Monica is one of our beach friends; not an alpha person but always there, usually in the background. I confess that she is one of my favourites, perhaps because she is not so pushy and her children always remind me of home.
She is tiny, even amongst this race of generally small people, 32 years old, a mother of three small children, with a soft face and a well hidden body that I never expected until she asked me one year to take a photo of her to make her look beautiful. She had this all planned and was already taking off her heavy and shapeless beach wear to reveal a BODY underneath, arranging herself against the trunk of a convenient palm tree at the edge of the beach. The impetus for this we found out later was a wandering husband and the photo was to draw him back home to the marital bed. I am obviously a failure as a fashion photographer because the photo did not work and this trip we learnt that the door had been closed one night when the husband was 'out' and had not been opened to him since.

During this failed photo-shoot I asked her to smile at the camera and became a little frustrated when she would not. I left the camera to physically draw her mouth back to the smile that I wanted and she at last opened her mouth - to reveal the reason for her reluctance.
Although her teeth appeared in excellent health they were obviously too big for her small mouth and pushed out at odd angles. Her canines in particular had been squeezed out towards the front and the opposing teeth in her lower jaw were following suit. I suddenly remembered her coy little habit (or so I thought) of covering her mouth with her hand every time she laughed.
It was not feminine coquettishness but plain old embarrassment that habitually brought her hand to her mouth, a habit that I guess she had developed over the years, perhaps ever since she first saw herself in a mirror as an teenager with an emerging awareness of herself.

On our first visit to the beach this trip I was reminded of this but I think it must have been on my mind for some time. I said to Herself, 'What about we do something for Monica's teeth this year?'

It started as simply as that and the plan of action that followed was just as simple - see if it was what Monica wanted - find a dentist - find out what needed to be done and if it was within our budget; this last a bit superfluous really, I thought.

The first step was over in a flash, Monica rising to the occasion and grabbing me with an enthusiasm that I mistook for ignorance of what was involved. Desperately I tried to take the edge off her headlong rush and make her at least somewhat aware of what might follow - he might say you are too old - perhaps nothing can be done - it will be very painful - you must talk to your husband (this is where we found out he was totally irrelevant to her decision) - face will all swell up - and finally when all of the foregoing had no obvious effect - you might have to take two or three days off work!!!
When even that dire consequence was shrugged off I knew that I had played my trump card and still lost. To the dentist it would be.

A quick check of my own notes (Yes, I do carry a copy and I need to refer to it often.) revealed that Dr. Rudyard Salindho of Bali Dental Clinic 911 was well recommended and fairly convenient at the local Bali Mall Galeria. A call was made to Made for transport and off to see Dr Rudi we went.

The receptionist tried to be an impediment to our plans but she obviously didn't recognise who she was dealing with.
'Just a small visit to see if anything can be done for our friend', She said.
Nothing for three weeks was the defensive reply.
'But just to get a price for work!' Herself repeated.
In 3 weeks - - - 
But it would not take long and we must find out before we go home!  She countered - - -
And so it went on for some time, back and forth, until the side door opened and a small man emerged to see what was taking so long perhaps? A short consultation in Bahasa Indonesia followed between him and the receptionist before the man himself smiled and said, 'Would noon in two days suit? Of course it would, it would be wonderful, Herself said, Terimah kasih, and we will not be late.

Two days hence and we were at the Pantai (restaurant), Monica was at the Pantai, Made and the car were at the Pantai, all the girls at the Pantai obviously knew what was going on and made their goodbyes sound so final. The cooks, however, gave a little cheer and clapped hands as we left.
There was only a brief wait before Monica entered a dentist's surgery for the first time in her life. Herself tagged along for comfort and to get first hand whatever news was to be delivered. She was only able to hold a foot for comfort such was the crush of dentist, assistants and tools of trade around the more important end of little Monica. The verdict was a general clean and one small filling (not bad for a 32 year old mother of three children on her first ever dentist's visit, we thought), should be done then three minor extractions to give the important teeth room to move into better positions. Cleaning, filling and one extraction could be done straight away and the cost would be 1.3 million rupiah or a bit less than Aus$170.
My wallet nodded, I nodded, Herself nodded, Monica just looked, Dr Rudi nodded and the assistant went to work with X-rays, cleaning and filling. When it came time for the extraction Dr Rudi took over. With one gentle injection, a smile and a light pat on the cheek, a weak returned smile from Monica and the exclamation, 'No nose' as the injection took effect - - - - it was all over in a few seconds.

She walked out of the surgery into the waiting area and sort of wrapped herself in my arms, for a few seconds of relief, I think, before sitting down while the bill was paid and another appointment made for one week's time. Off to Made and the waiting car and back to the Pantai where her friends eventually persuaded her to sit down for a while and sip some water.
One tough little cookie!

The scene repeated in a week and the final three (not two as we expected) extractions raised no more emotion from Monica than had the first visit. A further bill of 1 million rupiah (Aus$130) and an appointment in a month's time for a (free) check up to make sure all was well. If not a small brace will be fitted to start or guide the movement of the teeth into their appointed places. Made will provide the transport and report progress to us via Andrew in Seminyak.

For less than $300 what more could we want? We look forward to her smile on our next visit. It will be a nice reward and worth much more than the money involved.

When you're in Bali next, try it yourself.

Mission accomplished. This tape will self destruct in - - - - - .

Links:

* Back to the 2007 selection page to move on to another part of our holiday.

* Back to our Home Pages for a different selection of information sheets, stories and pictures.

* Your health in Bali or perhaps anywhere else in the world you want to travel.

* Travelling to Bali with the Kidz.

* Beginners in Bali. Memories of our first trip in 1979.

* Art - a core of Balinese life.

* A money converter with a 'past performance' graph which will help you decide when to change your money.

* The Bali Travel Forum summary. All you ever wanted to know about Bali. The pages that most visitors to our pages are looking for.

* The on-going source of up-to-date Bali information, The Bali Travel Forum. Ask your questions here and get personal answers.