Bangkok Pattaya Hospital

[Mobi]

Some of you may recall my recent posts in the Pattaya Hospitals thread, concerning misdiagnosis for my wife and myself, and in particular some unnecessary dental treatment for my wife which has left her in permanent pain.

Well, I can now top that. I recently completed some VERY EXPENSIVE root canal treatment in a lower jaw tooth at Bangkok Pattaya, and since then have been experiencing increasing pain in an upper jaw tooth which bites down onto the newly installed crown.

Unable to stand the pain any longer, and reluctant to return top BP, I finally consulted a new dentist today.

In essence BP have butchered me. The dentist said the crown was much too ‘proud’ and I have now cracked and ruined a perfectly good tooth in my upper jaw.

It will have to come out, but is going to be bastard as it has 3 roots and will take quite a bit of pulling. He showed me the tooth in the mirror, and I can see for myself the damage. There was nothing wrong with this tooth a month ago.

I tell, you frankly – I wouldn’t go back to Bangkok Pattaya if it was the last hospital on this earth.

[raro]

Try Pattaya International, Dr. Aree...she sings while drilling....and did a good job on both so far!

[taxexile]

the symptoms you describe (pain due to occlusal interference from an opposing tooth) will not occur suddenly

in most cases it will build up gradually over a period , often many days.

i am surprised that you did not notice that the crown was proud as soon as it was fitted ,( periodontal proprioreceptors ,nerves in the tissues that hold the tooth in the jaw, are incredibly sensitive to this sort of thing.), and return for some simple adjustment.

if the opposing tooth actually cracked , it is probable that it has been root treated previously or there has been an undiagnosed abscess there.

if you are worried about undergoing a difficult extraction , and some upper molars can be buggers , then seek the services of a specialist oral surgeon rather than a dentist who may be good at root fillings or crown work , but not that experienced in oral surgery.

you never know , it may just pop out like a cork from a champagne bottle. some of them do !

could you give a link to the thread about your wifes dental treatment , i missed it.

[Mobi]

Tax,

Yes the pain did develop gradually. There was nothing wrong with the tooth before, and no previous root treatment. BP have a gallery full of xrays of all my teeth. If there was something there they would have told me.

I was told that the specialists at BP were very good and knew what they were doing. Again they took x-rays at every stage of the treatment and fitted me with a temporory crown before the final one was fitted

I am now seeing just an ordinary dentist on Soi 5. He told me it would be quite a job to extract this tooth - may take a while. What do you think? Should I see a specialist, and if so where? The bloody thing is killing me.

[Mobi]

could you give a link to the thread about your wifes dental treatment , i missed it.

Here's the link. My wife's story is there somewhere amongst all the othger horror stories

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=76614

[taxexile]

from what i can gather from your posts so far , if the pain is constant then the first thing to do is to have the bite adjusted , so that the high spot is not banging up on the top tooth every time you close your teeth.

in fact , rather than adjust the new crown , it would be better to spot grind the upper tooth so that it is not interfering with the new crown , that way you wont spoil the new crown with any spot grinding.

if the pain is constant and the upper tooth has cracked in such a way that it is irreparable , then it will need to be extracted.

if it could be repaired , then the dentist would have told you.

if it was me , i would go the dental hospital near to samitivej hospital on sukhumvit 41 or 49 in bangkok , and let one of the oral surgeons remove it. i dont know any dentists in pattaya , so i dont have anyone to recommend there.

sometimes those cracked upper molars can come out easy , other times they can be fiddly.

good luck.

[patsfangr]

Some of you may recall my recent posts in the Pattaya Hospitals thread, concerning misdiagnosis for my wife and myself, and in particular some unnecessary dental treatment for my wife which has left her in permanent pain.

Well, I can now top that. I recently completed some VERY EXPENSIVE root canal treatment in a lower jaw tooth at Bangkok Pattaya, and since then have been experiencing increasing pain in an upper jaw tooth which bites down onto the newly installed crown.

