Dentists - Personal Experience that may help some

[Korat88]

Over the years there have been a few threads asking about dentists in Bangkok. I went through them a few weeks ago and most had some good suggestions but tended to descend into fights or at least have one or two very vocal "fans" of certain places. So after asking a couple of well-known TV contributors for their opinions, based on replies they gave in the past on various threads, I decided to try my "luck" at the Dental Hospital at 88/88 Sukhumvit 49 ( www.dentalhospitalbangkok.com ). I also took my wife along as we both hadn't been for a while & she is braver than I am. I hate dentist visits owing to a bad experience with a filling when much younger!

Anyway, the place is nice enough. Limited parking in the basement. Six floors with dentists who specialize in specific procedures on each floor. Our first visit (a Saturday, as I work) went OK. Just a check up (X-ray and cleaning). I had asked in advance for someone with a "gentle" touch and after reading about one of their doctors from a sign on the reception desk on a reconnaissance trip the week before the visit asked for Dr. Ditsawan. She was indeed good and I can recommend her. My wife was given an appointment with another dentist and although good she felt a bit of pain during and after but needed “deeper” more comprehensive cleaning. She actually needed a second visit to do all the work. That came later.

Prior to the cleaning we were X-rayed and checked out first by another Dr. She mentioned my lower left wisdom tooth and advised removal, as many dentsits before her had done, but missed noticing a filling that the cleaning dentist noticed whilst she checked me out. She showed me the tooth in a mirror to prove it needed work but I sensed something was wrong which is why she checked it out more carefully and found the cavity.

Since I needed a filling in the tooth that I had the bad experience with years before I had to make an appointment for the following Saturday with my wife so that her cleaning could be continued too.

The following Saturday I sat in Dr. Paitoon’s chair and awaited the start of the filling. His first injection was well done & not too bad and the rest of the work, particularly the filling part was very good really. One of the best I have had, but there was something that they put into my mouth that dug into the gum under the tooth line & was very uncomfortable even with the local anesthetic in effect. He and his assistant were aware of my discomfort and did their best to make the discomfort ease. On the whole not a bad filling experience. During the course of checking my teeth Dr. Paitoon told me that I also needed two more fillings on a couple of upper teeth, which means that the two Dr.’s prior missed noticing them. The doctor admitted they were not urgent ones though & could wait for another time.

My wife had her filling work carried out by Dr. Sukit. She said he was very good. But searches on the www have found some patients who were not too impressed by him! Suppose it really does depend on luck sometimes! Dr. Waliporn is someone mention in the same correspondence as being very good! Might have to try her next time as I was thinking of switching to Dr. Sukit until I found the reviews!

Lastly, after my filling and seeing that I was already numb I decided to take the BIG decision to remove the wisdom tooth on the same day. So I went to the 4^th floor and met Dr. Veerasak. He was a bit heavy handed with the multiple extra injections he gave me probably thinking that the local already in place would not allow me to feel the new jabs, but I did feel them! Anyway, the actual removal of the tooth while quite lengthy, and need some cutting of the jaw, was not as bad as I feared overall. The first wisdom tooth I had taken out in the UK many years ago was definitely more of an experience as I felt the actual manipulation of the tooth more than on this occasion. Not cutting was needed with that one though. After some stitches I was given some antibiotic pills and my wisdom tooth and a guideline on what to do to take care in printed form in English. I returned last Saturday to take the stitches out with Dr. Veerasak. Slightly uncomfortable but not too bad. The healing has taken a while though and the Sunday after the removal when the anesthetic wore off + a few days afterwards were not happy days on the pain/discomfort level, but at last I am back to “normal”.

Hope this helps some. I have also typed it as a reference for myself in the years to come ;-) Good to know where to find the names of the dentists when needed!

Lastly I have heard, via Thai friends, that dentists who graduate from Mahidol University are the “best”. Hence it is worth checking where your dentist was trained and even better worth considering their hospital for visits. How true this is I am uncertain of, but more than one person has agreed. http://www.dt.mahidol.ac.th/eng/

[mommysboy]

Certainly when it comes to cleaning it is about the gentle touch, and responding to the patient. But it shouldn't put anyone up through the ceiling.

