Prior to living in Mumbai, I made a point of having regular medical check ups and taking good care of my health. I intended to do the same when I arrived here, but in my first year was greatly dismayed at the access to the type of quality medical services to which I had become accustomed.
Don't get me wrong, I know there are excellent doctors and facilities in India to the point that medical tourism is big business. However, finding the doctors you want, in either close enough proximity to visit them, or having reliable transportation to reach them, proves very challenging, and unlike my last employer, this one does not maintain a list of staff recommended physicians.
Some doctors are very 'old school' - owning their own equipment and maintaing small offices - much like my father used to. They're often excellent doctors, but lack the bedside manner I need. Others are all flash and bling and make no effort to hide that they're in it to make money. They stand in front of their chastised staff, posing next to some Bollywood movie star's poster, and spout arrogantly what they offer rather than diagnosing what you need. I visited six dermatologists before I found one I liked…and I'm still not sure.
Fortunately my medical insurance covers me anywhere in the world so after my first year in India, I went back to Colombia and saw all my doctors and had all my check ups. I wasn't able to do that again this past summer, so I'm now overdue for all my check ups.
It's now been over a year since I've had my teeth cleaned and I'm not happy about it. In Bogota, I went every six months to Dr. Ximena Lian, who is hands down the best dentist in the city. I went to a local dentist my first year who reprimanded me for going so often, then cleaned my teeth for $8 USD. It was a good cleaning, but not the greatest and my gums bled a bit during.
I no longer live on that side of town, so I thought I'd find a dentist close by. I've been scoping out the neighborhood and there are two offices within a block of my house that don't look too decrepit. The one was all flash and bling, no doctors were there when I visited, and the three guys working reception couldn't communicate a complete sentence between them or hand me a brochure…the cleaning lady did that on my way out.
The other office is a small, independent office next to the pharmacy with well-maintained windows and entrance. So I popped in to ask about services. The dentist was an older gentlemen, well groomed and well spoken in English. I scoped out the sterilizer machine and disposable gloves, plus he had a few recent course certificates on the wall from NYU and the Chicago Institute of Dentistry. He was free at the moment, so I opted for the $3 USD consultation and was told my teeth weren't so bad, but was again reprimanded for having them cleaned every 6 months.
He offered to go ahead with the cleaning, which was only $16 USD and would take a quick 15 minutes - so I agreed. His hands were steady and the cleaning went quickly, didn't touch my gums at all. And then... he said he was going to 'polish' my teeth as a last step. I thought that meant the little rotating brush with the bubblegum toothpaste on it. It did not.
"Keep your eyes closed," should have triggered me to ask why, but I didn't. And then it felt as if he were sandblasting inside my mouth. Usually it's the noise of the dental tools that freaks a patient out, but this genuinely hurt. Like tiny blasts from a pellet gun inside my mouth. It hit my tongue, so I thought I needed to move it out of the way. Then it hit the bottom of my mouth, then the inside of my cheek.
I couldn't figure out if it was sensitivity to some chemical he was using or what might be happening. There were too many things inside my mouth for me to talk and it stung. It stung like raindrops hitting your bare skin while riding fast on a motorcycle. It hurts. And I'll be the first to tell anyone that I have absolutely no tolerance for pain. I am a wimp when it comes to pain and injury to myself.
There was spray dripping all down my chin, my neck, on the bib. I'm sure I was white knuckling my car keys in my hand. And then, I think I winced, but a blast of whatever was going in my mouth hit my cheek and far too close to my eye than I would like. In fact, I think it blasted into my closed eyelid. And just like pressing a button, I lost my breath and had tears streaming down my face.
He stopped. The assistant stopped. The equipment stopped. The tears kept flowing…non-stop. I caught my breath.
"OK, OK, we'll stop there," he said, kindly, "It's just compressed air and water."
But I kept my eyes shut tight, tears still falling, catching my breath.
"It felt like salt," I said.
"Ah yes, a little," he replied, "...to polish. Go ahead and rinse."
And so I did, tears and all.
