Be Cautious When Visiting Korean Dentists
Maybe this title is a little bit misleading. I’m sure Korean dentists are excellent at their job. There seems, however, to be a trend emerging amongst our friends who’ve visited the dentist in Korea.
Last winter Rachel and I went to our local dentist. We were livid when she said we needed a few million won’s worth of work on our teeth (a couple of thousand English pounds). Both of us take quite good care of our teeth. We brush three times a day, and apart from one filling each in the past couple of years, we haven’t needed anything done for a seriously long time.
This time, the dentist claimed Rachel needed a root canal. Three of our friends have also had root canals since they’ve been here. All of them were shocked to find out they needed one. Nevertheless, they agreed to it anyway. She needed lots of other treatment, too. My teeth apparently needed about 6 gold caps, 3 fillings, and God knows what else. Apart from a small filling, we declined the rest of the treatment.
During the consultation my scepticism peaked when the dentist, certain of herself, said I needed a filling on one particular tooth. I happened to know that the tooth in question has a natural dimple which I’ve had my entire adult-teeth life. The dentist pointed to the picture of this dimple and said ‘hole, filling’. A dentist with better English came to explain that I would definitely need a filling. I told him I thought this was a natural dimple and that it was never a problem before. The dentist hesitated and said ‘Yes, this is natural, but it is a precaution’.
I quickly got out of the chair and left.
Rachel visited the dentist in England last week. They were concerned by the fact that the Korean dentist was so quick to do a root canal without any x-ray and no complaints of pain or sensitivity from Rachel. It’s apparently impossible to know if a root canal is necessary without an x-ray. The English dentist did the x-ray anyway and found no problems at all.
Rachel may be visiting the dentist some time soon
Almost every expat I’ve spoken to has said the same thing – they came to Korea with relatively healthy teeth and after visiting a Korean dentist they’re convinced their mouth is falling to bits.
Like I said at the beginning, I think Korean dentists are just as good as dentists from any other country. I think the problem lies in the standard of practice between Korea and the West. In Korea, the dentists seem very quick to go for major preventative work on any tooth which may or may not present a problem in the future. It seems like they are trying to be as cautious as possible. They will drill the tooth away and place a cap on it in the hope that whatever future problems that may have happened are now prevented.
In the West, on the contrary, removing any part of the tooth or enamel that doesn’t need removed is not encouraged. Naturally we only get one set of teeth, and the enamel isn’t keen to grow back, so we need to keep a hold of all that we can.
I’m not sure which approach is better, but I know which one I prefer.
I hope I haven’t frightened anyone who hasn’t visited a Korean dentist with this. There are lost of expats who’ve visited the dentist here and were delighted with the treatment. Seemingly they prefer dentistry here ahead of their own country. In fact, I’ve included a few links below where other bloggers have had positive overall experiences with Korean dentists.
p.s. Anyone in Gwangju, apparently the dentist at Cheonam University is excellent. We should have visited him instead of our local practitioner.
Positive experiences
Korean Dentists – Wisdon Removal
Korean Dentist – Marmot’s Hole – Positive comments below the article
Korean Dentist – A dutchman’s experience
korean Dentists – Good experience overall
