Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yesterday]

This week - I have had two (2) teeth - causing me huge pain...

I complained to the dentist that it was a tooth on my upper jaw causing the pain - however after a couple of Xrays - the dentist tells me that the pain is coming from a tooth on the lower jaw (underneath the tooth I am complaining about) and tells me that the pain is coming from the tooth (on my bottom jaw) - which already has gold filling in it..

She points out on the Xrays that there is a huge cavity underneath the gold which is causing the pain..

so the dentist gives me heaps of anethesia and wrenches the gold out of the tooth and put in a temporary filling

HOWVER the anesthesia did not work - and I felt every bit of pain as she did it all..

then the dentist tells me that she wants me back every
2 days at the clinic to get a root-canal and have new gold and a
new gold cap put back on that tooth..

But Monday night, and Tuesday and Tuesday night and today
(Wednesday) - I was in HUGE amount of pain because of the tooth -
and the other one that is hurting (which is directly above that
tooth) - on the top jaw..

It felt like I was in hell.. so much pain - shooting up into my
head and causing heaps of pain.. all day and all night and all day
and all night ...

I never got any sleep Monday or Tuesday night - because it hurt too
much..

So today - I walked into my hospital (like a zombie) - and told them - I couldn't handle it anymore - too much pain...

so luckily they injected me with codeine and gave me one weeks
supply of codeine.. (which took away some of the pain)

then I went back to the dentist - and the dentist wanted to quickly
fix the upper tooth - which is where the pain in coming from..

so she injects me with the anesthesia (3 needles) - but I could
still feel the pain and my tooth - so over the next hour she
injects me 5 more times...

so after 8 injections of "Korean" anesthesia" (and begging the
doctor for something stronger) - the dentist told me she didn't
have anything stronger and told me - look just hold on to the sides of the chair for 2 minutes - and she would try to be as quick as possible -
because we have to fix this upper tooth - so the pain would go away...

Well the next 5 minutes was definitely hell.. the drill boring
into my tooth - and me able to feel everything...

I jumped.. I kicked my feet... I started breathing fast and
jolting ...

but eventually it was over - and then the dentist prescribed me
more painkillers...

the worst thing is - I have to go back four (4) more times for the
rest of the dentistry (including root canal) - BUT the anesthesia
doesn't work on me.. It has NO affect on me... I can feel
everything like normal...

I have heard before that Asian people only need a small amount of
weak anesthesia and they causes them not to feel anything) - whereas "white" people - need much more and much stronger anesthesia.. (which this dentist didn't have)..

am I wrong - or is the dentist doing something wrong...

I have to go back Friday - and can't handle another torture session..

should I change and go to a different dentist? or will they have the same anesthesia which doesn't work?

Are there many clinics that use the anesthesia that we are used to in our home countries?

what should I do?

[mayorgc]

holy *beep*

fly home.....

[Thewhiteyalbum]

Oh man, I feel really sorry for you. That really sucks. Where is this dentist? country or city?
Okay, my dentist started drilling on me w/o using any painkillers, so I requested some. She gave me 2 injections, and they worked fine. Mouth went all numb etc, and I couldn't feel a thing.
BUT my girlfriend went to a dentist to have a tooth removed and he gave her some injections that wore off really quickly. I think there is a difference in the quality of anathesia that is used (don't know for sure though!).
I would go to another dentist.
Good luck.

[Stones1962]

that dentist should have her license revoked....I had a root canal done 4 years ago by a dentist in Bucheon (I'll search for his card if you wish) and had absolutely no pain during any of the procedures...

he did a wonderful job and has had my business ever since...

[plynx]

for the past few months i've been having two root canals done on the lower back teeth. it hadn't hurt at all until the other day when i screeched in pain and started crying before the dentist had even done any work. he gave me more shots to numb my teeth/mouth (about 5 in all - plus the initial 20 minutes or so for the first, most powerful, dose to work), but i could still feel EVERYTHING. being a smart dentist, he stopped working on me and coated the problem tooth with a solution that would "kill" the nerves. i went back a week later and didn't feel a thing.

i think your dentist is just TERRIBLE at her job. stop going to her and see if you can get some of your money back since she obviously botched the job. get another dentist. there are plenty of them who wouldn't let something like this happen. good luck. i know how it feels

[Yesterday]

I live at MongChongtoseong Station (Jamsil)..

