me off having any serious dental work done there….EVER!!!! Reading this has me in sympathetic pain…I am so sorry you had to go through that again…wasn’t it June 2008 you had a terrible dentist experience?
You have hit on one of my recurring fears in Mexico. I do not like dentists — never have. I tense up at the thought of even having my teeth cleaned. Add in my personal inability to comunicate well in Spanish, and I could easily see a similar scenario developing for me. I hope you are feeling better. You have a bucketful of my sympathy.
The thought of going to the dentist sends me into a tailspin…as I was reading your story I could feel my teeth starting to ache and by the time I finished my stomach was in knots…what a horrible experience that was for you…glad you have found some relief…good luck on Wednesday.
Wow – can’t imagine what you went through, how horrible. I am glad you found someone you can trust, and hope he gets you all better.
You made a good point about the language thing – when you are stressed, the last thing you need is to try to understand and make yourself understood in a different language. All the pain meds you took probably made you a little fuzzy too.
flojo/floja – lazy people, loose things. I guess living with a plumber who thinks some people are lazy has taught me both meanings.
Get better soon!
Sue
What a painful post! Glad you’re better and have found someone you can trust to do the work. Getting the referral was probably the best thing that could happen.
There is a DDS(?) here, who has caused friends huge amounts of pain and costs a fortune. Bad work, resulting in infections, bone grafts, you name it. And still gringos go to him, oh yeah, he has the magic bullet – he speaks English. Lawyer friends say he isn’t even a DDS! So, he has no dental skills but good language skills. . .
There ARE good dentists here in MX, the trick is finding them. Good for you.
Good luck, sounds like you are on the right track.
YIKES!!! I even have nightmares about the dentist! I can only imagine how terrible your experience was… it made me hurt just reading it!
Ay ay ay, muchacha, this is so horrible. Due to your writing skills, I can unfortunately imagine it all too well. Thank god you feel a bit better and have found someone who is going to help you, not hurt you further. Sheesh!
Pegamento is glue/adhesive.
Pegar is, as you said, to hit. Or to stick something to something.
flojo(a) is lazy or loose. El pantalón te queda flojo. The pants are loose on you.
aflojarse is to become loose. El cristal de la ventana se aflojó y se cayó. The window glass came loose and fell.
I am speechless…well, almost. What a nightmare story, but hooray for you for presenting this perspective on the pitfalls of dental care outside one’s (native) country. You’re so right about one’s ability to understand Spanish when under stress…something that is easily ignored until, well, one’s under stress…or pain.
A big hug to you (avoiding ALL CONTACT with your jaw area…).
m
To not infringe on your horrific episode, but to let you know I empathize with you almost wave of pain to wave of pain… I once drove a golf ball into a tree, it came back & hit my right cheek, knocked me out and set me on a path of dentish inquisition – at least my situation was in English though. I push clouds and clouds of sympathy towards you, hope all medicines and doctors are more accurate for you and that this ends quickly and completely.
oh you poor thing
you have “pegamiento’d” why i stay very far away from dentists, even those that speak english.
feel better sweetie…. and tell them to stop hurting my jonna!!!
How horrible! I HATE the dentist but am fortunate to have had virtually no dental problems ever (touch wood). I finally went to the dentist for a cleaning and he didn’t speak English either. Luckily we got through it without any problems. But I hadn’t given any thought to what I would do if there were problems and I couldn’t understand or express myself. I guess I need to think about a different dentist.
I did book a doctor appointment for a check up but I found one that speaks English. I will find out on Thursday just how good her English is.
If you need pain killers after they don’t give you shots anymore, I would suggest Ibuprofen rather than Acetaminophen. Ibuprofen is better for bone pain and dental pain. Take care of yourself and get better soon!
Oh my god, I feel so horrible for you! I think one horrible thing about the dentist is that you can’t express yourself with all the crap in your mouth and worrying that he’ll cut you if you move.
You have my heartfelt sympathy. If I was there I would say “poor little lambie” and pet your head. My mom always did that for me and it always worked.
Take care.
My stomach hurts after reading that! I have had one experience with a dentist in Mazatlan and it was very good. He spoke fluent English so maybe that helped. We have given up our expensive Canadian Dental plan with the intention of using Mexican dentists when necessary. I guess one of our projects this winter will be to try to find a good one. Maybe I should check to see if that guy in Mazatlan is still there.
