Painful Root Canal Treatment

[dannishgung]

I went to see a friend near Mall Ramkamhaeng and walked passed a dental clinic on the other side of the road. Since I may need a root canal for my back tooth and several cavities so I decided to get it checked. I was thinking the small clinic maybe cheaper than bigger ones.

Okay, the older lady docter attended me and checked and told me to take some X rays. Each slide 200 bahts. Then told me I need to get a crown for one of my tooth that received root canal 2 years ago. She said it will be 6000 bahts for the non metalic looking one with same color as tooth. Then she said I need a root canal for another tooth in the back. She said 5000 for root canal.

So she went to work and the root canal treatment for this back tooth really hurt me like crazy. I had to stoped her a few times due to extreme pain. My last root canal treatment 2 years ago at some large clinic did not feel any pain at all. I wondered if she did not inject enough anesthetics(save the cost??), or she has a bad skill? or this is the physical price to pay for being cheaper than large clinics??

Then she filled and replaced 5 of my old cavities fillings (Without my consent actually). 700 bahts each.(seems a little expensive than other clinics??) I had one done 1 years ago at other location for 500 bahts.

Okay, I paid her most of it today. I need to go back in a week. She put in temporary crown, and temporay filling for my root canal today.

My bill for this treatment.

Crown 6000

root canal 5000(really jeb jeb maak-hurt so bad, anyone knows why?)

X ray 3 slides 600

5 fill cavities 3500(700 each cavity filling, is it a little too expensive??)

pain killer 200(i never asked for it and i think its not needed)

Total 15300, paid 10000 first and pay remaining at finish of treatment. More problem than I expected. Lots more pain than I ever experienced for root canal.

Too late paid already otherwise I would still stick with the big clinics that can speak better English and less pain too??

[Ice Maiden]

I went to see a friend near Mall Ramkamhaeng and walked passed a dental clinic on the other side of the road. Since I may need a root canal for my back tooth and several cavities so I decided to get it checked. I was thinking the small clinic maybe cheaper than bigger ones.

Okay, the older lady docter attended me and checked and told me to take some X rays. Each slide 200 bahts. Then told me I need to get a crown for one of my tooth that received root canal 2 years ago. She said it will be 6000 bahts for the non metalic looking one with same color as tooth. Then she said I need a root canal for another tooth in the back. She said 5000 for root canal.

So she went to work and the root canal treatment for this back tooth really hurt me like crazy. I had to stoped her a few times due to extreme pain. My last root canal treatment 2 years ago at some large clinic did not feel any pain at all. I wondered if she did not inject enough anesthetics(save the cost??), or she has a bad skill? or this is the physical price to pay for being cheaper than large clinics??

Then she filled and replaced 5 of my old cavities fillings (Without my consent actually). 700 bahts each.(seems a little expensive than other clinics??) I had one done 1 years ago at other location for 500 bahts.

Okay, I paid her most of it today. I need to go back in a week. She put in temporary crown, and temporay filling for my root canal today.

My bill for this treatment.

Crown            6000

root canal        5000(really jeb jeb maak-hurt so bad, anyone knows why?)

X ray 3 slides    600

5 fill cavities    3500(700 each cavity filling, is it a little too expensive??)

pain killer          200(i never asked for it and i think its not needed)

Total 15300, paid 10000 first and pay remaining at finish of treatment. More problem than I expected. Lots more pain than I ever experienced for root canal.

Too late paid already otherwise I would still stick with the big clinics that can speak better English and less pain too??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You've just been ripped off...

[lopburi3]

How was he ripped off?

Normal price at a small clinic in my experience is about 3,500 for RCT plus 1-1,500 for Pin and 6-8,000 for crown.

As for cavities that would depend on the type and 700 is probably a little high.

Don't understand OP saying he did not think pain killer 'not asked for or required' as he say he was in pain?

As for the why was the tooth infected? If so it probably should not have been done until later. I had a very, very painful experience when I had no time due to international travel to allow infection to be controlled first and will never make that mistake again. It just soaks up all the pain killer and it never gets to the nerve.

[Mighty Mouse]

6000 baht for a crown is cheap.

I had one put in earlier this year in Australia and it cost the equivalent of 24,000 baht.

700 baht per filling is also a good price. The only question is why did she see the need to replace the old fillings. Unless they were in a deteriorating condition or leaking badly, she should have just left them alone.

I've never had root canal treatment but I have heard that it is a very painful procedure. Better you than me.

....anyway, you should now have a brilliant, dazzling smile.

[dannishgung]

About the old lady docter she replace and refilled 5 of my old fillings, I was not sure if they are necessary to replace. She did not consult me about until she drilled them all. I thought they were still good shape. So she could be trying to make some more from me being foreigner? Also 1 cavity for 700 is really high compared to my friends' who usually paid 400-500 bahts per one.

Anyways I try to save a few bahts but I probably ended pay the same or more, also paid the pain as well. I would reccommend people to use more reputabable clinics who can speak more English at least to tell the patients what tooth they are working on now.