Drilling is another matter. Largely this will depend on whether your nerves are near the surface, and if the injection works or not. Given most dentists are up to a standard, hopefully anyway, individual skill with the drill is not much of a factor. It can be hell, and like you I have developed an aversion over the years due to some very nasty experiences. Not blaming the dentist mind, nice people doing a tough job.

I live in hope someone will post about a dentist who can provide advanced injection techniques, I'm told most dentists do a standard block, and as many can testify sometimes this is not adequate, especially with lower set of teeth.

Can anyone help?

[aarn]

Cor blimey what a dental story! Down in Prachuap Kiri Khan town, checkup is free, tooth removal 400B, cleaning/cosmetic attention 600B. Same for Thai and farang. AA

[xylophone]

Dentists, not my favourite subject, this after spending about 120,000 baht to get some bridges put in which would supposedly cure all of the problems I had been having with my teeth, but did not.

To cut a very long story short, many hours in the chair sometimes three at a time, multiple injections, ill fitting bridges that kept falling off, pain which has lasted now for over a year........... and much more.

Because I'm still not satisfied with the work that has been done I have been looking at other options. This particularly because I find the injections into the roof of the mouth particularly painful, especially when there are quite a few of them and I do not want to experience that pain again.

To add to the confusion and bad experience, all of the bridges, four of them were supposed to have been fitted temporarily so they could be taken out and altered, however it appears that one of them was actually put in with permanent cement and cannot be taken out, whereas the other three put in with temporary cement are also stuck fast and cannot be taken out.

I went to the Bangkok Phuket hospital to investigate their dental unit and I explained that my dentist back in NZ was able to give me a little Valium shot or something similar prior to working on my teeth, and was it possible here? Apparently no Valium can be administered, however nitrous oxide can which means you could be in Lala-land for a short period of time whilst the work is being undertaken........... so that will be my next port of call if the teeth prove more problematic than they already are.

In short, it appears that only hospitals can administer this sort of pre-work/pre-injection procedure.

[keeniau96]

I have been tended to by Dr, Supachai at Bangkok Phuket Hospital for 12 years now, including just about every common dental procedure known. Absolutely the best dentist I have ever had, very good hands and painless with injections (something which I have always dreaded).

[speedtripler]

I went to rama9 for checkup and she said I have 1 serious cavity that needs to be done today and 6 teeth damaged from "brushing too hard" which I'm not sure I believe or not that all need to be filled as well so... They said probably about 10,000+ and also there is a missing back molar tooth which she would like to replace with an implant job which can vary in cost depending on whether it's a screw in to bone or fixed to the surrounding teeth with cement or something, after that the general cleaning will be around 1800thb which seems steeper than some other places but I don't have much knowledge about it

I'll get a 2nd opinion before I do anything because I'm not sure I need this much "work" done and if the costs are in the right ballpark

[Korat88]

xylophone - What a story! Mine is nothing compared to yours. I had no real problems with my experience & neither did my wife as far as dentist visits go, but yours sounds so "painful" in many ways. I wish you all the best going forwards. Sometime I wonder if not seeing a dentist at all is better, unless there are serious issues that NEED to be attended to urgently!

speedtripler - Here are all the fees that were sent to me from the Dental Hospital as of July 2015 (taken from an e-mail sent to me while inquiring and making an appointment):

I would like to inform you the estimated cost of initial dental check up is 200 Baht, professional teeth cleaning 1,500-1,800 Baht and filling 1,400-2,200 Baht per tooth. The panoramic x-ray costs 1,000 Baht which will be recommended.

I would like to inform you the estimated cost of basic dental treatment as follows:

Oral Diagnosis Department

Initial oral examination 200 Baht

Panoramic x-ray 1,000 Baht

Intraoral periapical x-ray 200 Baht

Periodontal Department

Teeth cleaning or root planing per visit 1,500-1,800 Baht

Air-Flow stain removal 300-500 Baht

*The teeth cleaning or root planing 1 visit usually takes approximately 30 minutes, the heavy deposit plaque or gum disease case will be needing gum treatment more than one visit and longer period of time.

