Bangkok To Krakow

Everyone has a tooth story. Mine is the painful tale of 3 root canals, 15 injections in one sitting and an aching pocket. My teeth have been the biggest bane and pain of my life. For as long as I remember every check up would have the dentist rattling of a sequence of numbers and letters that would make a code breakers ears bleed. I would cringe with anticipation, awaiting each pronouncement “Root canal, root canal, major cavity, infection, etcetera, etcetera”. Then my calendar would be booked out for the next year.

Someone once told me that Europeans have bad teeth because of the poor water quality at the time we were growing up. Not sure how true that is but my mother, brother and I all have bad teeth. My father doesn’t. Maybe the water was better on his side of the street. Either way, my teeth suck so when we decided to go to Thailand, I thought I’d further research the rumours of good dental care in this foreign land.

In my research I stumbled across the concept of Medical Tourism. Thailand boasts a strong medical tourism industry and it appears to be growing every year. My experience in this regard has been exceptional. Firstly, when we had our vaccinations done at the Travel Clinic in Bangkok and now with my dental makeover in Chiang Mai. Yay, not going to end up on 60 minutes with a dental disaster story!

Grace Dental Clinic, although a little expensive by local Thai standards, was at least 1/3 of the price of what you would pay in Australia for top specialist care and the latest technological innovations. No I am not taking commission for that plug. Still a tuk tuk driver in training I’ve never been to a specialist dentist so this was a phenomenal experience. I was directed from the Family Dentist, to the Cleaning Dentist, to the X-Ray Dentist, to the Root Canal Dentist and back to the Family Dentist all within several weeks. In and out.

The reception staff and doctors speak good English. However, a smidgen of Thai goes a long way… I managed to bite the X-Ray Dentist, and embarrassingly asked who I assumed was the Dentist, “What will we be doing today?” to which she replied hesitantly “Umm… well I will be assisting the Dentist”. Of course I thought and I think I will just lie here quietly trying not to bite anyone. Its funny because I am the worst with the nuances of English so when my questions get answered so literally I feel like I just got a little dose of my medicine. I always forget to keep conversations simple.

But I digress.. Basically, the clinic was clean, professional and welcoming. In addition, relatively speaking, for the price of one root canal I received the root canal, 3 crowns, 3 fillings, a deep clean and the X-Rays. If you’re saving up money for that next visit to the dentist why not book yourself a ticket to Thailand and have a holiday while your teeth get a pearly white makeover.

So I have my chompers back in good nick and steak is back on the menu! And on that note does anyone know of any good steak houses in Thailand?