#1181 – The Expat Files: Dental Health, Braces, and Cultural Integration in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now that I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here So let's get started if you remember in last week's show We had a lady dentist from the states right and she was talking about where we were talking about difference between Dental treatments in Latin America and treatments up in the states Well, wouldn't you know it right on the heels of that another dentist wrote in calls himself dr. G's from Texas

[00:47] He doesn't want me to use his real name. He says Johnny speaking of bad teeth If you're living in the United States and your teeth are bad You're not gonna get a job as a receptionist or let's say a cashier You're gonna be put in the back of the store somewhere far from the public eye That's how it isn't all developed countries except as you say the United Kingdom You've even said in your comments It's a mystery how the United Kingdom a first world country or a group of first world countries Can have such bad teeth in general and still get away with it and still not feel bad about it They're not stupid. They must know the rest of the developed world is mocking them I've seen them mocked slyly in movies guests on panel talk shows will mock them and Comedians occasionally throw in jabs about British teeth, too

[01:33] After all in the US and Canada bad teeth have come to be seen as a marker of poor parenting low educational achievement and slowly or faulty intellectual development It's also a fact one of the first things a lower-class American does as he moves higher up in the socio-economic ladder is to get his teeth fixed Since teeth are really an outward marker of a caste system In fact, dr X says I saw a survey a few months back where they interviewed single mothers and middle and lower middle-class people Applying for work and benefits at Illinois state job centers The pollsters asked interviewees what their first priority would be if the US established Universal health care coverage tomorrow one of the top two answers on the list was always I'd have my teeth done

[02:20] Here's the catch though. The American public doesn't seem to realize that in the UK where they have national health care. It covers dentistry, too That then begs the question. Why do Brits have such bad teeth when they can get them done for free? The simple answer is this in the UK you get free dentistry for broken and damaged teeth Cosmetic work, which is of course elective is not covered so if a person has discolored or crowded or twisted teeth or Even a more common example a front tooth is very dark because the nerve has died that frequently happens with blunt and sports trauma in that Situation the national health care system will pay for the root canal the endodontics But they won't pay for the crown or the veneer to make it match the look and color of the adjacent teeth

[03:07] That's cosmetic and isn't covered and that is the expensive part routine dentistry is cheap Cosmetic dentistry is expensive. So Johnny for all your listeners out there who think National health care in the United States including dentistry is the solution to be all and end all just have a look at the UK as an example of what dentistry looks like under a national health care system It's not just a one-off experiment either. They've had national health care in Britain since right after World War two Anyhow for what it's worth. Just a little more information for you. Keep up the good work Johnny I've been listening for three years haven't missed a show yet Signed dr. Z. All right. Thanks for those comments dr. Z By the way If you're down here in Latin American you're saying talking to a Latina or a bunch of Latinas and you ask them what they think of

[03:55] What are the assumptions they have about gringos in general? Well, guess what? Along with the other niceties that make up our gringo advantage most of which we don't deserve They always seem to comment on our teeth. They say nice and white and straight That's a gringo trait and by and large, it's mostly true Now, of course a fad that's been going around here in Latin America for some time Now at least five or six years is the explosion of Latin Americans wearing braces Funny thing too, you know when I was a kid back in the States many years ago when a kid had braces it was for one reason and one reason only because they had some real crooked twisted or buck teeth and The people who did get them could not wait to get those damn things off They put up with them All right, cuz they were expensive and mom and dad were on the five-year payment plan I remember in my family three of my brothers and sisters had and man that headgear they'd wear at night

[04:45] That could be a couple of years of torture in itself at least so I've heard and then maybe I'd say 20 years ago They developed clear braces and everybody wanted those though They were more expensive because no one well the American girls Anyway wanted to look like they had a mouthful of metal all of a sudden There was a big change in up in the states All the young girls were wearing see-through brackets and even though they weren't quite see-through I mean you could tell they were wearing them to the adolescent ladies. Anyway, it sure beat the metal mouth look Now here in Latin America regarding braces things are a bit different Lots of young adolescent kids and 20-somethings are getting them though That's only a fairly recent phenomena because dentists are stretching out the payment plan sometimes up to 10 years On top of that getting braces down here is so much less expensive than in the states

[05:32] You wouldn't believe it In fact, what might cost you five or ten grand up in the states is more like a grand or even less down here But oddly enough almost no one with braces here in Latin America has the clear ones or lingual braces Which are behind your teeth? You can't see them though clear and lingual braces are available They're more expensive. The thing is even if Latinos had the choice to get those lingual or clear braces They want the metal ones. Have you guessed why because down here unlike in the states to get braces It's considered a sign of affluence and only people with some kind of means or decent credit can't afford them That of course means it's important that they're seen by people In fact, I've been told by a few Latin American dentists that their patients when finished with the treatment Some are reluctant to have them removed. They want the dentist to leave them on