Oral Surgery Department

Simple tooth extraction 1,000 Baht

Surgical removal of tooth or root 3,000 Baht

Surgical removal of impacted tooth 4,500-5,500 Baht

A simple extraction is performed on a tooth that can be seen in the mouth. The oral surgeon commonly do simple extractions, and most can be done under a local anesthetic. A surgical removal involves teeth that cannot be seen easily in the mouth, either because they have broken off at the gum line or because they have not come in yet ( impacted teeth ).

Operative Department

Composite white filling one surface 1,400-1,600 Baht

Composite white filling two surfaces 1,600-1,800 Baht

Composite white filling three surfaces 1,800-2,000 Baht

Composite white filling four surfaces 2,000-2,200 Baht

Ceramic inlay, one surface (IPS e.max) 9,000 Baht

Ceramic inlay, two surfaces (IPS e.max) 10,000 Baht

Ceramic inlay, three surfaces (IPS e.max) 11,000 Baht

Gold inlay, one surface 10,000 Baht

Gold inlay, two surfaces 12,000 Baht

Gold inlay, three surfaces 14,000 Baht

Gold onlay, per tooth 16,000 Baht

Orthodontics
Traditional braces
The metal bracket for upper arch 16,000 Baht
The metal bracket for lower arch 16,000 Baht
The braces adjustment once a month 1,800 Baht
Ceramic braces
The ceramic bracket for upper arch 20,000 Baht
The ceramic bracket for lower arch 20,000 Baht
The ceramic bracket adjustment once a month 1,800 Baht
Damon braces
The Damon bracket for upper arch 30,000 Baht
The Damon bracket for lower arch 30,000 Baht
The Damon bracket adjustment every 2-3 months 1,800 Baht
Lingual braces
The gold lingual bracket for upper and lower arch 130,000 Baht
The gold lingual bracket adjustment once a month 5,000 Baht
Invisalign
Invisalign impression 9,000 Baht
Invisalign for upper and lower arch 130,000 Baht
Invisalign adjustment 5,000 Baht

Cosmetic Department

Laser Smile whitening per visit 20,000 Baht

Brite Smile whitening per visit 18,000 Baht
Zoom whitening 10,000 Baht

Home bleaching 8,000 Baht

Ceramic veneer IPS e.max per tooth 12,000 Baht

Composite resin veneer per tooth 6,000 Baht

Temporary veneer per tooth (if necessary) 1,000 Baht

For your information, We offer patients the promotion rate 50% discount for Laser Smile whitening from 20,000 Baht to be at 10,000 Baht or 10% discount for Brite Smile whitening from 18,000 Baht to be at 16,200 Baht or 10% discount for Zoom whitening from 10,000 Baht to be at 9,000 Baht. The Home Whitening costs 8,000 Baht including bleaching trays and one set of bleaching gel. The extra set of bleaching gel costs 1,200 Baht per set.

Endodontic Department

Root canal treatment, anterior tooth 9,000 Baht

Root canal treatment, premolar 10,000 Baht

Root canal treatment, molar 11,000 Baht

Removal of previous root canal filling 1,400-2,800 Baht

Microscopic endodontic therapy, anterior 13,000 Baht

Microscopic endodontic therapy, premolar 14,000 Baht

Microscopic endodontic therapy, molar 15,000 Baht

Advanced Microscopic Endodontics is a new technology that emphasizes visual information, rather than tactile information. Endodontic Specialists are discovering that every facet of endodontics is better, safer, and easier. The root canal treatment usually takes 2-3 visits and 3-7 days finish, it depends on severity of root canal infection which sometimes it will take more time and visits. If your tooth has been treated by root canal treatment, it may need metal post and crown restoration.

