Our really good dentist told Walt this week that he and his wife will be leaving the area next spring. He's 40 years old, he has told me, and the quiet life in a little village with very few businesses like restaurants, cafés, etc., doesn't please him. He's from Romania and grew up in or near the country's capital city, Bucharest. He has bought a dental practice in or near Lyon, and he'll leave here next April 1.
He (I'll just call him N) has spent a lot of time in New York, because his mother lives there. He speaks Romanian, of course, as well as French, English, and Italian. And he's the best dentist we've had since we left San Francisco 20 years ago.
I don't know how long it will take us to find another dentist in the area. Most of them — there aren't many — are not taking new patients, or at least weren't taking new patients three years ago, the last time I needed to find one and found N. The first dentist we found in Saint-Aignan, 20 yeears ago, retired. Then we found one in Montrichard, shortly before he retired as well. When you are in your mid-70s, your teeth seem to require constant care and repair. At least mine do. Fillings that are 50 to 60 years old are pretty fragile.
These pictures are some more that I took in early December back in 2013 — in my younger days... By the way, Accuweather says the temperature outside this morning is below freezing, but just barely. The high today will be slightly above freezing, and we can expect some snow overnight tonight, quoth Accuweather.
I had a friend here in Los Angeles that had the most perfect teeth. Beautifully proportioned and white, but not so white as to be silly. I kept asking her who her dentist was, because I wanted to switch and hers obviously did beautiful work. She dodged the question for years and I assumed it was because she didn't want everyone flocking to this talented person, you know, keep a good thing to herself. Turns out her dentist was a guy in Tijuana and she used Poligrip. You would never have known, and I'm pretty astute about that stuff.
ReplyDeleteI certainly wish I had perfect teeth, but I don't want to have to use Poligrip.
DeleteYes I agree - always best to keep you real dentition for as long as possible. Maybe someone new will take over your dentist's practice.
DeleteFingers crossed that you find a new dentist- you may need to look further away. I agree that our teeth are very important at our age.
ReplyDeleteThat photo of the frosty leaves is so lovely. All of the photos are great, but I really liked zooming in on that one.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your dentist! I will say that we run into the "not accepting new patients" answer for lots of doctors around here (must be something with the insurance companies putting restrictions on them, to force business for new doctors), but when I needed a new primary care physician, and found a woman I wanted to try, near me, I tried calling and asking for an exemption to the "not taking new patients" thing, and she gladly agreed to take me on.
My local dentist here is also from Romania. Aprehensive at first when I went, but yeah, she is good and has a dry humor. Much needed, as I am not so excited about dentistry in general. (and it shows...)
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