Unable to stand the pain any longer, and reluctant to return top BP, I finally consulted a new dentist today.

In essence BP have butchered me. The dentist said the crown was much too ‘proud’ and I have now cracked and ruined a perfectly good tooth in my upper jaw.

It will have to come out, but is going to be bastard as it has 3 roots and will take quite a bit of pulling. He showed me the tooth in the mirror, and I can see for myself the damage. There was nothing wrong with this tooth a month ago.

I tell, you frankly – I wouldn’t go back to Bangkok Pattaya if it was the last hospital on this earth.

In the interest of fair play and equal time, let me present my Bangkok Pattaya Hospital experience. I can't comment on the dental department, but I must give nothing but praise to the Urological services I was given.

A couple of months ago, I contracted a bad kidney infection. It was the result of a constrictricted bladder and urinary tract, which were, in turn, the result of a monstrously enlarged prostate. With no knowledge of all of this at the time, I tried, as I usually do, to simply "ride out" the pain for a couple of days. My "expert diagnosis" was that it was just kidney stones, which would pass shortly. Following that foolishness, the pain continued to increase, so I finally agreed to my wife's urgings to go to see a specialist at BPH.

His name is "Dr Jimmy". He prescribed some pain pills, as well as an antibiotic, and told me that the blood test showed a strong infection. He assured me that this was not a kidney stone problem based upon the urinalisis. I took that medication, and the problem subsided for a couple of days, but did not disappear.

Then came the night of hel_l! The pain was pretty close to the worst I've ever endured. (The Top 2 were pluracy and epiditimitis - don't ask!) Again, I tried to get through the night, but, at about 2 AM, I gave in to my wife's urgings, and let our niece drive me to BPH. Every small bump in the road was agony!

As soon as I arrived, they got me into an ER bed, and very shortly thereafter had an IV in me to kill the pain. It did it's job in about 20 minutes. I spent the night in a comfortable bed, with the blessed fluid dripping in to keep the pain at bay.

The next day, Dr Jimmy had me sent down for a scan. That revealed the prostate situation. It was, he said, about 5 TIMES NORMAL SIZE! He told me that we would attack it with medication to: a.) reduce the size of the prostate; and b.) relax the muscles in the urinary tract to allow better flow of urine. The infection, he said, had occurred because my bladder was retaining urine due to the difficulty to pass it by the enlarged prostate. The stagnant urine, of course, became infected.

It was, and still is, possible that surgery must be done to correct this situation. But Dr Jimmy wants to work with the medication for a few months, unless infections return, to see if the prostate can be shrunk enough to minimize likelihood of recurrence of the problem.

Well, to shorten the gory details, the medication seems to be working perfectly, thus far. Dr Jimmy is clearly not out to make a buck with the knife. He clearly knows what he's doing. He clearly cares about his patients.

Every moment of the care I received at BPH was, and continues to be, as good as I believe I'd get in the USA.

That's the other side of the story.

[ThaiBob]

In the interest of fair play and equal time, let me present my Bangkok Pattaya Hospital experience. I can't comment on the dental department, but I must give nothing but praise to the Urological services I was given.

A couple of months ago, I contracted a bad kidney infection. It was the result of a constrictricted bladder and urinary tract, which were, in turn, the result of a monstrously enlarged prostate. With no knowledge of all of this at the time, I tried, as I usually do, to simply "ride out" the pain for a couple of days. My "expert diagnosis" was that it was just kidney stones, which would pass shortly. Following that foolishness, the pain continued to increase, so I finally agreed to my wife's urgings to go to see a specialist at BPH.

His name is "Dr Jimmy". He prescribed some pain pills, as well as an antibiotic, and told me that the blood test showed a strong infection. He assured me that this was not a kidney stone problem based upon the urinalisis. I took that medication, and the problem subsided for a couple of days, but did not disappear.