[06:17] Oh and one Latin American dentist told me that he's got some patients whose bite or malocclusion Cannot be fixed with braces alone. In other words, they need multiple extractions bone resections oral surgery Even what they call maxillary expansion devices Those are metal mini jacks that are cemented to your teeth that you torque with a screw Some people need all that in addition to the braces Of course those extras come at a cost and since the patient is the boss or holds the purse strings It's quite common for people in that situation to forego all the other stuff and only elect to get the braces Leaving lots of treatments incomplete But that doesn't seem to matter because just having the braces is a status symbol for some people that's enough in itself Though not much of a status symbol at all for upper middle class and wealthy Latinos who could always afford it

[07:07] But put it off for one reason or another just like in the states more and more Latino adults are getting braces, too Though it is still quite a status symbol for Latina adults born into poverty But are doing fine now and moving on up the fact is you'll see lots and lots of 30 40 and 50 something Latina ladies with braces the metal brackets, of course because they gleam man You can see them though. It mostly occurs in the big city. You don't see it much at all out in the boonies However, there are almost no 30 40 and 50 something Latino guys wearing braces at least in my experience I don't think I've ever seen that Now adolescents in 20 something Latino guys. Yes, but over 30 crowd. No not much at all Yep, yet another case where it's all about the ladies Look think about it. Can you imagine a 20 something American guy or gal asking their dentist to leave the braces on for

[07:58] Longer than the prescribed time the dentist would think you're nuts Only in Latin America, huh? All right. Now, here's something with a strange social context that you won't understand unless you speak some Spanish Though believe me, it's good to know you may or may not know the word for cheap CHEAP in Spanish is barato So for example, if you go to the store and you see a box of Kellogg's cornflakes alongside the local brand The local brand will be mas barato more cheap. I'm sure you probably know that mas mas means more so mas barato Taking it a bit further if you're in a hardware store, let's say they're called fed it that he is by the way hardware stores I'm fed it idea and you want to buy let's say an electric drill You're not a commercial builder and you might only use it twice a year. So you want something cheap something inexpensive

[08:45] Not the commercial grade so you'll say to the guy behind the desk. I'd like to buy a drill That's decent and barato. Well, he'll certainly understand you got your point across But here's the thing the more educated more cultured Latinos and Latinas We'll almost never use that word barato because it makes them sound barato It makes them sound cheaper like skin flints and Latinos no matter what Socioeconomic status or and don't want to leave that impression. So they'll use a different word or phrase They won't say show me a decent drill. It's but I thought they'll say show me a decent drill. That's Economical or mas economic Oh more economic believe me You'll almost never hear a latina walk into a clothing store and say don't do a stand la sabatos baratos Where are the cheap shoes? They'll say don't do stand low sabatos mass economical meaning. Where are the economy brands?

[09:35] Sounds a bit nicer more diplomatic a lot less harsh, huh? Of course, you'll hear gringos even gringos who know a lot of Spanish say the word barato a lot I say it myself For example, if you're in one of those big food and produce markets buying some grapes or avocados and you're dickering with the salesperson You might say no say un poco mas barato por favor meaning. I don't know. Can you come down a little? Can you sell them a bit cheaper? Yep, that's right You'll hear gringos who know a little Spanish say things like that all the time, but with a local Latinos That's not how they'd approach it. Anyway, that's just one of many Spanish language details you pick up along the way That is if you're paying attention Alright speaking of gringos and expense in Latin America making and hanging with friends who are locals

[10:21] now, of course upon arrival the first thing you do is meet gringos, you'll be drawn to them and Secondly to locals who speak English. That's what happens when you first arrive in your Spanish sucks or is non-existent. It happened to me Next in line probably have to down quite a while. You'll start making friends with locals neighbors Maybe who speak no English at all just Spanish. I know I know it might take a while Especially if you're Spanish sucks But if you're in a neighborhood town or subdivision, you're gonna have some neighbors where a hundred percent Spanish speaking That's bound to happen Even if you land smack dab in the middle of the tourist trail like in Costa Rica Chances are your guards your garbage man your construction workers, etc Will not speak English so then you might ask how difficult or easy is it to make true Latino friends?

