Thursday 29 August 2013

Living on Skye - A Trip to the Dentist

How far do you have to go to visit your dentist? I went to see mine the other day - it's a round trip of over 250 miles...!

To be fair, I could go to a dentist more locally, but only if I pay to go privately. For a while, I was doing just this, but the cost was frightening, and when the local dentist I was registered with closed down, I decided to register with a National Health dentist in Inverness. I've been on the waiting list for a NHS dentist on Skye since we moved here, and apparently there are still many people ahead of me.

So, off to Inverness I go. It takes about three hours to drive the 125 scenic miles. I had a noon appointment, and I was all done by 12.30. Then it was off to the shops - Sue always makes sure I have a list of shopping to pick up from the big stores in Inverness!

For this trip, I decided to take the pressure off the day by booking myself into a B&B overnight, thus taking two days over the trip, enabling me to make a leisurely start the next morning for my journey back. This also gave me the opportunity to stop for a walk in the hills along the way.

So, one trip to the dentist from Skye = two days, 250 miles, a shopping expedition, overnight in a B&B and four hours walking in the hills. No wonder it takes people a while to get used to living on Skye...!

Inverness

Views from Beinn a' Bhric near Lochluichart
 - unfortunately a bit shrouded in cloud!

2 comments:

Jill said...

I guess if your appointment lasted just a half hour you were only seen for a check up and cleaning. No cavities, I trust?

Richard Dorrell said...

No Jill, there was a filling to be done, but the dentist is a quick worker!