The dentist I went to is at GaeRong Station - next to my school..

The hospital which luckily gave me all the codeine to put me out of my pain is Asan Medical Center... (hospital)

Bucheon is a bit far to travel to - but anywhere is better than torture I guess - although somewhere closer to Jamsil would be nice...

I am not going to fly 14 hours all the way back to my homecountry for a good dentist..

I really wanted to know - are most korean dentists using anesthesia that doesn't work - or just this dentist is using some weak solution..

I will try another different dentist on Friday (immediately after Christmas)... I will die if its the same anesthesia (which doesn't work)...

[plynx]

[SHANE02]

I know the pain you speak of. It's impossible to explain. I had an abscess once in my tooth (after a root canal). the dentist told me I had to "wait it out". asshole.

I visited the doctor in Itaewon (int.clinic) and he put me on pain meds and hooked me up with a decent dentist.

Koreans think pain has to be part of life.

[jbpatlanta]

I feel you pain. I had a wisdom tooth pulled the other day. I told the dentist that I needed more than one shot. He did not believe me. He came back 10 minutes after the shot and asked if my mouth was numb. I told him no and he said he did not believe me, bu the gave me 2 more shots.

Came back later and asked if my mouth was numb, by this time it was numb but I could still feel some. He said he was going to start and if I felt pain to raise my hand.

He started and I winced and told him it hurt. He said OK and kept going. I began to feel incredible pain and started to scream bloody murder. By the time my wife got back to me I had the dentist cornened in the office threatening to drill into his teeth with no bloody painkillers.

My wife calmed me down and explained to told the dentist that even back home I needed several shots to kill all the pain.

The dentist agreed to give me more shots. I am not sure how many he gave me but it took a while and when he was finished I could not feel and damn thing on that side of my mouth for about 6 hours. The rest of the tooth pulling was fine and the dentist worked very carefully.

I am supposed to go back to get my other wisdom tooth pulled in a few weeks. The dentist told me he would remember and give me lots of shots to begin with.

I also got four stitches in my hand with a decent shot but that's another story...

[theholyinnocent]

Have you had problems with anesthesia before? I ask because a dentist once told me that the shape of my jaw is uncommon (though not abnormal) and makes it really hard to get me properly numb. Dentists have, on occasion, had difficulty numbing my mouth for some procedure but before she told me that I just assumed it was "the luck of the draw" -- that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. After she said that, it made more sense to me. Frequently the wrong part of my face goes numb, like my whole chin and cheek will be numb but I feel every little touch on the gum itself. When I had my wisdom teeth taken out they had to put me to sleep because they couldn't rely on getting me correctly numbed. I'm about 100 or 105 pounds, and 5 feet tall, so I don't think it's a size thing with me.

Anyway I've had cavities filled with little to no (working) anesthesia, and a root canal done while only moderately numb. You DEFINITELY have my sympathy; it's just about the worst thing in the world. I can't imagine what I'd do in your situation but I wanted to at least let you know that you're not alone? I don't know, that probably doesn't make you feel better right now.

[ED209]

[Rusty Shackleford]

I had a wisdom tooth out a few years ago back home. The dentist was a deadset genius in my opinion. The shot he gave me pretty much numbed the tooth and nothing else. It seemed like he was leaning on my face for about half a second and then bang, the tooth came flying out.

Good guy too, hooked me up with a fortnights codeine. Don't settle for dodgy medical practises.

[seoulteacher]

[Mr. Pink]

That type of pain is not normal at all. I had a lot of dental work done in Korea. I always tell them to freeze me more than a normal person because I am super sensitive. I had a wisdom tooth pulled and I didn't feel anything except the guy's knee on my chest as he was pulling the sucker out.

I had a root canal done and felt no pain while they were doing it - but pain afterwards cause the dentist wouldn't give me anything for the pain.

[Tommy]

Dude! All signs point to: GO TO ANOTHER F*CKING DENTIST.

If you enjoy pain, then return to her. No sympathy for you.