The reason for my trip over here, again, is dental.
Being a Fencing Contractor, it is required of me to inflict grevious bodily harm upon myself on a regular basis and to include, every so often, a punch to the mouth whilst holding a crowbar, or as we in the industry call it, "the big nail". Having satisfactorily assaulted myself in the prescribed manner, the 6 tooth bridge across the front of my top jaw, which was installed in 2007, by Dr. Rudy from 911 clinic, and subsequently repaired in 2012 by Dr. Rudy, had become something of a part-time proposition. That is to say, it would decide when IT wanted to be a part of my Oral presence, or not. Coughing, sneezing, or even opening the mouth too quick would only serve as an opportunity for escape. After a recent heavy cough, I was forced to retrieve the troublesome little escapologist from under my work truck and get him back to base without the client realising what was going on,or in as the case may be.
So, here I am sitting at a computer in the reception area of ,at best, a 2.5 star hotel in downtown Kuta, after having today undergone a fairly rigorous session of de- toothing. But, let me start the next bit by digressing.....
Once I had decided to come back to Bali for more dental tort.. er, sorry, treatment, I had already decided to seek a more permanent solution than the surgical steel rod method that had been employed to date. Implants, I am thinking, may give me the ability to suffer the self-administered, irregular but regular effects suffered from crowbars, jack-hammers, standing up too quickly whilst forgetting you are beneath an over-hanging bough of a tree, along with other bone jarring and teeth smashing activities that us hapless Fencers get up to.
After contacting 911 Clinic in Kuta, I was informed that A). Dr. Rudy had retired, B). I would have to go to Denpasar for Implants.
Having , at this stage, with the impending return to Bali on my mind, returned to perusing the pages of the BTF, other options (dentists) became apparent. Eg. Dr. Herrman, Dr. Thomas, etc; so I determined that I would get options for treatment instead of just going along and accepting what was first offered.
Having arrived in Bali last Sunday, the 6th March, on the Monday I grabbed a Bluebird Taxi and fronted up to ARC in Sunset, just down the road from Carrefours, same side but 150 metres or so south and oppositr Jl. Merdeka Raya. (in the interests of full disclosure the taxi cost me about 40,000Rp.) The clinic is on the second floor and above the ARC Anti-aging Beauty Clinic, so you can get your teeth and your Botox at the same time.
Upon arrival I was met upstairs by the leggy Sashia, who, unconcerned with my lack of appointment, took my details and went off to fetch Dr. Thomas. When he appeared my first (mental) reaction was, "Tall, thin ex-surfer who's had a decent haircut. Quite the Rooster. The ladies are gonna love him". As we talked treatments and options, I was given a Panoramic x-ray, for assessment, first consultation free, including said xray, a tour of his Clinic was given, at which point I was introduced to just about every member of staff. I was shown through the on- site laboratory, run by Joe, another German like Dr. Thomas, who I thought would make a great stand in for Robert Deniro in a gangster movie. He is the Chief Prosthetist or Prosthetic Maestro if you like. When I met the young Dental Technician, I thought "Ive seen uglier blokes in the pages of fashion magazines. I will bet even the older ladies who visit this clinic would want to take him home for their un-married daughters.
After a fairly lengthy consultation, where different options were discussed in some detail, I informed Dr. Thomas that I would seek another opinion before deciding on a Clinic to attend to my Dental Disaster. He couldnt have been more understanding. So I left And grabbed a Bluebird off the street and headed to Denpasar. 100,000rp. each way.
Now I know I'm about to skate on thin ice here with all those with a loyalty to 911 Clinic but keep in mind that I entered Bali with the same loyalty, if only for Dr. Rudy, but when I got to 911 in Denpasar it was a fair bit short of my expectations. I was ushered to a suite for an inspection of the problem, I was given another Panoramic x-ray, the Doctor told me how she would tackle my situation, but altogether I was underwhelmed by the atmosphere that surrounded me, the ambience of the Clinic and it seemed to me that everything was being rushed. As I left I was told it was 200,000Rp for today's consultation, Terimah Kasih.
In an effort to make a long story a bit shorter, I fronted up to ARC this morning, Dr. Thomas was not in yet but Sashia (not sure if that's the correct spelling) got Dr.Tom on his mobile. I told him that I would like to start treatment with him and asked when he would like to begin and he said (no time like the present). He was making his way into the clinic and during his delay he asked his staff to prep me, take impressions, get me a coffee, whatever I needed. By the time they had completed his instructions he walked in and discussed my teatment plan again, and as we proceeded with the treatment just about everybody in the place was involved or eager to be involved in what was going on inside my mouth.
After the usual round of injections, came the removal of what was left of the stumps of my original teeth that had been root-canalled by Dr. Rudy, 5 extractions had been performed, adjustments had been cut into the remaining crowns, we had a discussion about not removing a 6th tooth, admittedly a bit garbled on my part, then a series of stitches were inserted at 3 different sites to help speed up the healing. I will return on Monday to have a fitting for my temporary bridge, Tuesday for the Implant procedure and then return in 3 months and have the temporaries replaced with the real deal after said 3 months of Osteo-healing.
I'm totally aware this is the longest post I've ever done so I'm going to go and have a couple more of my very impressive pain killers and see if I'm ready for some sleep yet. Talk soon. Billthefencer