Dental scam?

[rascalman]

I recently have had some dental work done. I had two teeth extracted and a little cleaning. On my last visit the dentist said I had four small fillings that I needed fixed. At the time did not think much about it. He was told ok fix them. Which only took a short Time. I now believe I had no teeth that needed repaired.

Now a few years ago my spouse had work done got the same treatment, four teeth additionally needed repair in Thailand. When we returned to US she went to our dentist who said he saw no such repairs, fillings performed.I think thus is a scam, be carefull please!

Edited October 25, 2013 by rascalman

[MAJIC]

This Scam I hate to say,IMO is quite usual ,and performed the world over,first the letter arrives for your dental check up.

Now at this stage,you will at the very least be given a descaling and polish$,regardless of when you last had it done$

Of course,during the check up they find something $(Just like your car check up) in this case it's your teeth need filling$.

Next time it's more fillings$ (sound familiar?) and then comes the big pay days,the teeth can't be filled any more,and will need extraction$$,due to an abcess$$, which you didnt have before,all that painful rooting around,with all manner of torture tools$.

After all the extractions$$$,often afterwards there is a need to return to the Dental Practice,for that raging ache due to a gum infection$$,which again you didnt have before the extractions!$$ then the cycle starts again$$

The unlucky ones will need a root canal$$ or two$$$,and the lucky ones after a few years of this treatment will not have to go down the Dentures Route $$$$$into mortgaging their house territory. And that simply put is why there are no poor Dentists.$$$$$.One small cave can yield as much $$$ as a Diamond mine.

[lomatopo]

If in doubt get a second opinion from a well-referred dentist, Problem solved/scam avoided.

Posting a warning without any details is useless. A bit like saying "be careful crossing the road".

Edited October 26, 2013 by lomatopo

[Curt1591]

Can we assume that this was from a popular clinic chain?

[rak sa_ngop]

I am not sure I understand. The dentist pretends to repair a filling and leaves no sign of any work carried out

Every filling I have had made or repaired involves drilling and filling, hardly the sort of thing you can fake.

[bangon04]

I am not sure I understand. The dentist pretends to repair a filling and leaves no sign of any work carried out

Every filling I have had made or repaired involves drilling and filling, hardly the sort of thing you can fake.

If the filling is spurious, not necessary, wouldn't you rather the dentist faked the filling and charged you, instead of actually drilling holes in your teeth just to justify the charges? Just smile and say thank you doctor...

[davetrout]

you got drilled

[Arkady]

I have heard of dentists deliberately taking X rays in such a way as to make it look as if fillings are needed. Replacing fillings that have nothing wrong with them is an obvious one but I have never heard of a dentist drilling around in your teeth but not actually doing anything.

[vegasphl]

Scams in Thailand....I dont believe it. Round up the usual suspects!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[davetrout]

how many scams does that make in thailand now?

[nzvic]

Kiwi NZ dentists do the same. I was told nothing could be done for a back tooth which had split...he rubbed his grubby little hands and sent me off to his periodental friend - total would've come to $9000NZ five years ago had I gone ahead. It already cost me $500NZ just for the xray.

Another dentist told me he thought I got wrong advice and suggested I get another quote from someone he knew, but I didn't proceed as keeping it clean, without further trouble, showed it could have been easily remedied, but I was given the costliest option without any other possibilities.

Anyway, now I have my front tooth out and two more split, I shall get whole lot done in Bangkok at about one-fifth - one-seventh the price. Someone I know got $50,000NZ work done for less than $10,000NZ in Bangkok and is happy with it. I've heard similar tales...just have to choose the right person.

Another kiwi dentist kept charging each time for a really painful coupla teeth but kept saying nothing was wrong. Then a friend said use Sensodyne and that fixed it 30 years ago and no hassles since. I paid several $hundred total for being told nothing wrong with teeth but he didn't have the decency to say sensodyne would've helped my highly sensitive teeth.

If Thai dentists scam, at least their charges are a lot less LOL!

[Nana Cowboy]

I've been lucky and had 3 top dentists offices in bkk do most of my work and my teeth have always been a mess. I got cleanings at 2 other places when i happened to pass by with 1 offering whitening which I turned down. my 1st experience was my 1st year here was a filling that fell out.I had him fill and do a cleaning and was pleased. this was on Asok (not BKK smile but we'll get to them later). he moved to chit lom but i never could find his location when i needed it. he was super pro and i may have paid 2000 but no more and he shot a set of xrays with nothing remotely looking like a scam. then 5 years go by with random cleanings when I happened to walk by an office in the city. I never used these places for anything other than cleanings. they were in Lat Prao, baiyoke, suan plu when I'd get exts sometimes and fortune area. these were dingy regular looking that places not catering to farangs. cleanings done around 1000 or so not sure but not more and no probs.

then after the 5 years I tried to find my 1st guy. my friend still used him after my rec and he tried to direct me to his new chit lom location but i couldnt find it. i walk all aroud inside and out of chit lom plaza no luck. i was in pain and i had a loose rear tooth. b4 ditching my search i walked into a super hiso mall next to the super high so hotel located next to chit low plaza. on the very top floor (5th) was a dentist in the back left corner. i was hurtin' so i went in to see if they could alleviate the pain at least. she did just that. i got cleaning and ackknowledgement of the loose tooth but took no action and was rec'd no action, just leave be for now unless it bothered me. 5 years after that pain came hard and heavy and i went to the fortune one, got a cleaning and was told i needed a root canal. ok now my thoughts were scam. i said no and took the cleaning. went back to chit lom and he said the same thing. oh dear. I'm stubborn and declined. finally a few years after the loose back tooth fell out and pain returned from root canal tooth.

it was now that i directed myself to bkk smile asok. these are super pros catering to farangs and hiso thais. I told her that 2 detints rec'd a root canal so she xrayed the tooth. sure nuff she shows me the locale and damage. prices were high but root canal + crown aint cheap. A wisdom tooth had been pushing on the root canal so i needed that extraction 1st...1000 baht for that. then I went for the root canal with 60% gold crown. all this was around 30K but tip top quality work, VERY satisfied. also i had them do a whitening as i never had one. forget price but reasonable and great job done. after root and crown lady rec'd removing 2 wisdom teeth leaving me with only 1. i jumped at the chance....1000/per. so all in all maybe 35K but worth every baht. top class work highly recomennded. my teeth are best they've been since i was a boy in single digits. just do it right te 1st time. dont cut corners. do your research. pay the extra