Dental Care - Thailand Vs Oz!

[khall64au]

Hi all,

A topic close to all our mouths is dental care - and formally living in Thailand, I was very happy with the degree of technology and professional treatments on offer, and of course the cost was very satisfactory and highly superior on a global scale.

Since returning to live in Australia - I am overwhelmed by the hyper-inflated cost and less than satisfactory levels of professionalism in the dental field.

Simple procedures cost xxxxxxxxxx times more, and I have endured dental practitioners bad-mouthing Thai dentists for their "third world training and standards"....

Relatives and friends have re-iterated to me how dentists over-dramatise dental conditions to promote their own dental products and services on offer.

I am disgusted by the dental profession in my country - have spent way too much money in the past year on the advice of "professional" dental practitioners treating me for initial 'check-ups' leading to "essential" dental health preventions....

Too bad, I am so busy that I cannot leave the country at present but:-

* Give me a holiday in Thailand any day - with a dental check up on the side!

[Latindancer]

I agree with what you say about dental care in the West. Unfortunately though, in Thailand the standards vary a lot, so some of the criticisms of Western dentists are well-earned. However they should not generalize. Some Thai dentists are great; some poor. A recommendation is needed, really.

[pitrevie]

I agree with what you say about dental care in the West. Unfortunately though, in Thailand the standards vary a lot, so some of the criticisms of Western dentists are well-earned. However they should not generalize. Some Thai dentists are great; some poor. A recommendation is needed, really.

That is a fair comment, my present dentist at Phyathai Dr Panlert is the best I have ever come across. Several of my friends from Europe have had treatment with this guy and have been full of praise for the work he has done.

[carmine]

The quality of dentistry i have encountered here i think is excellent. i can't actually think of anywhere thats better. Its also very cheap compared to most other countries. A number of my friends come here on holiday, get a dental check up and have any work done thats needed. it saves them a fortune compared to what they would pay in England.

[travelmann]

The only problem is lets say something all goes horribly wrong and they end up cutting half your jaw away, what recourse would you have in Thailand and would it work as opposed to what you have in OZ? ie the justice system.

I only wish Thai dentists did cheap IV sedation best price ive got so far is about 40000 baht per time, all other dentistry is cheap. UK price for sedation is 4500 baht but then all the other work is much more expensive so for me it kind of negates the cheapness of Thai dentistry.

[JPPR2]

Up to this point I have found the dental services here in Thailand to be equal to and in some cases better then the US. I will say I have not had any serious dental work done both here and in the US i.e. root canals, teeth removal, caps, crowns etc but I do the 6 month maintenance and the service/care I get is excellent with proper feedback on gum condition and recommendations. The equipment is the same in US and I prefer the ultrasonic cleaning process over the old scrape method.

Coupled with the capability above I am totally impressed with the general service/courtesy and the difference in cost is quite eye opening.

A good point was made that there are probably good and bad places(as is anywhere in the world) and one might want to use references.

Edited June 8, 2011 by JPPR2

[anotheruser]

I have found the dental care in Thailand to be very good. I am picky who I go to though. I am not sure if every dentist is great but the few I have used in the Silom area have been very good. I am sure they charge a premium compared to some other dentists in the kingdom but it is still only something like 1,200 Baht for a cleaning. The offices have been clean and modern and somewhat pleasant. Now some dentistry office in the back waters of Issan may be a different story.

[alantheembalmer]

I come from England, and I had trouble with tooth and gum sensitivity for years.

When I moved to Thailand I got an impacted wisdom tooth, and had that removed at Thonburi Hospital. The procedure was quick and painless and was a great deal better than anything I had experienced in England. When the dentist had finished the extraction, he told me I had a gum disease, which was the reason for all the tooth sensitivity. When I asked him how long I had had the disease, he told me "for about 25 years, judging from the receeding gums and tooth thinning". I had never been told this in England despite having regular check-ups. (I was told that it seems as though dentists doing NHS treatment do not get paid sufficiently for doing this type of treatment, so they "forget" to tell their patients that they have a gum disease). Anyway, after having extensive cleaning, and open flap root planing, my teeth have never felt better. If I had remained in Britain on the NHS there is a good chance I would have eventually lost my front teeth.

My own personal experience of dentistry in Thailand is extremely positive. The dentists have been careful, considerate and extremely competent, and the ancillery staff have always been more than kind and helpful.

[Richb2004v2]

I had my two year old to the dentist today. Although no work was done the advice was good and I was pleased with the service. Plus it was only 525 baht. I am now wondering if I should get anything done before returning the the Uk, which I understand has a shortage of places with which to register. I'm thinking that even a clean would be worth having.

[RichardSmith99999]

I get mine done in the UK, costs nothing which is less than cheap.

[travelmann]

I get mine done in the UK, costs nothing which is less than cheap.

Are you unemployed then or under 18??

[RichardSmith99999]

I get mine done in the UK, costs nothing which is less than cheap.

