If I could give you one travel tip that has helped me better than any other it is this-
Prevention is better than the cure
So you've planned an amazing trip. Maybe your off to announce yourself to the Amazon or mooch around Morocco? Spin the night away in Spain or sleep in a hammock on a beach in Sth East Asia. You're a smart little traveler. So with just weeks before your big trip you've seen the Dr and have had booster shots (tetanus, Hepatitis etc) and maybe country specifics like Yellow Fever. Your arms are just about to recover from their pin cushion impersonation. You have a steady stash of Gastro-stop and maybe even a multivitamin or pro-biotic to help you recover from the Bali Belly that you will get. But what about the dentist? Oh you haven't seen your dentist is a while because of the cost? What a rip off. My teeth feel ok. They look ok. Who cares about teeth any way? That dental consult fee could be a weeks worth of beer!
Well my friend let me tell you a toothy tale~
For those who follow us on Twitter you'll have seen that I recently smashed up a tooth. A big important tooth too. Not that I favor any one tooth above another. I love them all equally. We were on our way to Two Row Bar with a group of friends when it all happened. I wish I could give you a better story but it seems that my delicious burrito caused the damage to a tooth that has caused me (and two dentists) grief for nearly four years. Being a public (bank) holiday here in Australia and late at night there was nothing we could do but wait until the morning.
As I sipped my red wine and nibble on a warm pretzel I was thinking back on my travels to Guyana and around Europe. Both trips took tremendous time to plan, fund and eventually execute. These trips, in their own rights, were life changing. Guyana taught me the value of friendship and patience. Europe was my first big trip traveling with a partner. So imagine my distress when I realized that both these trips had been impacted at one stage or another by this one aggressive tooth.
Ok so the Guyana trip this tooth was angry because a wisdom tooth was pushing itself out and about. Making a real painful name for itself. I can still vividly remember the afternoon in Barcelona I spent nearly in tears because of this one tooth. It was screaming, yelling and pounding throughout my head. And there was nothing that I could do. The painkillers presented very little relief. And I wasn't sure if it was bad enough to need a visit to a dentist in a strange city.
In hindsight if I had taken the time and money to see my dentist back home before we left I could have had a pleasant pain free trip. The wicked wisdom tooth had caused some damage to it's new neighbor. A preventative check up before our trip may have set me back $200 (consult, x-rays and a good ol' clean) but it would have saved a wasted day and following painful meals and head aches. A simple inspection and the dentist could have worked her magic powers and fixed the problem.
Now nearly four years later this one tooth has cost me nearly $3000 to get to where we are now. With one last step that will be around $700 to finalize the process.
Now imagine what you could do with $3000? Would you spend it on a broken hearted tooth?
Prevention is always better than the cure
On a side note I would like to publicly thank the staff at Freedom Dental in Melbourne. On several occasions they have stayed back after hours to help me with my terrible teeth. As a child who suffered from whopping cough and the following ailments my teeth were quite a bit damaged by the high sugared medications I needed and will require continuous care beyond the norm. The care and support that the staff show their patients at all hours of the morning and night is nothing less then admirable. Thank you.
