Does anyone know a doctor in Taiwan who uses a laser instead of a drill. I don’t know if this technology has reached Taiwan. If no ‘laser dentists’, does anyone know of a dentist who uses a ‘sand blaster’ instead of a drill?
Does anyone know a dentist who can fully sedate in his office (with gas?) for routine dental surgery?
My bones are extremely hard, and novocaine cannot saturate through my jaw bone to reach the nerves of teeth in the back of my jaw. That makes dental work pure hell.
Went to the dentist yesterday and he recommended I take my 3yr old to the Taichung Veterans General Hospital (up near Dong Hai University) to have his cavities filled because he says they have the full works there, lasers and all the rest.
By the way, I always wondered why in the UK, dentists sedate patients to extract wisdom teeth. The reason is that for the lower jaw, there is a possibility that a major nerve in the jaw could get damaged. If it does get damaged then your whole face is seriously f#$%ed. They do it under sedation, usually in hospital, so they can be really careful and check that the nerve is ok.
Thanks for the tip. Does anyone know whether you can use a hospital dental service just like a regular dentist i.e. six month checkups/scale and polish?
[quote=“Spack”]By the way, I always wondered why in the UK, dentists sedate patients to extract wisdom teeth. The reason is that for the lower jaw, there is a possibility that a major nerve in the jaw could get damaged. If it does get damaged then your whole face is seriously f#$%ed. They do it under sedation, usually in hospital, so they can be really careful and check that the nerve is ok.[/quote]They might have routinely sedated patients in the past but they don’t now. My dentist in the UK is or was a lecturer at one of the top dental hospitals; I had just a local anaesthetic for two wisdom tooth extractions.
I had a local for a tricky wisdom tooth extraction here as well (tricky because the roots were curved together, locking the tooth in). I had that done by a specialist in tricky extractions at the China Medical College Hospital (Zhonguo Yiyao Xueyuan) in Taichung. He did a very good job: it took some time although shorter than my regular dentist expected, but afterwards there was very little pain and no bruising.
Yes, you can go to large hospitals for a check-up, scale and polish.
I’ve had one good and one bad experience at the China Medical University Hospital (formerly ‘college hospital’).
I had a wisdom taken out - no problem. Great job.
Another time I went for a check up and clean but the young dentist wasn’t interested in having me in the chair any longer than was necessary. After a cursory twiddle about he said I was all set. I knew he’d done a half-assed job just so he could get through more patients. The waiting room was packed and I had waited ages.
Now I go to Dr. Chung-Ming Hung. Tel: (04)2206-6556, at 329 Chung-Ming Rd., Taichung City. He trained and worked in the U.S. He has lots of foreign patients, and not just cuz he speaks great English. He’s extremely thorough and a nice bloke too. I highly recommend him.
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.