Restorative Department

Study model 900 Baht

Temporary crown or bridge per tooth 800-1,200 Baht

Cast post and core 3,500-5,500 Baht

Removable partial denture per arch 28,000 Baht

Complete denture per arch 28,000 Baht

Crown full ceramic Zirconia or E.max 18,000 Baht

Crown full gold per tooth 20,000-22,000 Baht

Crown or bridge porcelain fused to high 20,000 Baht

precious metal per tooth

Crown or bridge porcelain fused to semi 18,000 Baht

precious metal per tooth

Dental implant and crown porcelain 95,000-100,000 Baht

with high precious metal per tooth

Patients can choose either the metal framework underneath porcelain as high precious metal (85% gold) or semi precious metal (55% gold) and the full ceramic Zirconia /or E.max crown without metal framework, but we have not accepted a non precious metal because of the under standard quality. The all-ceramic E.max crown has many advantages, besides its high esthetic qualities, the function and longevity of the crown is excellent as well. The prices are included laboratory fee.

All dental laboratory works are made in our modern dental laboratory with well trained technicians at the fifth floor of Dental Hospital as enclosed.

All patients, Thais or Non-Thais alike, are charged the same dental fees. We have never overcharged foreigners.

Edited July 31, 2015 by Korat88

[xylophone]

Quote Korat88; "xylophone - What a story! Mine is nothing compared to yours. I had no real problems with my experience & neither did my wife as far as dentist visits go, but yours sounds so "painful" in many ways. I wish you all the best going forwards"

Thank you for your concern Korat88, and if I'd have described in detail everything that happened it would have taken a whole page!! That's why I am reluctant to visit a dentist again and would certainly want some form of anesthesia before they commenced work.

I was on Tramadol, antibiotics (2 kinds) and something else after they continually botched the work, causing me much pain over a long period of time and even now, 15 months later, all is not well with some pain and ill fitting bridges giving me sore gums, but I am living with it as the thought of some dentist having to drill/chisel out the permanent bridges thereby disturbing the ground down teeth underneath (sensitive) as well as probably damaging them, is unnerving. And already having paid 120k for them, don't want to pay that amount again.

Also thanks to Keeniau96 for the tip on Dr Supachai.

[mommysboy]

Dentists, not my favourite subject, this after spending about 120,000 baht to get some bridges put in which would supposedly cure all of the problems I had been having with my teeth, but did not.

To cut a very long story short, many hours in the chair sometimes three at a time, multiple injections, ill fitting bridges that kept falling off, pain which has lasted now for over a year........... and much more.

Because I'm still not satisfied with the work that has been done I have been looking at other options. This particularly because I find the injections into the roof of the mouth particularly painful, especially when there are quite a few of them and I do not want to experience that pain again.

To add to the confusion and bad experience, all of the bridges, four of them were supposed to have been fitted temporarily so they could be taken out and altered, however it appears that one of them was actually put in with permanent cement and cannot be taken out, whereas the other three put in with temporary cement are also stuck fast and cannot be taken out.

I went to the Bangkok Phuket hospital to investigate their dental unit and I explained that my dentist back in NZ was able to give me a little Valium shot or something similar prior to working on my teeth, and was it possible here? Apparently no Valium can be administered, however nitrous oxide can which means you could be in Lala-land for a short period of time whilst the work is being undertaken........... so that will be my next port of call if the teeth prove more problematic than they already are.

In short, it appears that only hospitals can administer this sort of pre-work/pre-injection procedure.

I completely sympathise.

Yes laughing gas sounds like a good option.

But I would have thought injections are the best answer providing they work for you. In theory they shouldn't hurt too much but it just goes to show there is a multitude of tortures awaiting in the dentist's chair.

It could be your bridges just need filing down to suit your bite. Or you need to adjust the bite yourself. What is wrong with them?

[xylophone]

Dentists, not my favourite subject, this after spending about 120,000 baht to get some bridges put in which would supposedly cure all of the problems I had been having with my teeth, but did not.

To cut a very long story short, many hours in the chair sometimes three at a time, multiple injections, ill fitting bridges that kept falling off, pain which has lasted now for over a year........... and much more.

Because I'm still not satisfied with the work that has been done I have been looking at other options. This particularly because I find the injections into the roof of the mouth particularly painful, especially when there are quite a few of them and I do not want to experience that pain again.

