Ari's Planet

The story of getting from Agra to Jaipur will follow another day. In Jaipur, I realized one of my remaining wisdom teeth had developed a few cavities. There was only some sensitivity, but it was something I wanted to take care of before it became painful or infected. I asked a friend from Delhi for a recommendation for a dentist (plus a few other recommendations) and got the 10:00 deluxe bus from the Jaipur bus station. The bus cost 460 INR. This is a about $11.50, which is a lot for a bus in India. The bus was really cushy, like a regular tourist bus in another country, with comfy seats and complementary water. The bus station in Jaipur was a model of order compared to the chaos of Bharatpur. I met a fellow traveler from Australia and we got to pass the 5.5 hour ride with pleasant conversation. On the way we stopped for a quick lunch at a rest-stop that looked like a copy of a place in the US, though much less over-the-top and with a more meager food selection.

I got a rickshaw to New Delhi Train Station--adjacent to Paharganj--and set in search of a hotel. Paharganj is the local tourist ghetto, and I figured this would be a good place to find a budget hotel with fellow tourists to meet up with. Walking down the street, a lady from Australia had just fallen down and dislocated her kneecap (ouch!). A local reset the kneecap just like my 1st aid book says to do. The next step is to use a knee immobilizer, but her husband (companion) wisely took her to the East West Medical Clinic to have it checked out. The Rak hotel, which is recommended in the LP and which looked like the nicest place around, was unfortunately booked.

I tried a few other spots, then spied the local Chabad House. What better place to hook up with Israelis and find tips on dentists and hotels? I checked out the Hare Rama hotel but didn't like the rooms, hung out with the Chabadniks a bit, who greatly admired my Nikon, put on t'fillin for the first time since my bar mitzvah and even said maariv. Go figure. I also got a couple of recommendations for another dentist (more below). Eventually I found the Hare Krishna hotel, which is undergoing renovations and is not bad. The rooms are ok and I got a reasonably quiet place (when they're not working) on the 4th floor. The odd thing is my room lacks a sink, but moving is such a chore.

The next day, I checked the 'net on some dentist issues and then called Dr. Supriya Bhatia at 32 Smiles Dental Clinic. She was able to see me at 13:00, just 45 minutes away, so I grabbed a rickshaw and scooted over. She said they use sterile technique (disposables and autoclave plus washes for non-disposables). She took a look, did a quick x-ray, and said my tooth could be patched up--no need for an extraction. Yay. I opted for the composite. I didn't even need anesthetic. She drilled out the crud, put in the composite, shone the blue light, then ground it down to shape. It all took less than an hour. The x-ray was 200 INR and the filling 750 INR, so about $24. Including the rickshaw this was just $29 total. The composite hardens immediately so there are no restrictions on eating. She said they could do a cleaning for around 1000 INR (as I recall) and could do a 45-minute whitening for 15000 INR. If you've been living in a cave for the last 10 years, you won't have heard of the boom in "medical tourism", wherein people who cannot (or do not want to) pay the huge costs of medical care in the US travel to India for good-quality care at a fraction of the cost. This can mean the difference between financial ruin and treatment for some people. My procedure was simple and certainly didn't fall into "medical tourism", since I just happened to be in India when I developed the cavity, but if you search the website you'll see many places advertise this kind of service. I hope the filling holds well and that this marks the end of my dental adventures in India.

If you're looking for medical care, the LP has a short list of medical facilities in each location, though LP India does not cover dental care. The US Embassy in India provides a PDF listing several hospitals and medical specialists, including dentists. I preferred more direct word-of-mouth since it seemed more reliable. Had I needed a more extensive procedure I would have spent more time checking out several doctors. I figured Delhi would be likely to have some of the best medical care in India, given that it's the capital, relatively developed, and would have many people from developed nations (diplomats and others). Being just a few hours away in Jaipur it made sense to pop over to get my teeth taken care of.