Four days out

Back into the air....

One week back from Alice Springs and I was on my way again! This time across to Bali.
This may sound crazy but I have a perfectly legitimate excuse for a 4 day jaunt to Indonesia, I simply couldn't afford Not to go! Why?
Well the thing is that years of self abuse have caused me to have not so good teeth. Yes teeth... And what's this got to do with the tropical paradise Island of Bali? (OK it's not such the paradise it used to be but hell, once Bali gets under your skin you just can't shake the place!)
At home I can't afford to see a private dentist so I tend to go to the public dental clinic when I have a problem with my teeth. I get pretty good treatment there by student dentists but they cannot do major work.
I had a broken molar which needed a crown ($1,500 - $2,000 AUD) the only option I thought I could afford was to have it pulled at the clinic, leaving me with nothing to chomp with on my right side. I had to find another option I could afford. This brought me to option C... Indonesia!

Palloma Hotel

To cut a long story short, I found some very cheap tickets, booked them and flew over last Sunday night. I arrived in the new Ngura Rai airport at 2am (It's fricking huge!), got to my hotel in pretty good time (low season 2am is the best time to travel!) and headed off to Denpasar with a local friend in the morning, after a few hours sleep.

With only 4 days in Bali I was quite dubious that I would succeed in having my tooth repaired. Rocked up to a couple of reputable dentist surgeries without an appointment and amazingly got myself booked for the treatment I needed within my 4 day timeframe!

The job was done in two visits with a root canal and molds taken of my teeth on the first day and the prosthetic attached two days later! Amazing!

I can't believe it! Just a couple of weeks ago I was worried that I'll have no teeth and now I'm planning my next 'holiday' to Bali with a perfectly legitimate reason for going! Who'd have thought bad tooth care could have lead to this!

Melasti 2015

 Back in 1996 I sold all my stuff, (including the caravan I intended to live in when I got back) and set out to travel the world. I spent a month in Bali and Lombok and had a plan for returning there to live after I'd done traveling. Somehow life caught up with me and I only made it back as far as Darwin, got married and the rest is history. On this trip I felt so at home, that part of me was re-awakened. I know I can't go back to those old plans but I'm thinking a few trips for dental work might satisfy my hankering for dining in warungs and the scent of clove cigarets.

Dental cabaret

Teeth again!
I'm sure I've written about my teeth before. Teeth are important we should look after them right!
I'm not on a crusade for dental care I'm just fascinated by the fact that it is possible for people to outlive their teeth, when in ages past, lack of teeth was surely a sign of decrepit obsolescence and senility... anyway I'm not planning to go Yul Brynner on oral hygiene but my new dentist has assured me my teeth would last longer if I flossed... So "...whatever you do! Just..." FLOSS OK!

After loosing a huge chunk of tooth last year the date for my appointment at the Public Dental Clinic has finally arrived! And what time was my appointment you ask... (OK you wouldn't ask that question but let's just pretend you did!)

My appointment was for 2:30! Get it? Two Thirty.... Oh Come ON! Do I have to spell it out for you? "TOOTH HURTEE!" It's a joke! or a pun or something like that! I use it all the time!

It goes like this...
I say - "What time is it?"
You say - "Two thirty".
I say - "Well you'd better go to the dentist then..." Waka Waka Waka"

Ok, so I'm at my Toof hurtee appointment at the free clinic for folks who can't afford a qualified dentist and I meet my Student practitioner... He's a clean cut young fella from Brisbane... maybe Indian descent. He's sitting down with his leg out stretched.
"Good afternoon" He says with a smile. "My name is ------  (I'll call him Dr Teeth) I am a student dentist, as you can see I have a broken foot. Are you happy for me to conduct this consultation today?"
"Oh yeh.." I say... "Hey I could have tripped over that!" Trying to keep the interaction light while noticing that both the Dentist (Student dentist) and his assistant appear so young they could be just a couple of kids wagging school and here for a laugh!

The consultation continues... Dr Teeth inspects my battle scarred choppers and proceeds to list the casualties and those missing in action... Lucky for me you can't get locked up for for tooth neglect! I think he listed 6 as missing! He must have counted the wisdom teeth...
"Better check the floor.. I'm sure I had them when I came in!" 

So it's all going quite well. It's obvious he's not going to get down to business on the smashed tooth so I'm kind of relaxed and enjoying the banter. Dr Teeth tells me about his foot and how he came to Darwin in between rattling off the location and chemical compounds of every filling in my mouth to his assistant. By now I'm kind of enjoying myself, this guy is really light hearted for a dentist! Then he performed a maneuver that nearly caused me to choke on the ex-ray plate in my mouth.

We place the uncomfortable piece of plastic sheath in my mouth... I bite down on it as intended... fighting the urge to gag on the bloody thing... Then Dr Teeth says to me in all seriousness, hold perfectly still while I hop over here and press the button...
I'm sitting up straight focusing on a spot on the wall directly in front of me... not moving a muscle... Then Dr Teeth hops across the room on one leg right past my field of vision! The bastard! If you've ever seen the Centurian Guard in the Life of Brian trying to hold back a laugh... you'll have a pretty good idea of the situation I was in! He presses the button. The photo is taken and I nearly choked on the uncomfortable piece of crap I had in my mouth! It was so funny I couldn't believe it!

Apparently there's a fair bit of work to do and I have to go back in a few weeks! Same Dentist, Same time! I can't wait to see what he comes up with for my next visit! Apparently I'm in line for a root canal and a crown...
Life on a low income is such good value! I could never afford a root canal or to go to the theater... when I was earning more money, now here I am, technically poor(ish) and I'm served cabaret and tooth repair for nothing! Now that I've got the date for my next appointment I'll have to schedule a session at the blood bank for the morning so I can make a day of it...