Don't get me wrong, I know there are excellent doctors and facilities in India to the point that medical tourism is big business. However, finding the doctors you want, in either close enough proximity to visit them, or having reliable transportation to reach them, proves very challenging, and unlike my last employer, this one does not maintain a list of staff recommended physicians.
Some doctors are very 'old school' - owning their own equipment and maintaing small offices - much like my father used to. They're often excellent doctors, but lack the bedside manner I need. Others are all flash and bling and make no effort to hide that they're in it to make money. They stand in front of their chastised staff, posing next to some Bollywood movie star's poster, and spout arrogantly what they offer rather than diagnosing what you need. I visited six dermatologists before I found one I liked…and I'm still not sure.
Fortunately my medical insurance covers me anywhere in the world so after my first year in India, I went back to Colombia and saw all my doctors and had all my check ups. I wasn't able to do that again this past summer, so I'm now overdue for all my check ups.
It's now been over a year since I've had my teeth cleaned and I'm not happy about it. In Bogota, I went every six months to Dr. Ximena Lian, who is hands down the best dentist in the city. I went to a local dentist my first year who reprimanded me for going so often, then cleaned my teeth for $8 USD. It was a good cleaning, but not the greatest and my gums bled a bit during.
I no longer live on that side of town, so I thought I'd find a dentist close by. I've been scoping out the neighborhood and there are two offices within a block of my house that don't look too decrepit. The one was all flash and bling, no doctors were there when I visited, and the three guys working reception couldn't communicate a complete sentence between them or hand me a brochure…the cleaning lady did that on my way out.
The other office is a small, independent office next to the pharmacy with well-maintained windows and entrance. So I popped in to ask about services. The dentist was an older gentlemen, well groomed and well spoken in English. I scoped out the sterilizer machine and disposable gloves, plus he had a few recent course certificates on the wall from NYU and the Chicago Institute of Dentistry. He was free at the moment, so I opted for the $3 USD consultation and was told my teeth weren't so bad, but was again reprimanded for having them cleaned every 6 months.
He offered to go ahead with the cleaning, which was only $16 USD and would take a quick 15 minutes - so I agreed. His hands were steady and the cleaning went quickly, didn't touch my gums at all. And then... he said he was going to 'polish' my teeth as a last step. I thought that meant the little rotating brush with the bubblegum toothpaste on it. It did not.
"Keep your eyes closed," should have triggered me to ask why, but I didn't. And then it felt as if he were sandblasting inside my mouth. Usually it's the noise of the dental tools that freaks a patient out, but this genuinely hurt. Like tiny blasts from a pellet gun inside my mouth. It hit my tongue, so I thought I needed to move it out of the way. Then it hit the bottom of my mouth, then the inside of my cheek.
I couldn't figure out if it was sensitivity to some chemical he was using or what might be happening. There were too many things inside my mouth for me to talk and it stung. It stung like raindrops hitting your bare skin while riding fast on a motorcycle. It hurts. And I'll be the first to tell anyone that I have absolutely no tolerance for pain. I am a wimp when it comes to pain and injury to myself.
There was spray dripping all down my chin, my neck, on the bib. I'm sure I was white knuckling my car keys in my hand. And then, I think I winced, but a blast of whatever was going in my mouth hit my cheek and far too close to my eye than I would like. In fact, I think it blasted into my closed eyelid. And just like pressing a button, I lost my breath and had tears streaming down my face.
He stopped. The assistant stopped. The equipment stopped. The tears kept flowing…non-stop. I caught my breath.
"OK, OK, we'll stop there," he said, kindly, "It's just compressed air and water."
But I kept my eyes shut tight, tears still falling, catching my breath.
"It felt like salt," I said.
"Ah yes, a little," he replied, "...to polish. Go ahead and rinse."
And so I did, tears and all.
omg, you should have asked me for polishing your teeth :)
ReplyDeleteI know, Pantelis, I'm kicking myself for being hasty and not taking your advice. I will not make that mistake twice!
ReplyDelete