I’m posting this here because I know that Dr. Hung and NYDC in Taipei are comparing pricing.
Dr. Hung is a skilled dentist. Dr. Hung has spent many years honing his craft in the US. Dr. Hung is a specialist in root canals and crowns. This is Dr. Hung’s mantra and he will repeat it many times.
Unfortunately Dr. Hung is an incredible ass. My fiancee and her parents were so miffed that it cost me NT$8500 to do my root canal they called up the Ministry of Health to find out how much insurance pays for a root canal. We were informed that the national health insurance pays NT$300 for the dentist’s time and NT$1200 per canal. (It’s actually less for multiple canals, but I’m giving Dr. Hung some leeway)
My tooth had 3 canals, so using my basic math skills (You see, us Americans have terrible math skills as Dr. Hung bellowed). Anyway, I can quickly calculate that:
3 canals X NT$1200 = NT$3600 (US$109).
Now let’s even go a step further and calculate Dr. Hung’s extremely amazing skills as a dentist and even a premium price because I don’t have insurance, even though we know what insurance pays for Dr. Hung’s time. (NT$300)
So we calculate:
3 Root Canals: NT$3600
Dr. Hungs Time: NT$2000 (Very generous offer of US$60 / 30 minutes)
Total: NT$5600 (US$169)
So using this information I asked Dr. Hung why he charged me NT$8500 (US$257) in the NICEST way possible and I quote… “Why is the price so much higher?”. His response was screaming at me, demanding that I should be grateful to pay the price, and that he was not screwing me because I was American. (Hrmmm… why would my nationality matter??? I never mentioned it… Hrmmm) I’d like to note that when my fiancee walked into the office about 10 minutes later, he began to scream at her in Chinese.
I’m about as nice as they come, so I calmed him down by repeatedly apologizing that I offended him and that I just wanted information. The clincher for the entire escapde was when I asked for his prices on a crown. Yes folks, I still don’t even have a temporary crown. He quoted me NT$15000 (US$454) or NT$18000 (US$545).
Needless to say, since I’m returning to the US on Friday, I’m going to finish up my dental work stateside. The pricing is the same and my dentist at home is awesome. To all expats/foreigners who need dental work in Taichung. Dr. Hung is skilled and I believe he is a good dentist.
BUT:
Do not let him touch you until you have solidified EVERY SINGLE COST. He sees foreigners as walking money and has no qualms about scamming you out of every cent. As a warning to patients going to NY Dental in Taipei. Dr. Hung mentioned to me before the screaming that they were comparing pricing for foreigners.
Just a little CYA.