Dentist

Gail and I went for a walk this morning up Hun Chey Mountain. Well they call it a mountain anyway. It is probably no more than 500 feet tall! But the scenery at the top of the river and the valley below was quite panoramic. There was a large Chinese cemetery on the crest of the hill which I am sure had some significance to its location.
On our way back we stopped at a local dentist office, the obligatory sign with a tooth on it was out front, and we chatted with the dentist and his family. He was 45 years old and had been practicing for the last 25 years. His chair was pretty primitive and his hand piece was a “jack-rabbit” belt driven one hooked up to a car battery. He had a cigar box size case with all of his instruments in it and one anesthetic syringe. It was the most primitive office I have seen to date but he was very happy with it and life in general. His daughter spoke some English and helped us communicate along with Gail’s Khmer which improves daily
We took pictures of him and his wife and had a delightful visit. When I left, I felt a little jealous of his simple practice with no employees and probably an overhead of less than $25 a month! He no doubt had no formal education but the model of a bridge prep he had done for a patient was laying on the counter top and didn’t look half bad! Bet he learned from a real good one twenty five years ago. rick