To add to the confusion and bad experience, all of the bridges, four of them were supposed to have been fitted temporarily so they could be taken out and altered, however it appears that one of them was actually put in with permanent cement and cannot be taken out, whereas the other three put in with temporary cement are also stuck fast and cannot be taken out.

I went to the Bangkok Phuket hospital to investigate their dental unit and I explained that my dentist back in NZ was able to give me a little Valium shot or something similar prior to working on my teeth, and was it possible here? Apparently no Valium can be administered, however nitrous oxide can which means you could be in Lala-land for a short period of time whilst the work is being undertaken........... so that will be my next port of call if the teeth prove more problematic than they already are.

In short, it appears that only hospitals can administer this sort of pre-work/pre-injection procedure.

I completely sympathise.

Yes laughing gas sounds like a good option.

But I would have thought injections are the best answer providing they work for you. In theory they shouldn't hurt too much but it just goes to show there is a multitude of tortures awaiting in the dentist's chair.

It could be your bridges just need filing down to suit your bite. Or you need to adjust the bite yourself. What is wrong with them?

Thank you for the sympathy, nice to know I'm not alone out there, and as for the laughing gas, well it's something they could administer before they do the injections into the roof of the mouth (which I absolutely abhor) as they were so painful from the last dentist as to be unimaginable.

And before anyone says that "you're a baby" I will add that I can stand most pain very well, including a broken leg playing football; a broken pelvis which tore ligaments and muscles in the pelvic area, and when the radiologist came out from the theatre after having wheeled me in there for an x-ray, called over a nurse very quickly for a pethidine injection as she said I must be in absolute agony with all the damage that had been done. Add to that a slipped disc, severely ruptured ligaments in both ankles and a broken nose six times, and you get the idea, and I suffered the pain of all of these quite well........but this pain!!!!

As for what is wrong with them...........well the ones that are now in permanently should have been put in with temporary cement but they got it wrong because they should have been removed to allow the settling in of a tooth that had been removed, so now the bridge is slightly askew (this bridge has four teeth on it) leaving quite a large gap where it doesn't fit nicely against the socket, as well as fitting badly so I get sore gums and a little pain if I eat on that side.

On the other side top and bottom are also bridges with four teeth on, and there is still some pain from hot or cold drinks somehow (after 15 months) not to mention some pain when I put pressure on when eating, however these also cannot be removed because the "temporary" cement won't budge – – this despite using something akin to a tool which mimics the action of a hammer!

The bite was not good, however seems to have adjusted itself slightly so that most of the teeth seem to touch, however as previously mentioned, I cannot really eat much on the left-hand side of my mouth because of the ill fitting bridge, whereas on the right-hand side even though I can eat, where the bridge ends, there is a gap between that and the gum which allows food to get down inside and is really hard to get out even with flossing, so that occasionally becomes infected........ I think that's enough for now!!!!!!

[maxme]

Thx Korat 88 for sharing, quite interesting indeed. My wife doesn't agree with you on where best dentists come from though lol. She says dentists who graduate from Chulalongkron University are best.

[Korat88]

I was told Chula were second on the list maxme, so they must both be good then!

[geisha]

When I had a lot of work done , in France, my new dentist gave me a few tiny injections before a bigger one, then you feel nothing!

Great, I was terrified of Dentists before finding him ,after having a wisdom tooth pulled that left me with facial and neck bruising that lasted over a month, I looked so bad I couldn't go to work for weeks. His excuse, difficult wisdom tooth to pull ,so he probably forced!!!!! I should have sued him!

[speedtripler]

When I had a lot of work done , in France, my new dentist gave me a few tiny injections before a bigger one, then you feel nothing!

Great, I was terrified of Dentists before finding him ,after having a wisdom tooth pulled that left me with facial and neck bruising that lasted over a month, I looked so bad I couldn't go to work for weeks. His excuse, difficult wisdom tooth to pull ,so he probably forced!!!!! I should have sued him!

Your case sounds very severe but I had a back tooth pulled out when I was 16-17 and the female dentist wasn't strong enough to pull it...