Are you unemployed then or under 18??

Registered disabled

[Richb2004v2]

Right. Very helpful thanks. All I need then is to get myself resisted disabled.

[alantheembalmer]

<br />I had my two year old to the dentist today. Although no work was done the advice was good and I was pleased with the service. Plus it was only 525 baht. I am now wondering if I should get anything done before returning the the Uk, which I understand has a shortage of places with which to register. I'm thinking that even a clean would be worth having.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Rich

The last time I got a check-up and a cursory clean was about three years ago in the UK. It was on The NHS and it cost me £44.00!

The idea that there is "free" dental treatment, except for a select few, is eroneous. Also, when I was a director of my own limited company, which employed myself and my wife, I had to pay 11% of my salary in NI contributions, whilst the company paid 13% employers contribution. All in all a great "free" service! Add the waiting times in dentistry, and the outside chance that you will find an NHS dentist in your area willing to take you on, and you have a pretty crappy service.

Alan

[afarang]

Another user, Before you lay s**t on facilities in Isarn ,may i suggest you try them before you make scathing comments, Yes, I live in about as far a backwater as you can get in Isarn, our town being the last stop before Cambodia. Our dentistry ,as a part of our local "amphur" hospital is very good. And very cheap. Much cheaper than Bangkok.And provides high quality dentistry services.No farang has ever complained about it. I would love it , if Bkk. , Pattaya ,Phuket type people would actually come and stay awhile in Isarn before making these inane comments about us and where we have chosen to live, which apparently are beyond your intellectual ability to understand.

Edited June 11, 2011 by afarang

[elwood]

Another user, Before you lay s**t on facilities in Isarn ,may i suggest you try them before you make scathing comments, Yes, I live in about as far a backwater as you can get in Isarn, our town being the last stop before Cambodia. Our dentistry ,as a part of our local "amphur" hospital is very good. And very cheap. Much cheaper than Bangkok.And provides high quality dentistry services.No farang has ever complained about it. I would love it , if Bkk. , Pattaya ,Phuket type people would actually come and stay awhile in Isarn before making these inane comments about us and where we have chosen to live, which apparently are beyond your intellectual ability to understand.

To be fair to anotheruser, he may have just made a little joke comment - like me, for example coming from southern England,talking about treatment "up-north"!

But yes, I have used Isaan dentists for 14 years - clean, modern, efficient, excellent service and low cost.

[moe666]

A friend was visiting me up-north (Chiang Mai) and he broke off part of his tooth and the cap. We found a dentist the next day and since he was leaving in a few days needed express service. She got him in cleaned everything up cemented a post in place and took a impression for the new cap. Next day he comes back and she installs the cap and he is gone to the airport. The cost was about 15,000baht, 1000baht being the express fee. My friend was very impressed with the cost and service. He visited his dentist back in the states and explained what had happened, the dentist was impressed with the price but sort of bad mouth the dentist for being from Thailand and what a chance he had taken. Although he had no choice. The comments from the state side dentist was totslly out of line.

Last year while staying at a monastary near Mae Hong Song met a lady who works at the Dental Hospital In Bangkok and she recieved some of her training at NYU in New York.

[afarang]

Elwood, I appreciate your comment, but read his carefully and you will find no humour there. Further ,this is no isolated incident. We suffer a lot from these kinds of put -downs and denigrations, from people who , I suspect , have never set foot in Isarn. And never will . They have a learnt response to the people and the region

[CaptHaddock]

The best way to manage dental care is to have two dentists. This is what I have done for the past seven years. Here in New York City we use a dentist recommended by a friend. On our annual visits to Thailand I would go to my dentist at Asavanant Dental Clinic in Thong Lor. The dentists would check each other's work. My BKK dentists did a couple of ceramic implants over the years. The NY dentist reported that they were competently done, in particular, that Dr. Busakorn had correctly used an x-ray-visible cement that makes the boundaries of the ceramic easy to detect, which apparently not all dentists do. Dr. Busakorn, on the other hand, reported that a crown installed by the NY dentist had developed a hairline gap between the crown and the root on one side. The NY dentist acknowledged the problem and replaced the crown at no charge. However, the defect must have previously been visible on the NY x-rays. Had another dentist not pointed it out I doubt that the NY dentist would have volunteered it.

My point is that as dental patients we are usually not technically capable of evaluating the work of the dentists. Unfortunately this leads to an over-emphasis on bedside manner as a basis for choosing a dentist. When we settle in Thailand later this year, I intend to continue to use two dentists.

All the American doctors and dentists to whom I have mentioned using Thai medical services have reflexively asserted the superiority of American medicine. In my, so far very limited, experience that has not been the case. But I realize that my own data pint compares the top-tier of Thai dentistry, not the average, about which I know nothing.

[RichardSmith99999]

Right. Very helpful thanks. All I need then is to get myself resisted disabled.

