Como se dice “fill my cavity” en español?

Written by Bessie about El Salvador. Feelin' normal
Bessie_thumb
So I’ve had this pain every so often in one of my back molars when I was eating.  You know the pain – the “OW! I can’t chew on that side!” pain or the “Man! Why is ice so cold??” pain.  Furthermore, it’s the “I’m going to ignore it, and maybe it will go away” pain.  

So for the last month or so, I’ve had those.  And the feeling of dread that I need to go to the dentist.  I don’t know anyone that fesses up to liking to going to the dentist, except maybe my Auntie Donna, the smiling dental hygienist, that has more tooth flossing contraptions than anyone I know.  So, of course I was pretty freaked out about the whole situation.  Needless to say, the pain wasn’t going away, and I knew I wanted to find a good dentist in the week we had left in San Salvador.  

So if I tell you in end up getting my teeth drilled in El Salvador, are you picturing:
 - me in a dark alley in a red vinyl chair next to pupusa stand?
 - perhaps me sitting in someone’s living room holding a baby while someone digs at my teeth?
 - or a state of the art dentist office in a strip mall next to a spa?

Well, don’t anyone get freaked-out, it’s option 3.  When you need a dentist, sing the Ghostbusters’: Who you gonna call?  The U.S. Embassy.

My co-worker’s sister happens to work in the embassy, and a text message later I had the name and number of the dentist they recommend.  That afternoon I’m in the office of a Dr. Carlos Roberto Méndez Valencia in San Salvador, and I’ve never been so impressed by a dentist visit.  Their office has so many fancy cameras, computer programs, and such great indirect lighting, that I felt like I stepped into the future.

So he started by using this little pen light kind of camera to take Glamour Shots of my teeth, I mean angles I had never seen before, that made me wish I had done the token flossing before coming to my appointment.  Then, he had this x-ray machine that looked like normal, but apparently no x-ing involved & no lead cover needed, because the images show right up on a computer screen, and he can see the teeth & roots & fillings on all different levels, and even switch to this color level thing.  He could have taken pictures of my teeth all day, and I would have gladly sat there while he told me about them.

Bessie after her Dental Treatment in San Salvador
Dr. Méndez, me & a Glamor Shot of my tooth.

In the end he filled a little cavity for me, and I know way more dental vocab words in Spanish than I ever thought I would.  Incidentally, fill a cavity is "llena una cavidad" in Spanish, or you can use the nice English influenced verb filear (as in to fill), as in "filea una cavidad".  Oh, and the Glamour Shots & filling only ran $26.  Take that Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Oh, and anyone looking for a good dentist, Dr. Méndez’s office is on Paseo General Escalón in Villas Españolas, phone # 2257-6102.  Tell him the gringa with the camera sent ya.

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