The Dentist

The dentist!
Literally 3 days before we set off on our travels one of my back teeth fell apart, leaving a massive hole that kept getting plugged full of food and other such crap. I was originally going to get it seen to sooner, but after seeing the conditions in India I was suspicious as to the quality of the treatment. Since then I have been waiting for the right place, where they speak English but the price isn’t too high. This has been hard to find, but finally – at Smile in Cambodia I found a place that fitted the bill.
Initially I was worried that the supposed credentials (Harvard MSC etc etc) were made up and I was going to be butchered like the victim in some Alfred Hitchcock film; by some anti-western hack with a saw blade. However, I was soon relaxed when I saw the amazingly large and clean room and heard the dentists reassuring calm voice, which was easier to understand than most UK doctors and dentists.
He tipped me back and examined the area, explaining it was a very big hole but he would try his best. He then poked me with something and asked if it hurt to which I replied no. He therefore said he would go ahead drilling without anaesthetic! And I should tell him if I felt anything, which I reassured him I would (probably by screaming and swearing at him to stop). He drilled away for what seemed like an eternity while I had the nurse sucking away my spittle as I frantically salivated and gulped back air. I kept waiting for the pain as the smell of burning bone filled my nostrils, but it never came! Meticulously he carved away at my tooth for maybe 20 minutes, until he finally was done. He then informed me he was about to make the filling and asked if composite was ok. In England it costs about £100 for a white filling done by and dodgey NHS practitioner and here I was being told a white filling was my only option. He painstakingly ensured it was perfectly fitted and level, using a vast array of shiny tools I have never seen before back at my last dentists in Salford. Then there it was, done, a perfect shiny white filling and no pain: how much you ask? £16!! About the same as it costs for a check up in England. Next time I need some treatment I’m coming to Cambodia – but maybe I’ll ask for some anaesthetic next time!