A Coward Finds a Dentist

A year ago it happened; I finally had to find a dentist. As a Naturopath, I had not been overly concerned about locating a doctor for my general health when we moved to Honduras. As a realist though, I did research the quality of emergency care available at the walk-in clinics in La Ceiba, just in case. However, since only in a bad dream would I ever consider paying money to someone to hurt me, I found it easy to delude myself into believing I would not need a dentist. Dental meant giving permission to a stranger, to crawl into the deep recess of my personal space and do only who knows what, where I could not see or stop them.

I had been vaguely aware that something was amiss with my gums during my last trip to the States, but the morning after my return to the La Ceiba area I woke up to a full-blown abscess. I immediately started my own herbal treatment but knew the search for a dentist was at hand.

There is no such thing as a phone book in my little beach community and I have yet to see one in La Ceiba, so as usual, I started selecting which of my neighbors or friends I should ask. If I were going to let someone crawl into my mouth I wanted to be able to communicate with them; that meant I needed an English speaking dentist. A level of English fluency is required of all professional people to receive their license. Yet if most of their patients are Spanish speaking, overtime the skill to habla inglis could fall by the wayside. I settled for asking our real estate agent friend who has been a Honduras resident for over fifteen years. He is a kind and patient man who speaks mainly English, he would know a dentist of the same caliber.

When I spoke to the dentist on the phone, I was impressed with the ease of her English. I explained the referral had come after my request for an excellent dentist who spoke English and was patient with cowards; she laughed and gave me an appointment for the next day.

I have never before had such a pleasant experience in a dentist office. After giving my name and phone number to the Spanish speaking receptionist, there was only a short wait before la dentista came to personally usher me into the examination room. No one had asked for my social security number, a credit card number or even a name of a resposible party to pay for the service. The dentist was professional, kind and attentive to my needs.

The fee for the hour’s work was 500 Lempiras with an extra 200 L. for the x-rays; a total of $36.00 (U.S.) I was so impressed that I’ve made another appointment for the following week to have my teeth cleaned and checked.