35: APPOINTMENT #3 / TRIP #2: GONZALEZ

Yesterday (Wednesday) I had my appointment with Dr. Gonzalez...the one who performed the big operation on me back in January (gum surgery, extractions, implants, bone grafts).  If I understood correctly he comes to Dr. Prada's clinic every Wednesday. He has his own offices across town but it's nice that he comes to Prada's so that I don't have to be traveling around to two different clinics. Anyway this appointment was mainly for the doctor to check over my gums and implants...to make sure everything was healing nicely. And it was. No more gum disease and everything looks healthy. Gum pocket depths were check and I heard numbers that I don't recall hearing....EVER!

Before starting my work here in Costa Rica last January, I had advanced periodontal disease or gum disease. One of the measuring sticks for this is to perform a procedure in which the dentist uses a probe to check out how deep your gum pockets are that surround your teeth. Periodontal disease causes swelling of the gums and can create some big pockets. Here is a drawing of a probe...

Now I remember having numbers in the 8's and 9's! Nothing in my mouth was below a 5. The smaller the number the better. So my gums were in bad shape. But yesterday it was mainly all no-gaps or below a 1 with the exception of a couple teeth that were 2 and 3's. This is the only area where Dr. Gonzalez did not perform gum surgery and instead did a deep cleaning. Still much better numbers in this area than what it use to be. He said I just need to concentrate a bit more effort when brushing in this area and be sure to keep up with my regular cleanings with my dentist back home and it will be fine. Here is nice pocket depth diagram that I found...

Be sure to check out the part of that diagram that shows the "Safety/Warning/Take Action" zones. 1mm-3mm is considered safe. Sweet! Remember how I said I had 8's and 9's prior to coming to CR? They don't even have a "zone" for that level of gum disease. Maybe they should add one that is called the, "7mm, 8mm, 9mm: Get Your Ass To Costa Rica Zone".

OH...Dr. Gonzales also performed a full mouth cleaning as well. Saweet! (yes I meant to type "Saweet". "Sweet" is very good but "Sa-weet" is extra good...you have my permission to use it ;)  Then one of his assistants put this bulky tray of fluoride in my mouth. I had a bib on, some huge safety glasses and a mouth full of blue plastic so I did what anyone in that situation would do...I handed the assistant my phone and asked her to snap a photo

I'm sure GQ magazine will be ringing my phone soon after viewing that one.

Today I go and visit the Dr. Anglada & Dr. Castro clinic.