Korean Job Discussion Forums

[onie]

About a month and a half ago, I had a toothache that just wouldn't go away so I finally went to a dentist near my house. Wasn't really told what was wrong with the tooth, I suspect the dentist wasn't too sure either, but either way, I started getting treatment and the pain went away. The treatment consisted of drilling a hole in the tooth then apparently disinfecting it during the appointments thereafter. Anyway, I wasn't thinking much of it, I was paying 3000-5000 won with my health insurance and figured that I wouldn't be paying that much more once the treatment was finished and the little hole in my tooth needed to be filled.

Not so. It cost me 350,000 won. The dentist drilled the tooth down to a nub then capped it with a fake tooth. I'm obviously not a dentist and I might be being overly suspicious but I'm not convinced I needed all that. Anyway, with that done, I thought I was set, but now I'm being told I need more treatment on old fillings which are apparently decayed below the filling (all ascertained by a mere glance) and that the dentist will need to basically repeat the process he carried out on the original tooth (remove tooth, disinfect, drill down to a nub and cap). All at 350,000 won a tooth (at the least).

My question is - can I trust what this guy says? My last check-up back home was in October 2008, and I was told my teeth were fine then. I'm just a bit wary as the dentist is evasive when it comes to explaining what I need, instead telling his hygienist/assistant to sort it all out with me later.

[sara210]

If it helps you feel any better it sounds like what he has done for you is to crown your teeth, and the cost of this is around 350,000 per tooth, and can be up to 600,000 depending on the quality of the crown. ( i discussed this option with my dentist and she quoted me between these two prices.) A crown is usually placed over a tooth that cannot be saved any other way, i.e by a filling. The downside of them is that they need replacing every 8-12 years and thus are expensive to maintain.

Im no dentist so i cant comment on whether you need crowns or not, but it sounds like thats what he has done for you.

[onie]

Yeah, I was given the option of the 350,000 won one and the 450,000 won one... apparently the core is made of gold, possibly justifying the cost.

[Old fat expat]

Sounds like you had a root canal. Here in Korea they drill out the pulp over a number of visits rather than what is typically done in the U.S.

As for the other teeth ... hmmm

I was a dental tech for many years. I can tell you there is a huge profit for dentists in crowns. The tech makes about 1/5 of what the dentist does but spends about 4 times the time making the crown. Sounds like your dentist is maximizing his profit. Fillings are not very profitable, and so here in Korea the assistant does a lot of the work. I would not trust an assistant to work on my mouth.

If I were you, replace the fillings with fillings. In fact it used to be considered best practice to go from 2 surfaced fillings to 3 surface fillings to gold inlay before considering a crown.

I have had some work done here in Korea and am extremely disappointed in the craftsmanship. Not to say you can't find good dentists and good techs, but good luck. Also, an English speaking dentist does not ensure a high level of expertise. I worked in the U.S. (where all the dentists spoke English) and only about 10% of the 80 odd dentists I did work for I would recommend. I think that % is even less here in Korea.

Also, dentists here in Korea do not (until 2 years ago) have to go through medical school.

Unless absolutely necessary to get the work done now, I recommend that you wait. Go home, call around the dental labs and ask them to recommend 3 really good dentists in your area. Do your homework on the dentists in the list you put together. Having poorly done work in your mouth will effect your daily life in a bad way.

Strangely, Japan has very good dentistry.

Hope this helps.

[UknowsI]

[onie]

At the same time, if I do need these crowns they cost about twice as much back home. Is there any way of finding out for certain whether I need them? The fillings I do have are quite old - about eight years?

[jmuns]

glad my sister is a dentist, free crowns. oh and gold ones will last a long, long time. they are worth the money over ceramics.

[blackjack]

[Rusty Shackleford]

Just go get a second opinion some where else. 350,000 for a root canal seems cheap. Dentists here are dodgy as all get out, but they are cheap. Just shop around and find one you like.

Even though there are some cowboys here, I still prefer it here to the situation back home. Here you have competition keeping the cowboys honest and that leads to low prices. Back home you have regulations, which keep everyone honest buts leads to high prices and shortages.

Just shop around.

[ajuma]

[nomad-ish]

i would never trust a dentist here. i've heard stories here and from my friends about how the dentists were drilling needlessly to charge them more.

[Rusty Shackleford]

[youtuber]

Solution - Ask another dentist.

[Steelrails]

Three Golden Rules:

1) Ask Around
2) Shop Around
3) Take a Korean Friend with you

[dragon777]

My dentist in Busan charged me 1.1 million for two root canals and two gold crowns with gold posts. This treatment was over a period of two months. It was a totally painless procedure. I had previously watched him check the fillings of the kindergarten kids and thought if the kids didn't cry with him sticking drills and pieces of metal in their mouths, I wasn't going to cry.