Necesito a un dentista

Talk about bad timing.  Everyone who knows me should know that I'm pretty particular about my teeth and have been fairly lucky throughout life not to have many problems or require much work to maintain a healthy set of pearly off-whites.  I just went to the dentist a few months ago, before I got laid off from my job, at which time I had a couple of minor fillings patched and received a clean bill of oral health.  Well, on the bus from Lima to Cusco, I seemed to have chipped or broken a filling.  It must have been in bad shape already because it happened while I was chewing a piece of gum.  Anyway, not good.  Initially, the only real problem was a jagged edge on the tooth, one of my molars.  But over the past week or so, the situation seems to have progressed from a little sensitivity when chewing on that side of my mouth to a persistent dull pain in my gums in the area around the tooth.

 

I haven't had the best of luck with dentists, especially in San Diego, and haven't had one I trust and have confidence in since I left Michigan almost seven years ago.  But at least back home, I can find someone halfway competent or rely on the recommendations of friends.  Now, I'm in South American.  Where the hell am I supposed to find a dentist to examine my tooth and fix whatever problem I'm having?  I have never had this type of pain before so I'm worried that it may be something serious, as in an exposed nerve or something.  Heaven forbid I need a root canal or anything.  Of course I've seen plenty of dental offices here, both in Peru and Bolivia, but regardless of the pain, I can't imagine going to a dentist in this country, especially if any needles or drills will be required.  I've seen the locals teeth, which tells me they don't typically visit dentists, which tells me the dentists here can't possibly have much experience unless they've worked in a first-world country elsewhere. 

 

I think I can wait until I get to Santiago to take care of this, but even there, I don't feel terribly confident about the quality of care and have no way to distinguish between a good dentist and a bad one.  I'm going to check with my insurance company today to see if they can recommend someone, but considering I didn't like their recommendations of dentists in San Diego, who knows where they'll direct me in a second-world country. 

 

Wish me luck!  Hopefully, I'll be able to return from this trip with all my teeth!

 

Ozell