After reading this entire thread’s 15 pages, I’m rather disappointed that there’s not a substantial amount of information regarding plain 'ol regular dental cleanings, i.e.: teeth scraping for plaque removal, dentist flossing, basic x-ray, fluoride treatment. It seems as though most people posting are in need of substantial dental work (i.e.: crowns, root canals, tooth replacement, etc.).
I just need a nice, THOROUGH, regular dental cleaning. I am an American who is anal-retentive about tooth cleanliness and oral hygiene; the type that goes every six months for regular cleanings. Like others have noted already in this thread, I have found Taiwan dentists to be severely lacking in their attention to detail and level of shoddy “routine cleaning” service.
I live in the Da-an district, near Renai circle. The Aria clinic that someone had mentioned at 37 Dong-Fong is total garbage, and Harvard educated, English speaking Dr. Jerry Lin in fact doesn’t work there; he simply takes Aria’s referrals for more heavy-duty dental work. My personal experience at Aria is thus: They take 15 minutes (tops!) for the total appointment, and do not do teeth scrapings for plaque removal. When I asked why (I’m natively fluent in Mandarin), the dental hygenist there said that it is not common policy for National Health Insurance (Jian-Bao insurance coverage) to provide this. Additionally, the dental hygenist stated that teeth cleanings using the metal hook-like scraper were only used for “deep cleanings” in cases where the patient had “several dental decay”. WTF?!??! :loco:
I researched Jerry Lin, and liked what I found: he in fact does take appointments for routine cleanings, he does the “American full cleaning” routine, and he takes a good 40 minutes to an hour for appointments of this nature, with an emphasis to the abovementioned tooth scrapings. The downside? He doesn’t take National Health insurance. This boosts his cleanings cost to between 3500-6500 NTD, with the following cost breakdown:
1500 NTD for new patient x-ray and review (kinda BS, but whatever)
2000 NTD for the abovementioned THOROUGH teeth scraping
1000 - 3000 for “wet sand” tooth polishing (for stain removal, etc.)
I was advised that the “wet sanding” is only for those with some serious stains, hence, the potential for only a 3500 NTD cost. Dr. Lin’s office address is:
Fuxing S. Rd., section 1 (between Renai and Zhong Xiao), #200, 2F.
Dr. Jerry Lin 8771-3302
I’m scheduled for a July 12 cleaning, and will provide an update here afterwards, if I don’t forget. Does anyone else have a recommendation for me to a Dentist (preferably close to Renai circle) that provides a similar service to Dr. Lin for less $$$? I am willing to pay for quality service (clearly!).