Wednesday 7 March 2012

Toothache in Thailand

So I dutifully visit the dentist on Sydney before beginning my adventures. Along with a bill of hundreds of dollars she suggested I might need a tooth 'seen to' at some stage, but didn't have time to sort it. Assuming all would be ok after deciding the suggested removal of a wisdom tooth was unnecessary, I paid the bill, packed my bags and headed to Thailand.

Fast forward a few weeks .... tooth ache! And not the 'never caused a problem' wisdom tooth but the maybe some time get it 'seen to' tooth. I self diagnosed an infection and was taking a few antibiotics and a lot of nurofen but by this afternoon decided that dire action was required. Well, that and the thought of "better here than in India!"

So the appointment was made and the fear began. My friend P (not her real name but much easier to spell) drove me to Chalong Town. Upon arrival at said dentist the fear increased.

The exterior didn't exactly fill me with confidence.



And the bike seat shop next door didn't help!


But with thoughts of Indian dentists in my mind, I headed on in. I filled out a raft of paperwork for some bizarre reason and took my place in the chair. Note the hands gripping the arm of the chair - an indication of my state of relaxation.




A bit of poking, prodding and banging my teeth (and an xray) by the chick in the stained blue coat and my self diagnosis was confirmed.


I have an nasty infection in my gum caused by the tooth that needs to be 'seen to' at some stage. The quite sweet dentist suggested a root canal which I was happy to have, but then she told me I wasn't going to be here long enough to have it done.

So P and I headed back to Rawai happy that no drilling was required. I have a bag of strong antibiotics and a bag of ibuprofen and am only 250 baht out of pocket. Yes that's correct, about $8.50 for an examination and the bags of drugs.



I think I'll pop to the pharmacy and stock up on those drugs before heading to India. My first stop once I hit Japan will be a clean, well trained dentist!

Posted from somewhere round the world...

Location:Rawai

12 comments:

  1. How cheap was that hey!!! Wouldn't get that in Oz. Glad to hear that it all worked out for you. Keep smilin' Jen xx

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    1. Thanks Jen. I hope, Mark & Kate are doing well x

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  2. Was the paperwork an actual raft? Are you going to be okay just with antibiotics until you get to Japan? In Japan they have this thing called Ozone where they blow this stuff into your tooth and the decay goes away, no drilling required. I only saw that on TV though, I never heard of anyone having it in real life.

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    1. Raft meaning lots, you are way too lieral this evening. I hope I'll be ok til I get to Japan but will get some more antibiotics just in case

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  3. Also, I love that you actually had people take photos of you getting dental work done. lol.

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  4. I've had 'air abrasion' - my dentist has been doing it for 12 years or so. No drills! It's GREAT!
    Good luck with it Lynne... keep us posted
    Love Nat, xxx

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    1. Hey Nat, great to hear from you. If it flairs up while I'm in India I'll be in a spot of bother but am hoping the dentist in Japan can sort me out. Are you getting excited about your trip?

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  5. Hi Lynne, hope it goes ok. The antibiotics will only hold it at bay for a short while. The dentist could start the root canal treatment which woukd get you out of pain. It's called emergency extirpation and a temporary dressing is placed. They could put a harder temp filling over it. If it is cleaned out well enough it shoyld get you by for a few weeks and with the antibiotics you will be fine. Enjoying reading your adventures. Louise x

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    1. Thanks so much for all of this info. I did try and get the dentist to start the treatment but she didn't want to do it. BTW, which Louise is this?

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    2. Sorry - Grima - Krushka. My job is in the dental industry. Dentist sounds lazy if she wouldn't do that for you. Enjoying your blogs

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  6. We will source a dentist for you in Toyko.

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    1. You are very good sisters. I've read the site of your recommended dentist and it sounds great. There were no prices, are dentists in Japan super expensive?

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