I had a dentist appointment at 11:30 this morning, so I left quite early to give me time to hunt down chia seeds at the mercado. I decided to start with a lady who sells nuts and dried fruit and whom I could pretty find blindfolded from the entrance by Tony’s on Leandro Valle. She had chia seeds… That was a little quicker than I’d expected, I still had an hour to kill, and I couldn’t eat. Dang!
I wandered around the mercado a bit and found the dividing line between the tourist and the local sections. The tourist section is horrible, with the vendors being incredibly aggressive and unpleasant. There are a few things I’d like to buy that I know I’ll get the best prices on at the mercado, but the vendors really turn me off. You can’t just browse and take in all the sights and colours. Very disheartening and I wish there was a tourist bureau I could vent to… My friend Janet made similar comments to me during our Monday ride. She said she felt “assaulted” and I don’t think she’s exaggerating at all!
But the local part of the mercado is wonderful to wander around in! That’s pretty much anything that involves food. I had a leisurely stroll through the butcher and fish shops, realising that, really, I could buy meat and fish there if I came with a bag full of ice for the trip home. I’d definitely get better selection than at the supermarkets. I found the coffee roasting place a few people have mentioned, ogled the cheeses, and made a mental note of what fruits and veggies I wanted to pick up after my appointment.
Around 11:00, I decided to go sit in the dentist’s air conditioned waiting area and read. She had a few English magazines, so they were fun to browse through. She’s punctual, so I went in at almost bang on 11:30.
So going to the dentist in Canada:
Dentist: MY GOD. YOUR TEETH! Why don’t you go to the dentist more often?!
Me: I can’t afford it.
Dentist (tutting): Can’t afford it. *snorts* It’s all a matter of priorities. *gets to work*
Me: It hurts…
Dentist: Stop whining. It doesn’t hurt. *finishes* That’ll be an arm, a leg, and half a hand.
Going to the dentist in Mexico:
Dentist: MY GOD. YOUR TEETH! What is wrong with your country that dentists care so much more about profit than making sure everyone can afford dental care???!!!
Me: I wish I knew. 🙁
Dentist: This is going to cost you 800 pesos total (66CAD). Can you afford that?
Me: Yes! Thank you!
Dentist (gets to work): Does this hurt?
Me: Yes…
Dentist: We’ll wait another minute. *waits* How about now?
Me: Can’t feel a thing!
Dentist: All done. Are you okay?
Me: Yup! *happily hands over the agreed upon payment*
My tooth badly needs a crown, but I’m not willing to commit to that kind of work at this time. My plan is to get settled in Mérida next year/early 2017 and then find a dentist and orthodontist I could form a long-term relationship with and get my dental issues fixed, something I have to say I rather regret not doing before I hit the road in ’08, when my dental plan would have covered a good chunk of orthodontic work. But it was time to go and I went.
The dentist said I couldn’t eat for an hour and a half and I was ravenous by this point. So decided that I would get an agua fresca, which is rather filling, as a compromise. But first, I picked up some fruits and veggies. The vendor held up the mango I’d chosen and told me it was $29 and did I still want it? I replied yes and that I knew they’re out of season. She gave me a thumbs up at that and bagged everything up for me. Expensive mango, but I was in the mood and I never hesitate to buy fruit as a treat! I also got a really big jicama, which was less than $10.
Then, I picked an agua fresca vendor who had guava! I discovered guava last year and I cannot turn down an opportunity to have a treat made from it! The agua fresca was huge, with tiny pieces of guava in it, for just $17. Like most Mexican sweets, it was just sweet enough, and very refreshing!
Now, I have to get some work done even though I am really not in the mood to do so. Let’s see if I can finish in time to get my Friday night hot dogs!
A great story! Mexican dentists have only one chair going at a time unlike Canadian dentists who have two or three going at a time and rotate between them, trying to remember where they are with each patient.
I had extensive work done early this year in Mexico and the entire three day process was 99.9% painless.
Full disclosure, I’m not 100% on board with this dentist and will look for another if I need more work done in Maz. I just feel uneasy in her chair because of the testimonials I’ve heard. I also don’t like that she’ll stop to take a call and only sort of wrap a clean tissue around the phone before taking it and then doesn’t change her gloves to continue work.
The dentist I went to in Nuevo Progreso said that this is the 21st century and there is no reason for dental work to hurt. If the pain medication isn’t working, you try something else. I will NEVER let another dentist hurt me ever again.