Then came the night of hel_l! The pain was pretty close to the worst I've ever endured. (The Top 2 were pluracy and epiditimitis - don't ask!) Again, I tried to get through the night, but, at about 2 AM, I gave in to my wife's urgings, and let our niece drive me to BPH. Every small bump in the road was agony!

As soon as I arrived, they got me into an ER bed, and very shortly thereafter had an IV in me to kill the pain. It did it's job in about 20 minutes. I spent the night in a comfortable bed, with the blessed fluid dripping in to keep the pain at bay.

The next day, Dr Jimmy had me sent down for a scan. That revealed the prostate situation. It was, he said, about 5 TIMES NORMAL SIZE! He told me that we would attack it with medication to: a.) reduce the size of the prostate; and b.) relax the muscles in the urinary tract to allow better flow of urine. The infection, he said, had occurred because my bladder was retaining urine due to the difficulty to pass it by the enlarged prostate. The stagnant urine, of course, became infected.

It was, and still is, possible that surgery must be done to correct this situation. But Dr Jimmy wants to work with the medication for a few months, unless infections return, to see if the prostate can be shrunk enough to minimize likelihood of recurrence of the problem.

Well, to shorten the gory details, the medication seems to be working perfectly, thus far. Dr Jimmy is clearly not out to make a buck with the knife. He clearly knows what he's doing. He clearly cares about his patients.

Every moment of the care I received at BPH was, and continues to be, as good as I believe I'd get in the USA.

That's the other side of the story.

I hope you are monitoring your PSA results and have they been changing? This test is routine and performed regularly in USA. Indicator of serious prostate problems.

[kurgen]

I am now seeing just an ordinary dentist on Soi 5. He told me it would be quite a job to extract this tooth - may take a while. What do you think? Should I see a specialist, and if so where? The bloody thing is killing me.

BE WARNED

This dentist is a butcher, go to someone else

[patsfangr]

I hope you are monitoring your PSA results and have they been changing? This test is routine and performed regularly in USA. Indicator of serious prostate problems.

Thanks for the concern and the advice, Bob. The doctor said that it's best to wait a couple of months after such a strong infection before doing the PSA test. It is scheduled for my next visit. A couple of months later, after 6 months on the medication, he'll order another ultra sound to check for progress in shrinking the prostate.

[Mobi]

I am now seeing just an ordinary dentist on Soi 5. He told me it would be quite a job to extract this tooth - may take a while. What do you think? Should I see a specialist, and if so where? The bloody thing is killing me.

BE WARNED

This dentist is a butcher, go to someone else

I am duly warned.

I'm off the Bangkok this morning on business, and will return tomorrow. Can anyone recommend a good dental hospital in Bangkok?

I'm thinking of Samitevej or Bumrungrad. Anyone have any experience? Not bothered about cost - just want it sorted.

thanks

Mobi

[taxexile]

i would recommend the dental hospital near samitivej, purely because i and others that i know have had good treatment there , with correct diagnoses of problems.

if you have your x-rays from pattaya , then take them along with you , you might save yourself 1000b.

they will give you a full check up (200b without x rays , 1300b with) and advise you on what needs doing. dont let them push you into scalings and other stuff if you dont want it , just get the extraction done first.

i have also heard good things about bumrungrad dental dept.

dental hospital 2002 ltd.

88/88 sukhumvit 49 (near samitivej)

bangkok

02 260 6000-6046.

[Mobi]

I'll post this here and on the Pattaya Hospitals thread.

My wife screwed up and booked me in to Samitevit Dental department rather than the One nearby as advised by Taxexile.

Incidentally I couldn't get an appointment for any time on Thursday or Friday at Bumrungrad, so they are clearly very popular.

I met a middle aged Chinese-Thai denstist at Samitivej who spoke perfect American accented English.

I do indeed have badly cracked tooth, but nothing to do with the crown put in by BP - it's not even opposite the cracked tooth. He said he would grind it down a bit , remove the old filling and put a new temp filling to 'hold it all together. He took some xrays and is sure he can save the tooth by root canal and crown treatment.