[11:07] Not just a high Hawaii wave to the next-door neighbor kind of friends I'm talking about people you actually sort of hang around with go to events and parties with and such We'll get this in a recent survey by a group called inner nations Titled inside and outside the expat bubble this rather large survey compared expats abilities to make friends among the local population As well as with other expats in the community In other words, how good are expats at making local friends? And in this survey countries considered outside the expat bubble are those where expats mix more easily with locals such as most Latin American Whereas those considered inside the bubble are those where expats have limited access to the local population Such as many of the Muslim and Middle Eastern countries Turns out the top 10 countries in the world where expats live and mostly hang out with locals or report

[11:57] It's the easiest to hang with and meet locals Turns out as you might expect or maybe not six out of those ten are in Latin America starting with Colombia then Ecuador Peru Brazil Chile and Argentina the other four countries in the top ten that aren't in Latin America are Greece Philippines Portugal and somewhat counterintuitively Russia Then there's those ten countries in the world where expats have a real hard time mingling with the locals and Consequently end up hanging with mostly expats Not surprisingly none of those countries being in Latin America. Here's that list Qatar Kuwait Luxembourg the United Arab Emirates Belgium Saudi Arabia Denmark Switzerland Hong Kong and Singapore

[12:43] In other words in that last group of ten countries listed the majority of expats report It's very difficult to make local friends Oh and another thing this survey showed is that going to expat events? Remains the top way in meeting new people and hanging with new friends and by the way for me That's one of the easiest ways to get stuck in a rut to hanging at expat events And by the way, there's a comment in this survey about Russia Even though it's in the top ten list of places where you can meet locals and hang with them It turns out a high percentage of expats report that in general the Russian population is quite unfriendly to foreigners Sort of a conundrum same thing with the Middle Eastern and Gulf Arab States Somehow the locals there don't seem to like foreigners much. Hmm. You think reminds me of a t-shirt that said be nice to America

[13:31] Or they just might force democracy down your throat, too. Oh And one more thing this survey came out before the Ukraine Russian thing By the way before I forget have you been keeping up with this Queen Elizabeth funeral thing? I mean look even if you don't give a rip it's all over the place So you can't avoid it and as for me since I'm always looking for cracks in the armor cracks in the facade I've noticed and maybe you have to it's a funny thing how dictators and autocratic strong men leaders They're showing up with these uniforms and such standing at attention at the funeral with their breastplates and lapels Loaded with all kinds of unearned trophies and medals and what they call in the military fruit salad, please Come on Is anyone really impressed by that shit? Seems like the more third world or even fourth world that country's representatives are you know who shows up at state funerals?

[14:21] Thoroughly grub scumbags from Africa Venezuela Cuba Bolivia Nicaragua You know the drill not to mention the Clintons the Bidens the bushes the Obamots after all the country's biggest shitbags are obligated to show Up for the big event right just like with any toilet the biggest chunks flow to the top Now to me it makes me laugh all those guys with their fake military medals and awards for non-existent battles or battles They sat out and never fought in just look at that idiot Prince Charles and Prince Albert from Monaco What did they ever do for the world yet? They've got a million fake medals at least Michael Jackson with all his fake fruit salad had talent He could sing and dance remember how he'd like to dress up like that, too Anyway, all those pompous ass visiting dignitaries at the Queen's funeral

[15:07] They remind me of way over the top drag queens so ridiculous. She can't stop staring at him Makes you wonder if they're that thick they don't realize they're the ones on display as the biggest most pathetic jokes of all But I digress man, did I digress? Oh and here's another observation That speaks volumes about Latin America in a sad but good way just a couple days ago I was at a bank. I got up to the cashiers window and the computers went down not unusual in Latin America So they said give us five or ten minutes. It should be back online again That could mean five or ten minutes an hour tomorrow or never But since I'd already spent 20 minutes waiting in line to get that far. I decided to hang in there for five or ten So I took the earbuds out of my ear. I'm always listening to a podcast or an audiobook or something

[15:54] I started in with a small talk made some conversation with her first thing you say is To break the ice at least I do anyway. I say oblique glace. Do you speak English? Now it doesn't matter to me if she does or not It's just that if she speaks English, it's the great qualifier Now if they speak English the way they speak it tells me a whole lot about her and her history That's a subject for another time Now being that i'm almost exclusively off the gringo tourist trail and this bank was way off the tourist trail. I was pretty sure 99% of the people there the workers and the clients did not speak a lick of English a funny thing, too The longer you're here in Latin America, you sort of develop a sixth sense You know before you even ask someone whether they speak English or not And this 20 something lady bank tell her she did not but I already sort of knew that though