Some dentists in Mexico use what is called the Wand. A machine that heats the novacaine to your body temperature (cold novacaine is what makes the needle and injection hurt so much reacting with the nerves), and then with an needle no longer than one centimeter touches the gums and your done. No pain at all.
The same with U.S. dentists, price gouging. I could go on.
Oh, the needle did hurt! But I didn’t feel a thing after that!
Rae, how do you prepare your jicama?
Glad you found a good dentist. Great price.
Love jicama sliced with some salt and limon but I do have a great recipe if you want to make it into a salad. Have also used it in stir fry when I had no water chestnuts.
Teeth are so important to your health – glad you are taking care of yours.
I usually just slice the jicama thinly and have it plain. It’s just so refreshing. Sometimes I’ll add lime juice and salt. Sandy, please share the salad recipe!
As for teeth, I wish I’d done better by mine, but dental care is really only for the rich in Canada. 🙁
Jicama Salad
1 kilo of Jicama
2 apples
5 limes – the little Mexican limon or 1-2 large limes
1/2 cup nuts – chopped – pecans are best
Cream (creama)
Mayonnaise
Marjolaine (Sweet Marjoram)
Pepper and salt to taste
Peel and shred Jicama
Peel, dice or julienne apple
Grate lime peel – zest
Juice lime to measure 1/4 cup
Mix cream, mayonnaise, lime juice grated lime peel, salt, pepper and Marjoram to obtain a creamy dressing. Pour over the Jicama, apples, nuts – mix lightly and refrigerate to blend flavors.
As you can see there are not any specific measurements – I have used sour cream with the lime juice and mayonnaise to make dressing.
A very refreshing salad served on a lettuce leaf.
Congrats on getting the dental care. But I wouldn’t go to a dentist who I didn’t trust 100%. My ex, “F,” had some dental work done in DF which seemed to be fine. Until nearly a year later when his tooth became so painful that he could barely stand it. When he went to a second dentist to fix this tooth, guess what? First dentist had left some cotton at the bottom of an admittedly deep filling, and so decay had returned with a vengeance and he then needed a root canal. Since it’s Mexico, of course there was no recourse to the first one.
So, please, get your stuff done, but find someone that several educated Mexican friends can agree on recommending, and preferably who have had stuff done by said dentist more than a year ago.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where I love my dentist, who’s also a professor of dentistry at Tufts.
Kim, reviews and everyone I spoke to highly recommended this dentist for cleanings and fillings, but nothing more advanced. I felt comfortable having her do this work. I would not feel comfortable having her do a crown or root canal.
“The tourist section is horrible, with the vendors being incredibly aggressive and unpleasant.”
The same thing is true of the 4-5 square block area in Algodones, the tourist dentist capital of Mexico. You can not walk 25′ without being accosted by someone wanting to direct you to a dentist of a pharmacy. After only very few days I hated to walk through the area to a restaurant.
Yup. It’s just like my experience with border towns. It’s amazing that they don’t realise how counterproductive they are being.
I don’t DO Facebook so I don’t know if changing your name brought with it the new feature of a black transparent screen across the bottom third of your page. It says: “Get updates from A Life By Design on Facebook. Log in or sign up for Facebook today.” and a box to click on to Sign Up and one to Log In.
If you have any control over it I would really, really like for it to go away. If you have no control over it then I will most likely go away. I’ll continue to read your blog but will not be trying to read your Facebook through the black screen and advertising.
What you’re seeing is on FB, right? That’s them being their usual stupid selves.
But I’ve preempted you. If you are interested in the FB updates, which are much more regular than the blog posts, I’ve added them to the blog itself! They’re in the righthand side bar. BUT I only have the latest two show up. It was just much too cluttered otherwise. I’m thinking of creating a page for the updates, where they would all show up, but I’ll need reader feedback before I do all that work. I’ll do a post about this when I have a moment.
Yes, I was seeing that on FB and today all is well.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
For me adding the FB updates to the blog page would be a waste of your time. I never noticed the two that you have included. I read your FB page daily and when you post a notice there that a blog posting has been made I then go to the blog.
That dentist is much easier on the pocket book. I got my first crown here in BC this year – $1075 when all was done in two appointments. I lived with a cracked tooth for 5 years before that. If I would have gotten it done in Alberta it would have been more like $1400 as they have higher limits on what the dentists can charge. I thought about getting it done in Mexico but wouldn’t want to on a very short vacation of 7 days in case something happens.