Lots of my friends back in the States have been asking me about health care in Panama. In fact, it’s one of the first questions people asked when we announced our intent to move here. They seem to believe there IS no health care here or if there is, it’s awful and dangerous.
Well, for my friends back home, I’m about to find out first hand. I’ll be experiencing Boquete dentistry up close and personal in the weeks to come. Why? Check this out:
Methinks there's a gap in in them thar pearlies!
So there I was, munching on a chicken salad sandwich from our local bakery, Sugar ‘n Spice. Love that sandwich! Bread fresh-baked daily, tasty chicken salad. No hidden walnuts, nothing crunchy in it. All of a sudden I’ve feeling something wa-a-ay different. Something (comparatively) large, rolling around in my oral region that definitely isn’t supposed to be there. What the heck?
The I felt the hole where a tooth should have been. Quick as a bunny, I put 2 and 2 together and realized I had almost bitten down on a loose tooth. How does something like that happen? I hadn’t been eating anything hard and I wasn’t chewing gum. It just fell out.
This happened earlier this afternoon, Friday the 2nd. Why, oh why, do things like this happen on a Friday afternoon? How am I going to get in to a dentist when: A) there is short notice — I need to get into the office NOW and B) I don’t even know a dentist yet!
John had been to a dentist a couple of weeks ago and liked his experience. It was a normal visit: an exam and cleaning. I thought I’d give it a shot. So, I called Dra. Monica Sanjur at her office. (For my non-spanish speaking friends, Dra. means a female doctor). Her office assistant, Pilar, got me in at 3:30 this afternoon! 3 hours notice and they’re getting me in. So far, I’m pleased.
John picked me up and we went to her office a couple of blocks north of Romero’s on the main street. We waited about 10 minutes after handing my passport and temporary pensiondo visa to the office assistant for the paperwork. She asked me what I was alergic to, what medications , etc. and then I was shown into Dra. Sanjur’s back office. Clean, spotless and very, um, dentical looking. Dra. Sanjur speaks decent enough English and seems to know her stuff.
She examined my teeth, probed around in the gaping hole in my mouth and inspected the tooth I had put in a damp napkin to show her. Why I put a manufactured crown into a damp napkin, I’ll never know. Old habit from childhood, I guess, when people actually lost a whole tooth and we were taught to keep the tooth moist. But a crown? Silly girl, c’mon!
Dra. Sanjur then told me we had options. We may just be replacing a crown, or we may have to do a root canal. She said we’d need to bring in a specialist for the root canal, but that the specialist would come to her office. I asked about pricing (I’m remembering we only have cataclysmic insurance and I’m seeing funds for the art studio circling the drain faster than I can lean over and rinse into Dra. Sanjur’s own porcelain bowl.)
She rattled off a series of numbers, all having to do with options. “If we do option A, then you will need this to happen and it costs blankety blank for this; if we do option B, then that will happen and it will cost blankety blank. We will know nothing of course, until the x-rays are taken,” she concluded.
After taking x-rays she fitted me for a temporary (ouch, that damn mold hurt!) .
I told her I was going to be out of town for a few days and she said “Well, then, I guess we’ll need to put a rush on the lab for that temporary.” We went to her outer office and she quoted me $10 for the x-ray (!!!) and $130 for the temporary, which will be ready first thing Monday morning. I’m not supposed to pay until the temporary is fitted on Monday. Sanjur said we will then take it step by step, but that the x-ray showed a good, stable root in existence, so I’m hoping it’s a crown we’re doing and not a root canal plus a bridge.
I am going to keep you apprised of the costs as we go. I’ll be interested to see how this adventure pans out, what the costs are and how the dental care is here in Boquete.
So far, I’m highly impressed, both with the service, the technical knowledge AND the pricing.
Stay tuned, highly interested dental fans!
Glad you found someone you’re comfortable with on short notice. You have such a nice smile, and the jack-o-lantern look would not suit your style at all. Dr. Dra does sound a bit like the name of a rap singer…….
Make all of your future appointments at 2:30. Get it? Tooth-hurthy? Groan…….
Groan…..that was pretty bad, but I still laughed! We’ll see how comfortable I am with her at the end of this whole episode. Miss you!
Dr. is the designation for a male doctor while Dra. is the designation for a female doctor, so it’s Dra. Monica Sanjur, meg. But I agree with and had to laugh at your Dr. Dra comment.
I saw her as well when we were just in Boquete, Robin. She and her receptionist were great imo. She did an exam of the molar I’d broken off just prior to our trip, which I couldn’t get into a dentist here to have checked out on short notice. She charged nothing for the exam. We made an appointment for a couple days later to have it worked on but their office called to reschedule. By then, I’d waited too long as they wanted to schedule for the day we were returning to the US. I’ll gladly see her again when we return.
Yes, we’ll have to see how the rest of this story plays out.
Hey, sounds extremely reasonable so far – and great service too. I had to laugh – “the jack-o-lantern look” – hee hee! OK, I’ll be waiting to see the next post – seriously, good luck.
Maybe I ought to wait until after Halloween to get it fixed? I’ll just paint myself orange with black lips and smile alot — voila — a Jack-o-lantern costume!
is there a way to contact this dentist? phone? e mail? or the office. I had very poor dental care as a child and seriously need recontruction of my whole top teeth i currently have a 4 unit permanent{fixed } bridge and have to get 3 more of my teeth pulled and go to a 7 unit bridge. and a specialist here in the states say after 2 root canals, 3 more teeth pulled and 3 or 4 vaneers, i should have nice teeth.. oh the cost will want to make me cry, Iv been to panama on several vacations but never knew about dental care there I am very interested we are comming for 4 weeks in feb march. any advice? oh i know very few words in spanish..any advice would be appreciated!!
Thanks so much
christine
I am happy to recommend Dra. Monica Sanjur. She is very very good and works with a team of specialists who will come up to Boquete to work on you. Here is her phone number: 720-1152, cell 6748-0006. Here is the email on the sign outside her office: monicasanjur@hotmail.com. And here is an article by another blogger who took many pictures of the offices. It’s from 2009 and only Pilar is still working with her: http://boquetejayatlarge.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/boquete-clinica-dental/
I wish you luck!!
Robyn