Luckily I was young and healthy then so they didn't worry about giving me plenty of anaesthetics and gas so I felt no pain

I think the older you get the more they worry about giving you too much anaesthetic and always err on the side of caution

[KittenKong]

As for what is wrong with them...........well the ones that are now in permanently should have been put in with temporary cement but they got it wrong because they should have been removed to allow the settling in of a tooth that had been removed, so now the bridge is slightly askew (this bridge has four teeth on it) leaving quite a large gap where it doesn't fit nicely against the socket, as well as fitting badly so I get sore gums and a little pain if I eat on that side.

On the other side top and bottom are also bridges with four teeth on, and there is still some pain from hot or cold drinks somehow (after 15 months) not to mention some pain when I put pressure on when eating, however these also cannot be removed because the "temporary" cement won't budge – – this despite using something akin to a tool which mimics the action of a hammer!

The bite was not good, however seems to have adjusted itself slightly so that most of the teeth seem to touch, however as previously mentioned, I cannot really eat much on the left-hand side of my mouth because of the ill fitting bridge, whereas on the right-hand side even though I can eat, where the bridge ends, there is a gap between that and the gum which allows food to get down inside and is really hard to get out even with flossing, so that occasionally becomes infected........ I think that's enough for now!!!!!!

Just curious as to why no one ever suggested an implant solution to you?

I have three and they are brilliant, to the point of me being unable to feel any difference at all between my implants and my real teeth. I would never think of doing anything else now.

[mommysboy]

I guess we all just want a painless, rather quick solution.

Implants take a while and are expensive. Some people don't much care too much about cosmetic effect with back teeth.

Certainly I empathise with xylophone and hope it is just a matter of adjusting bite or trimming fragments that may have impacted.

[KittenKong]

I guess we all just want a painless, rather quick solution.

Implants take a while and are expensive. Some people don't much care too much about cosmetic effect with back teeth.

Certainly I empathise with xylophone and hope it is just a matter of adjusting bite or trimming fragments that may have impacted.

Xylophone describes a year of pain and many hours spent in the dentist's chair having various bridges fitted, for a cost of 120KB. So not exactly quick or painless or cheap.

My three implants cost 40KB each and they were fitted with no pain at all in three visits for each implant. Each visit lasted under an hour, and some visits lasted only 20 minutes. The total duration of fitting an implant is about 3-4 months, start to finish, so my three were done in a year. Apparently two of them could have been done simultaneously but I wasnt bothered about that.

The whole idea of bridges (which always seem to involve messing about with healthy teeth) seems very old-fashioned to me and I see no obvious merit in it if other modern solutions are possible.

The cosmetic effect of implants is not important as far as I'm concerned. What's important to me is that with my implants it feels as though I have all my own teeth, and I can feel absolutely no foreign bodies of any type anywhere in my mouth. For me this is priceless.

[mommysboy]

I guess we all just want a painless, rather quick solution.

Implants take a while and are expensive. Some people don't much care too much about cosmetic effect with back teeth.

Certainly I empathise with xylophone and hope it is just a matter of adjusting bite or trimming fragments that may have impacted.

Xylophone describes a year of pain and many hours spent in the dentist's chair having various bridges fitted, for a cost of 120KB. So not exactly quick or painless or cheap.

My three implants cost 40KB each and they were fitted with no pain at all in three visits for each implant. Each visit lasted under an hour, and some visits lasted only 20 minutes. The total duration of fitting an implant is about 3-4 months, start to finish, so my three were done in a year. Apparently two of them could have been done simultaneously but I wasnt bothered about that.

The whole idea of bridges (which always seem to involve messing about with healthy teeth) seems very old-fashioned to me and I see no obvious merit in it if other modern solutions are possible.

The cosmetic effect of implants is not important as far as I'm concerned. What's important to me is that with my implants it feels as though I have all my own teeth, and I can feel absolutely no foreign bodies of any type anywhere in my mouth. For me this is priceless.

