Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ekul]

During the medical for my alien registration I had a dental check up and all seemed well. Pretty much a year later I've started to get some pains on one of my rear left molars when I eat tough or sugary food. I've had the odd pain in the same tooth over the year but put it down to just sensitive teeth.

Anyway cutting the story short it turns out I need root canal treatment and some kind of gold or porcelain cap? Basically they have to take out the rotting stuff and fix it with gold/porcelain. I went to two different dentists today and both said pretty much the same thing and both took x-rays. So I asked how much to fix it all and one quoted 400k and the other 350k. I asked if that's including medical insurance and they both said it doesn't cover the treatment. I was told the cap they put on the tooth is the part that's costing, the gold/porcelain. Does anyone know if there's a cheaper alternative?

Now 350k isn't the end of the world but I'd like to know what my actual insurance covers? Anyone have information or a website? Considering I've paid over 600k thus far for insurance I've had diddly squat back, would have been nice for it to at least be useful when I needed it.

[themillerman]

Hey, I don't know about the root canal, but I just got some dental work done. If you want the gold or porcelain done then you have to pay out of pocket and I think it was 60-70, Won per tooth for the porcelain. You have the option of going with the Silver stuff, which is covered by insurance. It will cost you 6 or 7,000 Won per tooth

[ekul]

Yeah I've been asking around tonight and it seems the prices I've been quoted are really high, all I need is a filling, well that's what I think.

[Xuanzang]

They usually push gold on you to make money. Get a third opinion and see if it`ll be the same deal.

[greasypeanut]

molars are the big teeth in the back right? the ones that grind food? newayz if thats the case, dont even bother with the gold fillings/caps etc. the main reasons if u didnt know already for gold filling/caps is so that, that black outline doesnt form around ur tooth along the gums and its more natural looking. its only worth it if its teeth that are easily seen i.e. front teeth, incisors. i personally have two gold caps for my front teeth and im thankful for my parents splurging for the gold treatment, cuz everyday i see my coteacher who has a regular cap and that black outlining isnt so nice.

[andrewchon]

I've had caps/gold done on 9 teeths in Korea and the prices sound OK.

[tinamarie04]

I had this done in the US and it was over 2,000USD so that doesn't sounds bad at all.

[mmstyle]

As another poster said, amalgam is covered. Some people claim that amalgam is bad for you...I don't know. It is certainly cheaper, and if the work is being done where it is not visible, that might be a good option for you. My husband had a tooth drilled and crowned (sorry, I don't know the terminology for 300K. If you would like to know where that was done, pm me.

I'm curious, though, my husband said that this kind of work never hurt back home (Aus) but it's painful here. I had a wisdom tooth removed here and it hurt like crazy for weeks...does Korean dentistry hurt more in general (in your own opinion, anyway)? I was lucky to never have any work done back home so I can't compare.

edited cuz I made a mistake. not that it matters.

[andrewchon]

If it was a wisdom tooth removal then it would hurt for a while.

[ekul]

Luckily one of the teachers husbands is a dentist who speaks English so I'm off to see him. He told his wife that the amalgam is on dental insurance so will cost something ridiculous like 10k. If I wasn't insured that would be around 200k apparently. I don't want or need gold/porcelain I know that the dentists want me to have it so they make a higher margin. I don't think they were stiffing me so much on the price, just declined to mention the cheaper treatment...

[lhasa]

I needed a molar onlay recently and did the research. I'm happy I went with gold....it's the best material for my situation and tends to last the longest. I'd never consider amalgam. Porcelain looks pretty but isn't as strong and can wear out teeth that it contacts....I grind at night so it was a no brainer.

[djsmnc]