Dentist at large in the US of A

Recently a long overdue holiday was had in California with family in tow. My first time in the USA, and only two weeks, with renovations happening at the surgery (more in a later blog) this was going to be an adventure rather than a holiday. Are there any dental aspects to the trip? Of course! but more of this later.

Unfortunately began the trip at the beginning of a National government shutdown, which only added to the adventure. At the outset we had a booked day trip to Yosemite National Park midway on the second week of the trip, as well as Alcatraz a couple of days later. This was closed when we boarded the plane to the States. Will they be open by the time our tours runs? Well I certainly learnt a lot about the politics of the shutdown while keeping tabs when the National parks will reopen.

An example on how ridiculous the situation become was given to us by a custom official at LA airport. There is an open space called Veterans Square. It is not a patrolled area; it’s just an open public space dedicated to the veterans of the US. It’s was closed by barriers because it is National government property. Anyway, sanity prevailed when veterans stormed the square and removed the barriers. That’s one for people power!

Here is the dental aspect of the trip. It’s hard not to indulge in sweets when on holidays, (my son tried to test the limits of daily sugar intake), but it’s very hard to avoid this in the US. Almost everything has sugar in it, and the servings are large. I think small is not in the vocabulary. We asked for a small glass of orange juice and the waiter still brought us a large glass as the price would be the same, and they did not have small glasses anyway! Even bacon has sugar in it! We were in Disneyland early in the morning so I bought a kids breakfast for my son. Even he could not handle has sweet it was. I tried it and it was overpowering to the point of sickly.

Unfortunately, the shutdown opened on the evening of the day of our tour of Yosemite National Park, so we missed that trip, but we enjoyed another day in San Francisco. It’s a lot like Sydney, with its harbour and relaxed lifestyle and they even had a train strike! Thankfully Alcatraz reopened and we visited a very harsh outcrop of land with an even harsher history.

The hospital wing was opened when we arrived. That was an eye opener of how far we have come in technology and treatment facilities. You really appreciate your freedom and the devices that make our lives easy.

Travel does broaden the mind, but it’s always good to be home!

Next week: The wonderful world of dentures – Item no. 711-739