A Dental "Emergency"

Last Wednesday evening, I was munching on some cocoa almonds...mmm, good! All of a sudden, I realized there was a gaping hole where my top front tooth should have been. So, I spit everything out and found the culprit. It was an old filing, rather large, that had come out. I looked in the mirror. I don't even want to think about how I looked. What to do? I tried putting the filling back in. After several attempts, it worked, much like a jig saw puzzle. Thank You, Jesus! I finally fell asleep.

The next morning (Thursday), I called my dentist, in Accra. I was able to schedule an appointment with her for Saturday morning. So, I called friends in Wa, and asked them to purchase a bus ticket to Accra for me. (I wanted to leave Thursday just in case there would be any trouble as we traveled. I didn't want to take the chance of missing my appointment.) I went home (I was at the workplace) and quickly packed. Then, headed off to the lorrie station. After an hour wait, we started the two hour trip to Wa. While in Wa, I visited with my friends until it was time to catch the bus, which left at 5:30 PM. I arrived in Accra around 6:20 Friday morning. Then, off to a colleague's house. I "hung out," went grocery shopping, read & napped. It was a wonderful break from the stress of the past few weeks. Then, Saturday morning, I went to see Dr. Nadia. She fixed my tooth. Praise God! I paid about $50 to get a huge filling replaced. Then, off to the bus station to buy a ticket for home. I left Accra around 8:30 PM Saturday and arrived in Wa 8:15 AM Sunday. I finally made it home at 11:30 Sunday morning. So, my dental "emergency" took about 72 hours from departing from home to arriving back again.

There was a lot to be thankful for in this situation: my tooth did not hurt, I was able to put the filling back in until it was replaced, I was able to schedule a dentist appointment, there was a seat available on the bus, someone was able to pick me up from the bus station, I had a relaxing day in Accra, I was able to buy meat in a store and not "off the hoof," the dentist is really nice, the filling was replaced painlessly, the cost of the dental visit was much less than I would pay in the US, the traveling was uneventful...God is so Good!