[Tywais]

About the old lady docter she replace and refilled 5 of my old fillings, I was not sure if they are necessary to replace. She did not consult me about until she drilled them all. I thought they were still good shape. So she could be trying to make some more from me being foreigner? Also 1 cavity for 700 is really high compared to my friends' who usually paid 400-500 bahts per one.

Anyways I try to save a few bahts but I probably ended pay the same or more, also paid the pain as well. I would reccommend people to use more reputabable clinics who can speak more English at least to tell the patients what tooth they are working on now.

The prices are pretty close to what I pay except the fillings a bit on the high side. Whether it is a small or large clinic is not the issue. It's all about the Doctor. I used a small clinic in Chiangmai for a root canal, they had a staff of 2 doctors. Felt absolutely no pain because the Doctor was adamant that if I felt anything it was too much and he would deaden it more. As for most things I do I ask a Thai friend for recommendations and it has always worked out well for me.

[barryofthailand]

Standard price for a crown in los is 8000 baht, and a rc is about 3 to 4000 baht. My wife had a RC and a crown done at a hospital dental clinic 13,000 baht total. We normaly go to BKK Pattaya hospital for everything. In the long run, good service, good doctors, and always a good result.

Barry

[taxexile]

i cannot understand how anybody , just walking down the street , can enter a dental clinic on a whim , and allow an unknown dentist , in a country where professions such as dentistry are more or less unregulated , and allow this dentist to commence (possibly) mutilating your teeth.

(ahhhh , its a nice afternoon , i think i'll go and get my leg amputated.)

without seeing the x-rays and your mouth , nobody can or should comment on whether the work was necessary or not , and that includes the root canal treatment , or whether you have been ripped off .

the prices seem reasonable, a little on the cheap side though.

but it is professional ethics as well as common decency to inform a patient exactly what treatment is about to be provided , the reasons why , and exactly what is entailed , including possible discomfort or pain , either during the treatment or after.

injected local anaesthetic cannot cost the dentist more that 50 baht a shot including disposable needles , so the pain was probably down to poor technique.

2 cartridges should be enough to anaesthetize one half of the lower jaw , adequate anaesthesia can be obtained within 15 minutes after the injection for a lower tooth , and much less for an upper tooth.

root canal work should not be painful.

when she told you that you needed all this work doing ,

i think you should have asked her to write down a treatment plan for you , noting which teeth needed filling ( and exactly what sort of filling , not all fillings are the same , the tooth may need restoring on one surface or two or three etc. the price will vary according to the complexity of the procedure and the materials used) , which teeth needed root canal , crowns etc.

if she wouldnt do that , i would have paid for the check up and radiographs and left.

ask to take the x-rays , you have paid for them , they should belong to you.

the fewer x-rays taken the better ,( although for root canal treatment , one before treatment , one or two during the treatment and one at the end to confirm a satisfactory result are necessary , and a dentist who does root canal without taking x rays before , during and after , might as well be working with a blindfold on.)

then go along to another clinic with your x-rays and have another check up and see if the treatment plans are the same , or at least roughly the same.

dentists opinions often differ as to whether a tooth needs filling or not depending on many factors.

crowns and root canal work is usually more clear cut.

she may well be a good ethical dentist , but your story rings many warning bells.

if she has enough time to do vast amounts of work immediately on walk ins , it begs the question as to why she is not more fully booked.

i hope all your dental treatment is succesful.

but next time , get a second opinion before submitting to masses of work.

this is thailand , not europe or the usa or aus , professional standards and levels of patient care and responsibility towards patients are not the same.

better to go somewhere recommended than to just walk in anywhere.

a dental dept. in one of the hospitals or the dental hospital on sukhumvit 41 or 49 ???? should treat you ethically , i.e. not recommending unecessary work purely to bump up the bill.

Edited October 8, 2005 by taxexile

[simcity]

your price are ok

i paid Xray 100 baht

filling 600 baht

crown and root same nearly

ANYONE know how much for transplant in thailand ? ( tooth i mean )

[lopburi3]

your price are ok

i paid Xray 100 baht

filling 600 baht

crown and root same nearly

ANYONE know how much for transplant in thailand ? ( tooth i mean )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you mean implant I have seen 40k advertised often but others have reported much higher rates so believe that is probably the lowest price.

[taxexile]

implant

again , it seems as if every corner shop and shoe shine boy if offering dental implants these days in bangkok.

choose your operator with care.

implantation is a complicated surgical procedure that needs to be performed absolutely correctly (unlike , say , some fillings , which can be done to wotin a large margin of error and still be successful) to achieve a successful result.

make sure the dentist has had sufficient experience in this field before agreeing.

someone has to be the dentists first patient , make sure it isnt you.

[simcity]

yes was implant , sorry

[malcolminthemiddle]

Time and time again, my experience in Thailand has been that once they have you in the chair, all dentists find some absolutely vital work that you were not aware of that needs doing.

Its called "Captive Marketing".

[taxexile]

Its called "Captive Marketing".

in some countries its called assault.

[samran]

time and again, samitivej for dental treatment. By far the best in Bangers, and it won't cost an arm and a leg.