An Apprehensive Visit To The Dentist…

We’re now halfway through our actual service (the two years didn’t actually start until training was over and we were sworn in as Volunteers – December 10, 2008) and the mid-service things (like dentist and doctor appointments) are starting. Last Friday when I was in Baku I had a dentist appointment scheduled. In general, I don’t like dentists. I’ve had a lot of dental work done and some of it left me with bad memories. So suffice it to say, I did not have great hopes for this dentist. Other Volunteers had said good things, but in my head I was trying to be overly pessimistic, so that hopefully my visit would exceed my expectations…

And oh my, did the visit exceed my expectations! When I walked through that door I may have well walked through a portal to America. America in the future even, as this dentist was more modern than any I had been to in the States. I was greeted in English (although I did hear both Russian and Azeri during my visit) and asked to complete a form in English. I heard other patients speaking English in the waiting room (and they were not other PCVs). The cleaning room I was taken to was spotless, and while part of the cleaning seemed familiar, part of it also seemed new and high tech. Then I was taken to an x-ray room and when the technician took the x-rays they immediately showed up on the computer screen in front of me. No lighted box with the developed x-rays in front of it, but on the computer screen with the technician saving them to a disc to be included in my file. Then the dentist came in and reviewed everything, and I was on my way, discarding my plastic shoe covers on the way out. And while yes, I do have a cavity that will be filled later this month; I am definitely at ease with the thought of going back there.

Disclaimer: This is the service that PCVs receive, and it is not representative of the general population. While we do live at the level of our communities in terms of our living stipend, our medical care isn’t included in that. The PC Azerbaijan office has two doctors on staff and when dentists and hospitals are needed, they are generally the same facilities that Embassy employees and expats use.