Take care of that mouth Jonna!
All I can say is OUCH, OMG and AWFUL! Take care of yourself.
Oh my goodness Jonna! I hope you stay pain free and please keep us updated.
Healing vibes going your way!
…Joyce
Jonna, Have read every word in the archives and love your site. The dentist is the problem; you got an unlucky draw there. Language skills aside, and I know yours are up to the task, that guy was a nightmare. Huge hugs. Linda
I feel your pain. I developed a toothache here in Huatulco and was beside myself with pain. I had to just pick a dentist out of the hat and go for it. Turns out I made a good choice. Unbeknownst to me, she speaks English! I am still on antibiotics, waiting for the infection to subside so she can do a root canal. I am hesitant about that because, like you, they never really work and you end up having to have the tooth removed anyway. I hope you are doing better and can relax a bit. Sounds like you are in good hands now.
Oh Jonna what a horror! I am in my own state of dental denial after dealing with a gum infection this year. I cried and trembled waiting for the dental torture, and the guy was very gentle with me. But I convinced them I needed tons of novocaine. And valium. And any other shit they had because I was really miserable and in fear of my life just smelling the dentist’s office. I know some folks gave up on the dentist I use because his prices went up, but when the Spanish language brain function fails because of spiking pain, the ability to fall back on English comes in real handy. Good luck to you, and I am sorry to hear anyone’s dental problems become their living nightmares!
Nothing is worse than mouth pain. No, not even childbirth -you get a break between contractions when you’re in labor. I felt for you so hard, reading that. Never let anyone tell you that you’re overreacting or being overdramatic when you’re in pain, or that you should relax. Just let someone else feel what you’re feeling, and then see how well THEY relax!
Poor Baby
Hope it’s all better soon.
Amiga – so sorry like the many other comments. I won’t provide any stories – just to say I feel your pain.
I “winced” a number of times as I read your dental tale. I guess many who read your horrific dental experience can empathize, and possibly even develop “sympathetic” pain.
Hope you heal thoroughly and quickly. Thanks for sharing with your readers.
Jonna, you sure have my sympathies plus a big hug (well, just imagine it). I got a dentist here in CA that only cleaned my teeth and did such a lousy job my face was all swollen and bruised for two weeks. Come to find out he was a prison dentist. Geesh! I can’t imagine what you must have gone through. I’m so glad he gave you a shot to help relieve the pain. Is it possible to get all that work done at the same time under general anesthesia and then wake up happily with a morphine drip? I’m tellin’ ya! That shit works!
Jonna – it’s obvious you’ve really “struck a nerve” with this entry… lo siento, pero pun intended.
Jonna, Okay it is time to check in. I’m starting to worry about you. How are you now?
Me too, chica. Your gazillion fans need an update, please.
I’m hoping she opted for that “morphine drip” I suggested in my previous post.
Seriously though, where are you Jonna?
Uay! My favorite subject… the dentist. There is nothing like teeth pain – of course I’ve heard that childbirth can be fun as well… Are you still in Merida, Jonna?!?
All the best! W
I got worried about her too and called the other day…she is fine…recovering…just hasn’t gotten to the blog.
It’s the old lady school teacher from Texas again. I am worried about you. Are you O.K.? I miss your blog.
I really hope you feel better now.
… no message, just putting an extra goat on the altar of any dental deities listening with get well wishes for you.
Jonna – I know you have a guy you like in PdC but our guy, Dr. Jorge Armenta is really the B.E.S.T. He is very slow and respectful and would never treat you like that. I hope you’re doing better and recovering. Muchos besitos y carino.
Let me put my twenty centavos in here. I hope you are recovering well, simply because I am concerned about you. But I am self-centered enough to say I miss your writing. It will be good to have you back. Soon. I hope.
Amiga – I am with Steve here WHERE ARE YOU?
I’ll be #3 on that list of people asking WHERE ARE YOU?
Steve, John, and me.
Add me to the concern list…. if Jonna is still under the weather with this trauma, possibly someone in Merida or the area knows her status. Y’know, I’ve never met the woman, possibly never will, but I’m worried about her, miss her personality, her adventures, her accomplishments. She’s made her personality, her life in Merida so vivid to me, it’s as if she’s a realtime friend who’s been incommunicado for a worrying amount of time.