Job Discussion Forums

[cangel]

I had two root canals during my three years in Japan. Although this may seem to be an indicator of poor dental hygiene, I assure you I brush and floss regularly. Maybe it's due to the toothpaste in Japan because it doesn't contain fluoride. Who knows... Anyhoo, this morning I went into the dentist office because I had a toothache. FYI, I'm now living in Washington State. They took an x-ray and looked at the bothersome tooth and said I would need a root canal. When I had this procedure done in Japan it took about 6 visits (per tooth) and was very painful. This morning my root canal took about 40 minutes and was almost completely painless. What gives?

[BenJ]

On the other hand, I had a wisdom tooth out in Japan and it cost a tenth of the money it would have in Australia and one 20 minute visit. Of course the bedside manner left a lot to be desired and the yanking pair of pliars in my mouth wasn't fun...

[easyasabc]

[Gordon]

From all the horror stories I've heard about the dentists here, I'd need to have a major problem before I'd go to a dentist here. Tokyo and Osaka are probably different, but they're butchers where I live.

[Wolf]

In Nagoya there are a few US trained, English speaking dentists. One place is on the 8th floor of the Nagoya International Center building, and comes with a good reputation. Another good place is/was the Minoura Dental Clinic in Kurokawa, but they might not still be around.

[Sherri]

If you are on the natioanl health system, the dentists will try to make you come back for as many visits as they can since they can milk more from the system that way. I live in Tokyo, it is is fairly easy to find a "properly trained" dentist. A lot seem to buy into the "it must hurt if the treatment is to work" philosophy.

[Brooks]

I prefer dentists here, than those in New York.
I remember paying $121 for a check up. That guy must have at least one yacht.

I prefer paying 2,000 yen in Tokyo. National health insurance is nice.
My dentist is fine. A guy I work with thinks Japanese dentists suck because so many Japanese have crooked yaeba teeth.

I read somewhere that dentists have a high rate for depression. I wonder why.

[Gordon]

A friend of mine flies to Tokyo to see her western trained dentist, a little excessive in my opinion.

[shmooj]

last time I went I spent over an hour in the chair. She cleaned, scraped, checked, took photos, I had an x-ray and then she said I was fine thank you very much.

In the UK, that takes about 3 minutes 17 seconds on a good day with the wind behind you.

Maybe