American Dentist in Barcelona

After finally recovering from food poisoning, the day we arrived in Barcelona I started having severe migraines which, unbeknown to me, were the result of a severe case of Acute Pulpitis (in other words, I needed a root canal) (editor’s note: in other words…”AHhhhhHHHHHHH!!!!!!”)

I managed to find (on Google) an American dentist who had moved to Barcelona:

Dr. Joseph Vilallonga

Description:
American dentist. Associate member of American Dental Association. General dentistry, implants, whitening, tooth remodelling, emergencies. Calvet 15, pral 1ª, 08021 Barcelona.

http://www.clinicavilallonga.com/

He told me he wouldn’t be able to do the procedure for about a week because the area was too inflamed, but prescribed me some painkillers, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory drugs over the phone when I went to the pharmacy.  The painkillers weren’t strong enough so I phoned him back at a different pharmacy and he got me codeine, which finally numbed the pain enough for me to get through our first couple days in Barcelona.

Today I phoned him back to see if there was any way he could do the root canal now that it’s been a few days and the painkillers seem to be working pretty good (I’d rather not have to look for another English speaking dentist and we leave the day after tomorrow).  He suggested that I go to his office so he could examine me, so we hopped in a cab and rushed over there while he had an opening.  When we got there, we were surprised to be greeted by a Japanese nurse who spoke English!  Dr. Joe later explained that he has all Japanese nurses because his niche is dealing with the fairly large Japanese population that lives in Barcelona. (editor’s note: I am going to have a root canal too while in Barcelona…..GGgggggg~)

He took an x-ray, put some freezing in the area, and then drilled into the tooth but, when he opened the tooth up, I felt very sharp pains.  He explained that this meant the area was still too inflamed for the anesthesia to work properly, so he couldn’t do the root canal, but he put some medicine into the tooth and covered it up with a temporary filling.  He said the medicine should help with the infection and in a couple of days I shouldn’t need the meds anymore. Unfortunately, this means I’ll have to find another English speaking dentist in France to do the root canal when the inflammation goes away