I suggested just removing it to save all the hassle, and he said if I remove the tooth I will have to remove the opposite lower tooth as well and will effectively lose 30 % of my eating power.

So he did the temporary treatment - took about 15 minutes (those bloody women dentisists at BP used to take hours to do anything) and I have instant pain relief. It is now 6 hours since the treatment - I have had a meal, chewed on the tooth and so far no pain.

So I reckon I'll go back on Monday to start the root canal work. The cost is less than BP (surprise surprise).

Kurgen - you were right that guy in Soi . He wanted to remove the tooth on the spot and said nothing about having to remove another one in the lower jaw as well. Maybe that would come later.

On the way back to Pattaya, I detoured via Bang Saen to avoid the afternoon traffic jams and went past Samitivet in Sri Racha. I timed it to my home - 30 minutes door to door in fairly heavy traffic.

So I reckon this is a real option next time I need medical help. I'll try it out for sure.

[barryofthailand]

I haven't had any problems with BPH, butyour right the dental dept is not up to par. They cleaned my ifes teeth and told her she had a couple of small cavities to be filled. 3000 baht. one of the teeth they filled continuied to hurt so she went back and the dentist said the filling was slightly oversized and he would shave it down. (What a load of crap.) Any way it continued to hurt so she went back again and they said she now needed a root canal for 20,000 baht. I told her not here. She went to a dentist a friend recommended and he did a root canal and a crown for 8000 baht. But even this dentist has been in business for years he didn't take an xray. Now how do you know to do a root canal without an xray.

I am looking for a good dental clinic that does deep root cleaning as I have always had problems with my gums so I get my teeth cleaned about every four months.

Most of the medical services at BPH has been satifactory, but if I had something serious I would go to Bangkok.

Barry

[taxexile]

Now how do you know to do a root canal without an xray.

any dentist who does root canal work without taking an x-ray before (to ascertain if there is any abscess or pathology at the end of the root , and to see the length and curvature of the root canal and to see if there is anything unusual in the canal such as a blockage or branching or secondary canals) is not really being very professional , in fact it is frankly negligent.

an x ray should also be taken after the treatment is complete to check that the canal has been properly filled to within a millimeter or two of the end of the canal. some dentists will take a third or fourth x ray during treatment to verify that the files are reaching the tip of the root.

as far as the extraction of a lower tooth to compensate for the extraction for an upper one (or vice versa) , this is not always necessary , it depends on the occlusion of the teeth concerned (the position the teeth are in when the jaws are closed.) if you have an upper tooth missing (extracted) , say a molar , and then the lower opposing tooth is in such a position so that when you bite together the lower tooth has no contact with an upper tooth , then it is possible for the lower tooth to over erupt , i.e. erupt into the space now available above it .

this doesnt happen overnight , it can take years. if the over eruption is excessive , then it can cause problems on the tooth in front of it or the tooth behind due to difficulty with cleaning.

i can give many reasons why it not a good idea to have a molar extracted unless it is absolutely necessary.

as far as losing 30% of your chewing ability , that doesnt make sense because if you lose just one tooth you lose the ability to use that biting pair (upper and lower) and having the opposing one out wont make you lose any more ability. if there is a tooth behind the one that was to be extracted then it is possible to have a bridge or implant to replace the missing tooth.

it is rare indeed to automatically extract an upper and a lower as a matter of course , unless there is some abnormality with your occlusion that i dont know about.

should you have to have the cracked tooth out then seek a second opinion or wait a while before rushing to having the opposing tooth out. i am assuming that when you say opposite tooth you mean the opposite jaw ( upper versus lower) rather than the opposite side of your mouth (left and right)

glad to hear that the extraction will probably not be necessary.

[Mobi]

Thanks Taxexile - you certainly know your teeth

Are you a dentist? I'd love to have you with me when I meet all these dentists that give me different stories.

