Several months ago I went to my New York dentist about a toothache.
The filling on a lower molar had come loose, and the dentist made an
X-ray.
“Hmm,” he said, looking at the X-ray. “The cavity is very deep. Just a
minute. Hmm.”
He inspected it carefully, then left the room, and spoke to another
dentist and came back.
“The tooth has to be extracted. It’s a molar, number 17, and is close
to your facial nerves. If I remove it, I might cut a nerve, causing
part of your jaw line to sag. It happened to me, years ago when I was
young and I had facial paralysis for years. I’ll send you to a
specialist. You might need general anesthesia, and two dentists – one
to analyze the charts, and the other to operate. I don’t want to cut
in the wrong place and give you permanent nerve damage and deform your
face. The nerves are clearly intertwined with the root of the tooth.
There is risk of infection, and this needs surgery below the gum line.
I won’t do the extraction. Here is a list of my colleagues who
specializes in this kind of work.”
“What will it cost,” I asked nervously?
“Well,” he thought, running his hand across his chin. “Some of these
doctors charge $500 just to walk though the front door, but they are
good, very good. Maybe about $2000, but you won’t have any permanent
nerve damage.”
I left his office crestfallen. Facial paralysis! Permanent nerve
damage. My face would be deformed! In horror, Worse, my wife would leave me in a minute the moment she hears "paralysis."
I called Deanna.
“In my home country of the Philippines, my dentist charges only $150
for an extraction, $200 tops” she said. “Wait a minute,” she went on,
“you know we haven’t been there in a while.” (Note: A "while" meaning only three months ago!)
“ I could use up all those frequent flyer miles on my credit card, and
maybe we could go for free!”
“Call the airlines. Book a flight. Pack your bags. I’ll call my family!”
That night I booked a flight to MNL-Manila routing through NRT-Narita
Tokyo from JFK for free. One month later we were in Manila, and I was
sitting in a dentist’s chair.
A dentist looked at my X-rays. “The cavity is very deep. Just a minute. Hmm.”
Oh no, not again, I thought.
“Come back next Monday, and my son, CJ will extract your bad tooth.
It’s a molar, and has to go. My son is a dentist, you know, just like
my mother. It runs in the family.”
Next Monday I got my teeth cleaned while fearing future permanent
nerve damage and facial paralysis. My body shook. I could sense my wife was eager to surf match.com
“Quick, get the patient’s pulse,” I heard someone say, as the
sphygmomanometer was strapped around my arm. “Checking the pulse.
Readings are good.”
Someone held my hand. Then came the Novocain shots, and after 15
minutes, CJ (Cuthbert John) pulled the tooth and sutured the gap. Then
I waited for the sticker shock.
“How much does this cost,” I asked meekly?
“Hmm,” said the doctor,” Just a minute. Hmm.” Then his Mom entered, and
said, “for you, because Deanna is a dear friend, we give you a special
deal.” He went into a huddle with his mom. Spoke Tagalog.. Not $2000,
I feared. Please, it shouldn’t be that much.
“OK, for you we charge 2500.”
My body started shake again. Did I came all this distance for nothing?
“$2500.” I asked, meekly?
“No no no. Here in the Philippines, it’s 2500 pesos.”
46 pesos to the dollar. How much is 2500 in US dollars? I did the math
in my head. Double the pesos, drop two zeros. That’s… Oh my gosh,
it’s less than $50!
I’m still in shock.
Tomorrow we fly back to the States.
