To the dentist's office

Last Friday morning after breakfast, I noticed that a piece of one of my molars was gone. It's a tooth with a large filling and it was a small corner that seemed to be missing. I emailed Jim Cheever in Minneapolis who has been taking care of my teeth for 31 years. Jim was out of town but Judy relayed the message to him and returned his advice to me. On Tuesday evening, when we were out with Chad, Zhenya, and Daniel, I mentioned my tooth. Immediately, Chad was on the phone to his dentist. At 8 in the evening he made an appointment for this afternoon. So, my tooth is fixed, at least temporarily.

Akademgorodok dentist

This is what I reported to Jim:
"I'm sorry I can't tell you the name of my Siberian dentist. Chad Gehrman, our new friend (from Wayzata) who has lived here for 13 years accompanied me and did the translating. He explained the problem. She examined the tooth, said she'd do a temporary filling that would get me home if I was careful with it. It was very much like being at your Brookside office! Same stuff in my mouth; picking, sanding; putting some stuff in the tooth, putting the black-light gun to it; more stuff in the tooth, more light gun. Then some sanding(grinding?) Her only English words: "open" and "close." After this, a little more smoothing and then done. No Novocain--she said I wouldn't need it and I didn't. At the end of her work, she said I should have those other fillings replaced too! I said they were about 45-50 years old. She raised her eye brows at that. She and her assistant agreed to have their pictures taken though they thought I was a little strange. Probably am.



Her assistant




"When she was finished, Chad and I went out to the front desk. The bill was 150 rubles. We looked at each other and agreed the price should be checked. Yes, that was correct: $5.77!"