I'm guessing he hardly planned it that way. Things went wrong and costs escalated maybe. Perhaps the teeth either side had already been well drilled. But anyway even the best made plans go wrong. And no doubt had your implants been done badly, I'm sure you would be singing a different tune.

I honestly think practicable advice about how the situation can be resolved would be better.

Personally, I think go back to the people that did it, and get them to put it right. With a different dentist.

Regarding the injection, there is an oral paste which numbs the area, and the dentist can make a number of small quirts on the exterior too. Can you describe the pain xylophone? Is it a general phobia?

[xylophone]

I guess we all just want a painless, rather quick solution.

Implants take a while and are expensive. Some people don't much care too much about cosmetic effect with back teeth.

Certainly I empathise with xylophone and hope it is just a matter of adjusting bite or trimming fragments that may have impacted.

Xylophone describes a year of pain and many hours spent in the dentist's chair having various bridges fitted, for a cost of 120KB. So not exactly quick or painless or cheap.

My three implants cost 40KB each and they were fitted with no pain at all in three visits for each implant. Each visit lasted under an hour, and some visits lasted only 20 minutes. The total duration of fitting an implant is about 3-4 months, start to finish, so my three were done in a year. Apparently two of them could have been done simultaneously but I wasnt bothered about that.

The whole idea of bridges (which always seem to involve messing about with healthy teeth) seems very old-fashioned to me and I see no obvious merit in it if other modern solutions are possible.

The cosmetic effect of implants is not important as far as I'm concerned. What's important to me is that with my implants it feels as though I have all my own teeth, and I can feel absolutely no foreign bodies of any type anywhere in my mouth. For me this is priceless.

I'm guessing he hardly planned it that way. Things went wrong and costs escalated maybe. Perhaps the teeth either side had already been well drilled. But anyway even the best made plans go wrong. And no doubt had your implants been done badly, I'm sure you would be singing a different tune.

I honestly think practicable advice about how the situation can be resolved would be better.

Personally, I think go back to the people that did it, and get them to put it right. With a different dentist.

Regarding the injection, there is an oral paste which numbs the area, and the dentist can make a number of small quirts on the exterior too. Can you describe the pain xylophone? Is it a general phobia?

Thank you both of you for your considerate posts, so I will attempt to give you a bit more background.

As you say "mommysboy", I didn't plan it to happen like this and the reason I went along to see this dentist who had been recommended by a friend was because most of my back teeth had been filled at some time or another and even with the best porcelain-type fillings, several had cracked and started to leak, so from time to time I was having a few problems and thought I would go and seek advice as to how I could overcome them.

This dentist was a German guy who was supposedly an expert at dental implants/bridges etc so I felt quite comfortable when he explained that he could fit bridges/crowns to cover most of my back teeth up and down and that would stop any ongoing problems with cracked fillings etc.

I had just about all of my teeth apart from one large tooth missing on one side, however he said he might have to remove another tooth because he needed to get it out of the way to make a firm fitting over an adjacent tooth.........what he didn't explain was that in order to make all of this happen he would have to "grind down" many other teeth in order to get the bridges/crowns to fit, and this proved to be very painful exercise indeed.

For some reason not all of the injections seemed to work that well and I was often in a little pain when nerves were being touched or dentine was exposed, but the injections given in the roof of the mouth were extremely painful indeed (perhaps a little bit of a phobia here, but I know pain and this was certainly up there with any I have ever experienced) and on a couple of occasions I damn near struggled free of the chair because of the pain.

To add insult to injury, so to speak, there were times when I was in the dentist chair for two to three hours at a time and this amount of time with mouth open wide affected the ligaments at the side of the jaw, and after a day or so I was completely unable to open my mouth and could only suck liquids through a straw. I managed to overcome this by buying some Voltaren gel and massaging the ligaments (or whatever they are) three or four times a day to alleviate the problem, which seemed to help.

I had to return on many, many occasions and on every occasion that I had visited, and temporary bridges/crowns were fitted, they fell out, sometimes just driving away from the clinic. Of course, when the bridges/temporary crowns fell out, nerves were exposed and I was in quite a bit of discomfort, not once, but many times, and an infection in the gum certainly didn't help things.

