Atually I have 5 shiny new gold crowns that you can only see when I yawn or smile real wide. I owe all of this to the skilled hands and machinery of my crack dental team lead by Jaime Romanowsky.
Jaime is a tennis pro who’s moonlighting as a dentist in the fashionable Los Lomas District of Mexico City. Who can blame him-- there’s a shortage of tennis pros, and too many dentists in Los Lomas.
Enuf joking… I found Jaime through the US Embassy website in Mexico City. I intended to interview a bunch of dentists, but Jaime answered the phone on a Mexican holiday. Talking to him, I knew he was THE MAN. In retrospect I have reflected on my choice of dentists in the US. Pretty much I’d choose the closest dentist and hope for the best. Or more recently I found Gentle Dental in Porter Square because they had a website-- with an unbeatable introductory x-ray cleaning deal. So, I haven’t been historically rigorous in picking dentists. In any case, Jaime's the best dentist I've every been to. Definitely has the most architectually interesting dentist's bulding...
View from the chair
Jaime was personable on the phone, he studied at BUMC in Boston and his wife studied at MIT. I felt that any dentist that passes grade on the embassy website can’t be all bad. After all I grew up seeing dentists in the Middle East. My last serious dental work was in the Peace Corps in Togo. The dentist there said, I probably have about 5 years before I’ll have to back for a root canal. Those fillings lasted a whopping 19 years—and still no root canal.
Team Romanowsky:Diana, Alicia, and Jaime
I found out after I met Jaime, that he also taught dentistry at UNAM—the biggest university in Mexico and probably the biggest in the Western Hemisphere (250K students). Alicia, the co-pilot was one of his students at UNAM.
One big advantage of Jaime’s outfit is that the cap manufacturer is down stairs from his office. So I was only wearing a temporary crown for a day verses up to two weeks in the US. So these misfits ended up being a minor inconvenience. I have learned that there’s some luck involved with capping teeth.
As I understand it there are two major risks to crown work. First, you may experience increasing pain after the cap is put on meaning that you’re too close to the nerve—Root canal time!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_canal
Second, your tooth can break while the work is being done—Implant time!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_implant
Both nasty things you want to avoid. Well, maybe you want to avoid any trip to the dentist, but you definitely want to avoid more seat time than you bargained for!
In Guanajuato I heard scary stories from a woman who had a nightmare with her implants—in the US! First the work to be done was optional but recommended. She experienced the too close to the nerve phenomenon and needed a root canal. The root canal became infected and the bone rotted and she needed some kind of fancy graft. I may be getting the details and sequence wrong, but upshot is she was in a world of pain and out some $6,000. My solace at that point (having already had 3 caps done by Jaime) was that if anything did go wrong, getting it fixed in Mexico City would still be far cheaper, even including some additional round trips to Boston.
Okay, so what are the expenses?
Airline trip to Mexico City $300-- granted this was an amazing deal!
Expenses in Mexico for a Month +/- $1600 (including my hot new 28” pure steel old-school Mexican bike and tuition for two weeks of Spanish classes)
Team Jaime’s 5 Crowns: +/- $3600
Baseline estimate for work at Gentle Dental: $6000
Bottom line: + $1500
Well, sort of… I spent a month in Mexico which I think is a real major duty plus!
Mexico isn’t for everyone though. A good friend found Mexico City a little too loud and poverty stricken for her. Others worry about crime and air pollution. But most of these can be mitigated and they must be weighed against the benefits…
Mexico City has more history and art then just about anywhere in the Western hemisphere. Heck, they were building serious cities here before the pilgrims landed up north.
The food rocks! When you’re having your teeth worked on and you’re waiting for the Novocaine to wear off you can enjoy the most amazing smoothies.
To hit my budget you need to eat a lot of street food. My favorites:
Enmoleadas—tortillas with cheese and mole
Tamales—Often eaten on the street as a rocking breakfast sandwhich
Quesadillas—with squash flowers and mushrooms
Huaraches—sort of a whole wheat quesadilla shaped like a sandal (thus the name).
Blue corn sopes (like a thick tamale) with shrooms and cactus
Tostadas with shrimp and salsa
The picture below is not street food... but you gotta like the presentation... enchiladas with red sauce... mmm mm!
Yup all of these on the street where you can generally get filled up on just a few bucks. I know some of you are thinking—not worth getting sick. To that I add a couple of pointers… if you’re worried, only eat at popular places with long lines. One, the locals know something about the quality, two, the food turns over a lot so it’s fresh.
More reasons to love Mexico...
Mexican people rock! Oh, that’s a generalization... there are good and bad people everywhere. But, mostly I found people incredibly kind, fun and helpful.
Mexican Cities rock! I’ve visited around 10 now and there are at least another 10 that I’ve heard are really fun. There are five or more great cities within five hours of Mexico City by bus (buses that are way way better than US buses—think food, drink and only 3 seats to a row). Cities that I've been to, or heard are really incredible...
Puebla
San Miguel
Queretaro
Cuernevaca
Taxco
Guanajuato
The whole state of Michoacan
Why do they rock? See my earlier blog entries…
But why leave Mexico City…. I’ve been here 4 times now and I still haven’t seen everything I want to see. It’s vibrant. There’s incredible food and culture! Here are some pictures from my last few days. As always, click on the picture for the best view...
In this picture Frida Kahlo is handing out guns for the socialist revolution
Government building at dusk on the Zocalo
Well, here’s why you will probably want to leave Mexico City at some point…
Noise pollution: so many cars don’t have mufflers and so many people play loud music and hawk wares using loudspeakers that you can go looney. Mitigation strategy—take it slow, hit pedestrian only streets when possible even if it’s a bit out of your way, and make sure you have a quiet hotel!
Air pollution: Temperature inversions mean that the colder the weather the worse the pollution is first thing in the morning. As the day wears on, it’s no worse than in any Mexican city—Why? Because the worst air pollution is spewing from the bus that’s on the street next to you. These “pesero” buses are in every city in Mexico. Mitigation strategy: sleep in! The longer you sleep in the cleaner the air will be when you get up! Hit pedestrian/ low traffic streets when possible. Pace yourself!
Crime: This is the most over-hyped aspect of Mexico City life. Probably everyone in Mexico City has experienced crime or knows someone who has. But, I’ve found the same in Washington DC (excluding Georgetown). Almost everyone who lives on Capitol Hill or Columbia Heights experience crime—and it’s usually more violent. Mitigation strategy—avoid being alone on streets late at night. Always call a cab instead of hailing one on the street. Keep you big cash and valuables back at the hotel so you can hand it all over without too much of a loss. I’m staying in one of the seedier neighborhoods—the old Historic District, but there are cops everywhere. Literally every corner and midblock on every street. So, I fee very safe… but it’s good to be smart too.
Okay, gotta end on a good note…
First the air was the cleanest yet on Friday! Here's a picture of the Torre LatinAmerica from the back porch of my hotel on a really good clean air day...
That same day I met with the a few non governmental transportation organizations in the fair suburb of Coyoacan. This is such a sweet part of town! It’s sort of like Cambridge for quality of life in that you can live there and never really need to leave… Bookstores, cafes, parks, a lovely central square. Check out the lovely pictures!
This is the back yard of Frida Kahlo's Blue House in Coyoacan
Look forward to seeing you all again soon!
