Cancun Teeth

My dentist looked in horror at my latest x-rays.  Decay all over my mouth, most worrisome being large areas below the gums.

This was all relatively new.  I’d already lost two molars because of it, but now it looked like there was additional extensive damage.

I was getting implants for the two missing teeth, but since they were $5,000 each I just got the more inner one (30, I now know tooth numbers) and decided to live without the last one (31).

The new x-rays lead to a visit with one, I’m told, of the best overall dentists in the Amherst area.  He took more x-rays, admired the gold work I’d had done already, and told me to come back and he would have a plan.

The plan was for a complete rebuild of my mouth.  Based on what I’d seen as well, this seemed like what was necessary.  I could have done dentures, but if they could save my teeth…  I had some savings, but not a lot, and the house needs painting.

I went in to learn the plan.  The dentist showed me and I immediately saw the bottom line.  $40,000!  I knew it would be expensive, but that was more than I expected.  Then I noticed the top of the page.  That was for the uppers.

Next page, lowers.  $30,000.

$70,000?!?!  And that didn’t include the last molars (31, 18, 2 and 15) But I’d love to save my teeth…

My Spanish daughter-in-law said dental work was much cheaper in Madrid, so I started to look into it.  Then a FB acquaintance said he’d gotten a lot of work done in Cancun, and it was excellent.

So I contacted the place he’d recommended.  They looked at the plan.

$13,000.  And if I wanted the back molars rebuilt as well, another $2,000.

So I bought a ticket to Cancun.  Upgraded my flight to comfortable seats, bags included, got a nice Air B&B and here I am.

I had a consultation yesterday, and began to understand the economy a bit better.  The dental office was nowhere near as opulent as the one in Amherst, but the dental equipment…  Easiest x-rays I’ve ever had taken, plus photos that I’ve never had taken, and software on screens that gave the dentists views and options I’d never seen before.

Two dentists, a surgical guy and a crown guy went over the pictures, long conversations where the only word I understood was “corona.”  They came to similar conclusions as the Amherst dentist, but explained it all using the computer display.

There were some differences, they said I’d have to lose a couple of more teeth than I thought, and showed me exactly why, and what their plan was to deal with those gaps.  Another implant, a temporary bridge covering the extractions giving them time to settle, and another visit in six months to finish that work.  (The Amherst dentist was proposing supporting a bridge on a tooth that was probably beyond saving.) All still for around $16,000.

Tomorrow it starts.  Four long days, 6-8 hours of dental work, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Then again on Monday if necessary to readjust, fix, etc..  A couple of days of vacation and time for me to see if anything in my new bite needs changing.  (The scheduling and billing software was as amazing as the dental diagnostic software.  The manager clicked on icons of teeth taking the dentist’s plan very quickly into a schedule of the work to be done and the billing.) And then back home.

I feel like a customer here, dealing with an organization that is proud of the service and value it provides.  Cancun Dental Specialists.  (I did feel more like a mark in Amherst, or maybe to be fair, someone who they determined might not be willing to pay the cost of American dental work and therefor not worth spending too much time with.)

How did this happen you might ask.  Well I’ve had the same dental routine for thirty years, since I got the gold work, and had some cavities and work done, but this last year’s damage was extraordinary.

I think it had a lot to do with Rolaids.  I would brush my teeth at night, go to bed, not be able to sleep because of indigestion, and then chew a Rolaids or two.  Sugar tablets in my teeth over night.

It might also be due to dry-mouth, which can destroy teeth in around three months I’ve read.  (I’ve done a lot of Googling.). The Rolaids and indigestion are related to dry mouth as well.

And old age, my gums are receding and a lot of the expensive damage is at or below the gum line.

Funny thing, upon learning all this I stopped taking the Rolaids.  And my indigestion greatly improved.  Just a little an hour or so after I eat, but none other than that and none at night.  I don’t eat much late, but I didn’t before either.

It’s as if the Rolaids were destroying stomach acid causing more to be created which, somehow could it be, was related to dry mouth.

I’ve now got more saliva than I recall having in recent years.

The Cancun dentists are also going to do a “deep clean” because they sensed the food that had gotten between the gums and the teeth.  A deep clean is one of the recommended procedures for dealing with gum disease.

I’m for sure going to have a new personal dental routine, as even after all this work, decay can still erode the underlying teeth if it continues to penetrate beneath the gums.

Those are the before pictures.  You can see the decay at the gum line of my upper front tooth.  That’s just appeared in the last month or so.  There were two similar spots on the lower front teeth as well, which were filled by my local dentist, before he sent me to the uber-dentist in Amherst.

The gold work was done thirty years ago by a dentist who it turns out was famous and known by both the Amherst and Cancun dentists.