It's not easy! Took me 18 months during which time I didn't get a penny. 3 or 4 days before I was due to go for a final meeting in London I got a call saying I was right all along. So you are going to pay me for the 18 months you were in error is asked. No he said, rules are we can only backpay for 3 months max.

[Ulysses G.]

I have had MUCH better luck with dentists in Thailand than my home country - very little pain and considerably cheaper.

[Richb2004v2]

I wonder if there are two types of dental practice in Thailand. The good ones in reputable hospitals and the many many others set up in shop houses that look far from professional. If so that maybe where the bad rep comes from.

[RichardSmith99999]

<br />I had my two year old to the dentist today. Although no work was done the advice was good and I was pleased with the service. Plus it was only 525 baht. I am now wondering if I should get anything done before returning the the Uk, which I understand has a shortage of places with which to register. I'm thinking that even a clean would be worth having.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Rich

The last time I got a check-up and a cursory clean was about three years ago in the UK. It was on The NHS and it cost me £44.00!

The idea that there is "free" dental treatment, except for a select few, is eroneous. Also, when I was a director of my own limited company, which employed myself and my wife, I had to pay 11% of my salary in NI contributions, whilst the company paid 13% employers contribution. All in all a great "free" service! Add the waiting times in dentistry, and the outside chance that you will find an NHS dentist in your area willing to take you on, and you have a pretty crappy service.

Alan

I agree. I'm lucky, if you can call being disabled lucky, that it is 100% free. It's not as expensive as say Aus, NZ or the US but it's still not cheap. There is a cap on price of 300 quid though. It can, as you rightly pointed out, be a nightmare getting an NHS dentist since the government made changes to the payment system some 4 or 5 years ago though if you go to the government website I believe they will allocate you one and the dentist has no option. This may sound good on paper but the dentist is not going to do a bang up job when they are only getting NHS fees rather than private fees. They are going to want to get you out ASAP so they can get private stuff done and make more money.

As for Thailand, I have never met anyone who has said a bad word after having work done here.

[uptheos]

I have had MUCH better luck with dentists in Thailand than my home country - very little pain and considerably cheaper.

I too would never use a third world dentist............give me a Thai dentist every time.

[afarang]

Oh, deliciously naughty. You are going to start something > I went to a 3rd world dentist in Melbourne. One tooth extracted cost? AU$ 150. No discount or rebate for old age pensioners.In Oz.

[khall64au]

Oh, deliciously naughty. You are going to start something > I went to a 3rd world dentist in Melbourne. One tooth extracted cost? AU$ 150. No discount or rebate for old age pensioners.In Oz.

Well - one reason I started the post is the 'mafia'-style forced appointments I was encountering after my initial "check-up and clean". It went from (1) check to (2) "maybe" need fillings to (3) jamming x-ray thingies in my mouth with no prior warning and 2 x fillings (4) dental hygiene education class to ... (5) "excuse me, but I came for teeth cleaning, could you please clean my teeth"!?

After the price of an airline ticket to Thailand, I got my teeth cleaned... it was only 2 yrs since I saw my Thai dentist - no need for the 'strait-jacket' treatment received. :0

[sakaew]

Oh, deliciously naughty. You are going to start something > I went to a 3rd world dentist in Melbourne. One tooth extracted cost? AU$ 150. No discount or rebate for old age pensioners.In Oz.

Extraction?

$150?...about 4500 baht?

About six months ago, my wife's Mother came to stay for a few weeks...in Pattaya.

My wife rang a dentist in Pattaya Klang, close to the beach.

My wife was told to take Ma to a branch of the same company on Soi Yume...the soi Carrefour is on..

Which we did.

Excellent job.

Price 300 baht.

I can only surmise that farangs get dealt with at the flash Pattaya Klang clinic...whereas the locals get fixed at the "backstreet" location.

Interestingly, the dentist told my wife that she was somtimes rostered to work at the Pattaya Klang Clinic....sometimes at the Soi Yume clinic.

Only in Thailand.

Ma was delighted with the service....I was delighted with the price.

Dental costs in Perth are outrageous.

My Perth dentist quoted 300,000 A TOOTH for implant.

Around 50,000 baht in Pattaya...or 75,000 for a top-of-the-range American fitting.

[moe666]

I wonder if there are two types of dental practice in Thailand. The good ones in reputable hospitals and the many many others set up in shop houses that look far from professional. If so that maybe where the bad rep comes from.

Many of the clinics set up in shop houses are actually ran by Dr. from the hospitals. We had one clinic in Chiang mai near where I stayed that opened at 5pm week day and 9am Sat. and Sun.

Edited June 12, 2011 by moe666

[moe666]

You know its the same the world over, you find good ones and you find bad ones.

[BusterMinal]

Regarding queues for NHS dentists, this no longer appears to be the case - the policies of the previous gov seem to have worked on this occasion. The area I'm from has three NHS/private practices all advertising for NHS patients.

Don't know what the cost for a check-up is though.