Eventually four sets of bridges/crowns were made and all of them were put in with "temporary" cement so that they could be taken out and adjusted if necessary. This was very necessary because the sensation of hot and cold was ensuring that I had to be very careful what I was eating, however when I went back for the "millionth time" to see if it could be fixed, they couldn't get any of the temporary ones out, and more alarmingly, one set which was giving me (and them) the most problems because it had to fit into a socket left by a tooth they had removed, was found to have been put in with permanent cement.

This means that one upper set does not fit properly and still gives me pain if I eat on it. I have been back more times than I care to remember and I eventually lost faith in them because the German owner of the business was leaving most of this now to his daughter and another lady dentist, and I was just getting nowhere with anything, because they couldn't get any of the bridges/crowns out, but only grind them down a minimum amount, this after much other grinding of the bridges/crowns.

My first visit was in April 2014 and here we are in August 2015 and I still have some sensations of hot and cold as well as some pain when I eat on one side.

As you can imagine I am very reluctant to go back to ask them to put things right (again, again, again) because they have got so much wrong already and I really do not want to go through anything like that again. If I had my way I would get them to remove everything they have done and do a really professional job, but I just couldn't trust them to do anything anymore........ and to go through that much pain and discomfort for another year is just about unthinkable.

If it does become too much more of a problem, then I am seriously thinking about going to the Bangkok Phuket hospital, seeing the top dentist there and asking him to remove all of the work, but how one can do this without damaging the teeth underneath the bridges/crowns?

I suspect more work will be needed and not sure that I can face it right now.

For the record, I did have an implant done on a front tooth many years ago in New Zealand and have had no problems with it since, however implants were never suggested here, probably because I had all of my own teeth and although many of them had been filled, there were still a few good ones in there somewhere.

I hope this explains things a little more clearly and if I could turn back the clock, then I surely would.

[KittenKong]

My God, what a nightmare! You have my sympathy.

In your shoes I would never return to see those people as they seem to be completely incompetent. Try and salvage what you can somewhere else.

I had just about all of my teeth apart from one large tooth missing on one side, however he said he might have to remove another tooth because he needed to get it out of the way to make a firm fitting over an adjacent tooth.........what he didn't explain was that in order to make all of this happen he would have to "grind down" many other teeth in order to get the bridges/crowns to fit, and this proved to be very painful exercise indeed.

This is what puts me right off bridges. It seems they always have to damage neighbouring teeth to fit them. This doesnt happen with implants. Also having had braces when I was young I just dont fancy having anything I can feel in my mouth (dentures, metalwork). I cant feel my implants at all.

Edited August 12, 2015 by KittenKong

[mommysboy]

It could well be that the best thing to do is obtain a second opinion from another dentist. From there a solution may unfold.

I imagine Phuket is very expensive. Consider a trip to a neighbouring province. Groundwork first.

I think a government hospital would be best.

[xylophone]

It could well be that the best thing to do is obtain a second opinion from another dentist. From there a solution may unfold.

I imagine Phuket is very expensive. Consider a trip to a neighbouring province. Groundwork first.

I think a government hospital would be best.

Thanks again for your concern and I've decided that I will wait and see if anything drastic happens to what is in place now as I have "sort of" become used to the pain and try not to let it bother me too much.

I don't know when, but surely the three bridges/crowns (consisting of about three or four teeth on each one) which were put in with temporary cement but have remained firmly in place, will come loose at some time or another, and then it's decision time.

You are right about Phuket being very expensive and the Bangkok Phuket hospital even more so, however it appears to be the best option if top-class treatment is needed and I really don't want to go through the same saga again.

[mindovermatter]

There's actually a number of first rate dental places in Bangkok that offer treatments which are likely at par to the western standards. I have always been satisfied with Thantakit Dental in New Petchburi. Yes, some of their dentists were also graduates of Mahidol and most of them were even educated abroad, so it's not surprising that their dentists and staff were all fluent in English and highly-skilled. If you're leaning towards quality dental work, opting for a reputable and first class dental clinic will spare you from dental fails afterwards.