Four years ago, I decided to move to Mexico and live there for at least one year. I had saved up enough money to be there comfortably without working, and was intent on completing my first book of photo essays. Unfortunately, I had not planned on any real medical emergencies, so my budgetary guidelines had no provisions for them.

What happened?

I awoke one morning with a terrible pain in my head and mouth. I knew it was more than a hangover after I bit down on a piece of bread and chewed with my back teeth. The pain that shot forth and through my head was legendary. It stopped me in my tracks and made me wonder why life was worth living.

It was in that moment that I realized that a molar of mine was not happy. In fact, it was down right angry at my lack of care towards it. In return for failing to reach way back with my toothbrush every morning, my molar had turned my life into a complete and utter hell.

What Did I Do?

Not wanting to dip into my savings and head to the dentist, I decided to try and heal myself. The internet was a little help, when I could get to it. You see, the problem was that I was living in the woods, in a cabin. Internet access was at least an hour away.

My first and only visit to the cybercafe to research my options was a dreadful blur of pain. I did find out, though, that the best thing to do for this agonizing condition was to go to the dentist, which I would eventually do after 2 days.

Foreign Dentist

My decision to finally go to the dentist was met with some controversy. Many of the other travelers I had come to know brought up the issue of quality and competency.

I was not concerned with this. My true preoccupation was in the price of the services. I basically knew I was looking at getting this tooth pulled in order to really stop the pain. How much could that cost? After X-Rays and all the other extras, enough to knock 4 months off my year if the prices were USA comparable

When all was said and done, the dentist was fine. He was very professional and did top notch work, as I can attest to today. And when the total due crossed my eyes, I smiled. It was much less than anything in the United States. In fact, at the end of the day, it only cost me about a week’s worth of money from my year.