Anyhow, I reckon I'll go for the root canal in the cracked tooth and hopefully that'll be then to my problems - maybe

[think_too_mut]

On the way back to Pattaya, I detoured via Bang Saen to avoid the afternoon traffic jams and went past Samitivet in Sri Racha. I timed it to my home - 30 minutes door to door in fairly heavy traffic.

So I reckon this is a real option next time I need medical help. I'll try it out for sure.

Samitivej and BKK Pattaya hospital are the same company. Not sure if they have integrated their information systems yet for looking into patients' records.

We use both, Samitivej in BKK and BP when holidaying.

[Mobi]

On the way back to Pattaya, I detoured via Bang Saen to avoid the afternoon traffic jams and went past Samitivet in Sri Racha. I timed it to my home - 30 minutes door to door in fairly heavy traffic.

So I reckon this is a real option next time I need medical help. I'll try it out for sure.

Samitivej and BKK Pattaya hospital are the same company. Not sure if they have integrated their information systems yet for looking into patients' records.

We use both, Samitivej in BKK and BP when holidaying.

This was gone into not long ago, and if I remember rightly, it was a bit more complex than just joint ownership. I think there is a convoluted route to the same owner at the top of the chain.

They certainly operate totally independant of each other, and I had to have all my records copied from Samitevej in BKK when seeing a specialist at BP - not that it it did much good.

Certainly my own experiences with Samitivej is far superior to that at BP.

[barryofthailand]

Now how do you know to do a root canal without an xray.

any dentist who does root canal work without taking an x-ray before (to ascertain if there is any abscess or pathology at the end of the root , and to see the length and curvature of the root canal and to see if there is anything unusual in the canal such as a blockage or branching or secondary canals) is not really being very professional , in fact it is frankly negligent.

an x ray should also be taken after the treatment is complete to check that the canal has been properly filled to within a millimeter or two of the end of the canal. some dentists will take a third or fourth x ray during treatment to verify that the files are reaching the tip of the root.

as far as the extraction of a lower tooth to compensate for the extraction for an upper one (or vice versa) , this is not always necessary , it depends on the occlusion of the teeth concerned (the position the teeth are in when the jaws are closed.) if you have an upper tooth missing (extracted) , say a molar , and then the lower opposing tooth is in such a position so that when you bite together the lower tooth has no contact with an upper tooth , then it is possible for the lower tooth to over erupt , i.e. erupt into the space now available above it .

this doesnt happen overnight , it can take years. if the over eruption is excessive , then it can cause problems on the tooth in front of it or the tooth behind due to difficulty with cleaning.

i can give many reasons why it not a good idea to have a molar extracted unless it is absolutely necessary.

as far as losing 30% of your chewing ability , that doesnt make sense because if you lose just one tooth you lose the ability to use that biting pair (upper and lower) and having the opposing one out wont make you lose any more ability. if there is a tooth behind the one that was to be extracted then it is possible to have a bridge or implant to replace the missing tooth.

it is rare indeed to automatically extract an upper and a lower as a matter of course , unless there is some abnormality with your occlusion that i dont know about.

should you have to have the cracked tooth out then seek a second opinion or wait a while before rushing to having the opposing tooth out. i am assuming that when you say opposite tooth you mean the opposite jaw ( upper versus lower) rather than the opposite side of your mouth (left and right)

glad to hear that the extraction will probably not be necessary.

You are absolutely correct about all the dental info you talked about.

The problem is it is hard to find a dentist in Pattaya that conforms to those standards.

Barry

[pattyboy]

Some of you may recall my recent posts in the Pattaya Hospitals thread, concerning misdiagnosis for my wife and myself, and in particular some unnecessary dental treatment for my wife which has left her in permanent pain.

Well, I can now top that. I recently completed some VERY EXPENSIVE root canal treatment in a lower jaw tooth at Bangkok Pattaya, and since then have been experiencing increasing pain in an upper jaw tooth which bites down onto the newly installed crown.

Unable to stand the pain any longer, and reluctant to return top BP, I finally consulted a new dentist today.