[16:40] Like I said, it is a great icebreaker By the way, one thing about Latinos and latinas that almost never lie about how much English they know In fact many will downplay it In fact this lady said she didn't know any English at all But I found out she knew maybe 20 or 30 words Whereas it seems to be just the opposite with gringos and expats most of us overestimate the amount of Spanish we think we know Especially when it comes to book spanish or spanish we learned in school Turns out most gringos and expats will come down with a couple of semesters or even a couple of years of spanish under their Belts from high school or college. They're way too overconfident soon enough They find out that school spanish doesn't translate very well to conversational street spanish So anyway, I got to talking to this bank teller in spanish while the computer system was rebooting Continuing with the small talk. I asked her where she lived. She mentioned some little pueblo somewhere

[17:28] I had never heard of it though. Believe me in any particular latin country There are lots of little pueblos and towns that have almost the same name So you can get confused when you're looking one up In fact, you just might lose a couple hours on route looking for a place when a vowel or a letter had been switched around That's happened to me Anyway, one of my favorite questions is how long does it take you to get from your home To work in the morning or back home at night that will give you quite a bit of information about a person, too Now in this lady's case, you might not believe this it took two and a half hours each way To get back and forth from home to work. You really have to admire that kind of persistence She said she had to transfer buses three times then I asked her how long she'd been working at the bank She said two years. That means she's been making that trip two and a half hours each way for two years, man

[18:16] That's dedication now having observed this kind of thing before I knew why I didn't have to ask her But I did, you know small talk again. I said you have kids, right? She said yep, too and the next question, of course would be where's daddy? But I knew better to ask. I knew the answer already. Daddy wasn't around He abandoned the kids who was dead or something and then I asked her a theological question. Why don't you live a lot closer? Life would be so much easier She said yes, but her mother and brothers and sisters lived in the same house and therefore she paid no babysitters or child care And there's the fact that feel about the boonies or in a small town or distant pueblo For a hundred bucks a month you could rent a halfway decent place whereas in the city closer to where all the action is A hundred bucks a month will get you an apartment in a nasty scruffy ghetto

[19:02] So she was being pragmatic practical sort of she'd rather tough out the journey and live in a decent place with her friends And family then live alone in a dumpy patio close to work. Now. Remember this lady's making about 350 bucks a month Yep, that's right as a bank teller So she's got very limited options as to what she can pay for rent Hey, at least she has a decent steady job and a sort of means of advancement You can't advance in a bank, you know though her big life mistake and you can guess it by now Is that she did this stupid and also common thing she got knocked up by some idiot brain dead macho latino with no prospects in her teens twice The bigger irony in all this is of course no family wants that to happen to their daughter Everyone knows that'll screw up your life forever. So then what's the irony? I'll tell you and i've seen this myself

[19:51] The teenage girl gets knocked up. She comes home There's gnashing and wailing of teeth between her and dad and mom the whole family then the very next day Maybe even that night she's on the phone to her friends suddenly feeling wonderful that she's gonna have a baby Somehow an event that seems to be one of the worst things that could happen to an adolescent latina's life Becomes a great gift along with great happiness And as the days and months go on the whole family even the parents warm up to the idea and when the kids born suddenly It's the greatest event in history. Now. I'm not saying you should be mad at the kid or the girl forever Should never hold the grudge and it certainly wasn't the kid's fault But I remember when I was a lot younger up in the states the out of wedlock teenage mother thing carried a huge stigma In fact, I knew of two catholic girls neighborhood girls my age about 16 at the time It disappeared one summer and didn't show up back at school in september

[20:40] They got sent off to convent to have a kid. Of course We didn't find out the truth till many years later though There were rumors flying but that's the way they handled that stuff back then at least the catholics The thing is here in latin america, although parents are totally against their kids getting knocked up as teenagers Once it happens though that stigma completely seems to fade away in a new york minute replaced by the feeling that it's a glorious event Hey, don't get me wrong. It's good for the kid It wasn't his fault but bad for the society in general and in the end who gets punished It's almost always the mother For a woman in latin america even in the states or anywhere having a couple of kids as a teenager makes your life Infinity more difficult even so most latina mothers take responsibility think of that two and a half hour ride All right, switching gears a bit remember a couple of weeks ago

[21:26] We were talking about how american expats travelers gringos are receiving much less than a warm welcome Once they get their plan b started Well since we brought that up I've been seeing article after article mentioning the same thing coming from lots of different places and lots of different countries, too For example, let me highlight a few points from this article It says a lady named ray empera is a nicaraguan living in ecuador and says that while she's not against foreign immigration to her country That's nicaragua. It causes problems when many expats move to the same city or village She explained that foreigners are inundating the seaside town of san juan del sur in nicaragua making the area impossibly expensive for the locals In a past show we were talking about the very same thing and got an email from one of our regular listeners in san juan del sur Saying the same thing. Remember?