In essence BP have butchered me. The dentist said the crown was much too ‘proud’ and I have now cracked and ruined a perfectly good tooth in my upper jaw.

It will have to come out, but is going to be bastard as it has 3 roots and will take quite a bit of pulling. He showed me the tooth in the mirror, and I can see for myself the damage. There was nothing wrong with this tooth a month ago.

I tell, you frankly – I wouldn’t go back to Bangkok Pattaya if it was the last hospital on this earth.

Bangkok Pattaya Hospital should be avoided -- especially their dental department. The prices at BPH are getting ridiculously high and the sevice is getting worse. Let me tell you about my latest experience with a dentist there.

A dentist in Pattaya had started a root canal procedure (removed the roots and put a temporary filling in my tooth). I was supposed to go back a month later for the second step but for various reasons didn't get back in time. After a few months, the filling deteriorated to the point where I was experiencing a bit of pain. I was embarrassed to return to my regular dentist because I had left things go for so long, so I decided to go to Bangkok Pattaya to have it looked at. The woman (a real dentist, I guess) who did the work informed me that the root canals had to be cleaned again. To perform this, she used a ribbed needle to scrape the canals. She finished her work, put another temporary filling in the tooth, and sent me on my way. By the time I got to my car, the pain from that tooth was much worse than before, so I swallowed my pride and went to my regular dentist, explaining what I had done. He took an x-ray of the tooth and asked me if the dentist at Bangkok Pattaya had mentioned anything about the ribbed needle she was using breaking off in my tooth -- she hadn't said anything. He explained that this is what had happened and what was causing so much pain. He then showed me the x-ray, where I could see the metal pin stuck in the canal and protruding out the bottom into my gum. The dentist also explained that because this piece of metal was lodged in my tooth, completing the root canal would now be impossible, and the tooth had to be extracted. He did the extraction and showed me the tooth with the metal sticking out the bottom of it. I couldn't believe it! This female dentist at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital not only put me through unnecessary pain and suffering but cost me a tooth (and charged me).

This story exposes the real problems with getting medical work done in Thailand. Thais hate to "lose face", and if she admitted that she had screwed up, she would have lost face, so she elected to stay quiet, instead. I work in the field of education here (as many do) and knowing how the Thai education system works should also make people wary of using Thai doctors. Thai students in Thai universities and schools are allowed to cheat on exams, plagiarize, and copy homework and assignment for other students. In other words, a Thai degree is nearly worthless -- the student being awarded his or her degree has not learned what they need to know.

Here's another quick tale of Thai medical incompetence. My ears occasionally need cleaning due to wax building up in them. I have had this procedure done in North America, where a large syringe filled with water is used. Here they scrape and use small sharp suction devices to do the job. That in itself is a dangerous way of cleaning ear cavities, but listen to this. One doctor prescribed a common product called "Waxsol" -- a wax softening solution. That seemed logical enough, and I wasn't surprised that he wanted me to put these drops in my ears before returning for the actual cleaning, but what did surprise me was that he prescribed 2 bottles of the stuff and said to use every day for 2 weeks. (It seemed like a long time to use these drops.) Fortunately, Waxsol comes with an information leaflet, and when I opened it, the warning "DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT FOR MORE THAN 3 CONSECUTIVE DAYS" was printed in very large letters at the top of the first page. This f***ing quack obviously didn't have a clue about the product he prescribed, and had I followed his instructions, I would probably have severe problems with my ears or be deaf today.

Take these stories to heart and avoid Thai doctors as much as you can. The Thai medical system is clearly inferior and downright dangerous.

[chatters]

Try Pattaya International, Dr. Aree...she sings while drilling....and did a good job on both so far!

DR AREE[ YOUNG LADY] IS THE BEST DENTIST I HAVEC EVER BEEN TO

[raro]

Try Pattaya International, Dr. Aree...she sings while drilling....and did a good job on both so far!

DR AREE[ YOUNG LADY] IS THE BEST DENTIST I HAVEC EVER BEEN TO

..as I said