[22:12] Anyway, she says the gringos have jacked up the land prices and because so many expats have arrived resentment against them is a predictable outcome How can it be otherwise? The question is is that where you want to live and have your plan be in a place where the locals resent you? That's why I say it's always best to live off the gringo tourist trailer quite a ways from gringo centered place. Anyway Then she goes on to say many locals have pointed to gentrification by gringos as the underlying cause of a new wave of anti-gringo resentment Then the article says many expats living in gringo areas are reporting issues of racism against them and criminal targeting They're seeing that in places that are expensive by local standards. That means in places only gringos can afford Then the article says it's latin american capital cities and popular resort towns

[23:01] That are the hot spots for anti-foreign sentiment Then we have texas native megal fritz He said he suffered a violent accident after being robbed by locals in the state of jalasco mexico He says a group of five local men beat him while threatening to cut him with a knife While trying to reclaim objects that they stole from his home Once the police arrived fritz was astounded that his attackers were let go and he was arrested instead Now I have charges against me he said thieving isn't a shameful endeavor if the person you're stealing from is either rich foreign or both He said that's how they look at things in mexico And though he said he suffered robbery and discrimination while living in mexico This guy fritz claimed that costa rica was far worse And though he declined to elaborate when queried about his experiences in costa rica

[23:47] He said you can't have a relationship with uh costa rica and lady atica without them gaining financially from you Those are the unstated rules. He said The article goes on to say for others the appearance of racist attitudes towards gringos and expats has been more subtle For example one us expat who wants to be called jennifer due to the small town. She lives in near gintana rue mexico That's what's called the mexican riviera area where cancun playa del carmin, talum, casa mel, etc located She says locals have hostility towards foreigners and expats that often manifests itself in casual conversation For example, she said while dating a mexican local She recalled a taxi ride across town this year where the driver told her boyfriend right in front of her

[24:34] You shouldn't be with her. You need to find a nice mexican girl. Not a gringa He was serious too at the time jennifer said she wrote off the comments It's just some racist old guy from another generation, but definitely it stuck with her. She says Highlighting the fact she said that not everyone is thrilled with the idea of gringos dating locals Then reading on there's a case of tim melan a us expat and former military guy who came to ecuador 10 years ago Ecuador as you know has been international living's number one pick for expats in the past couple of years So obviously the gringos are piling in anyway, he says He moved there and now runs his own bakery business near the town of porto viejo He also spent time living in salinas where foreigners are quickly snatching up oceanfront properties He says due to high rates of poverty and drug trafficking in the coastal cities. There's lots of crime

[25:23] More than likely at some point he says i'll be assassinated in ecuador He added that speaking out against institutionalized corruption in ecuador can be dangerous Mr. Milan says he's been developing an echo lodge on his lands But the project has been full of unpleasant clashes with the locals He says neighbors come into my property and steal my fruit i've got it on camera We argue of course, but they feel like it's allowed. They feel they're entitled to take what's yours if you're a gringo He's had problems with local contractors too explaining that after paying an electrician thousands to wire his property They never finished. He says the locals take advantage of people who don't speak spanish Now where have we heard that before? He says expat and gringo cultural clashes are part of the problem too Since we're willing to pay two or three times the local price for things like rent and eating at restaurants

[26:10] The message is all expats are rich so they can afford to lose money meanwhile in keto ecuador Candice williams and expat she says she's been insulted by locals right out of the blue calling her an american That from people she'd never met in her life She said recently she was in a bar and an ecuadorian man told her to go back to america and she's not even american She's from south africa. The locals don't know the difference We're all gringos and gringos to them. She says in keto ecuador. There's noticeable racism against gringos And here we have christian george an australian who moved to bolivia says there's definitely an anti-western sentiment there, too Very noticeable he says Then he describes clashes with his local bolivian neighbors who told him to go back to his own country on more than one occasion

[26:57] More recently, he said someone broke into his property and stole his passports Shortly after the thief reached out to him and offered to sell them back In the end he says the anti-foreign sentiment exists, but it's not enough to make me want to pack my bags and leave Not yet Hmm. So there you have it Just a few more stories to prove how gringos and expats can ruin a good thing Bottom line when you're considering a plan b skip the tourist trails And any places those rags like international living describe as the latest greatest soft landings for expats and gringos Of course those gringo tourist trails are nice places to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com

[27:44] And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week long expat insider seminar in central america Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b. Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com No spamos