Earlier this year, when I was still living in Taiwan, I decided to go see the dentist. I knew I would be going back to America soon, and seeing a dentist in Taiwan is pretty cheap. You can get a checkup and cleaning for about 3 US dollars. The way they make their money is by getting you to agree to a lot of extra dental work, most of which you probably don't need.
I couldn't believe it when they told me that I had four (4!) cavities.
Four cavities? This cannot be possible. I've had about two cavities during my whole life, and now I suddenly have four? I didn't wake up one day and stop brushing my teeth, so how did this happen?
My initial instinct was not to trust what they had told me. They even told me that they wanted to re-fill a cavity that I had already gotten filled years ago. Something seemed fishy. I decided I wanted to get a second opinion. I was going to wait until I got back to America.
So today I saw an American dentist, and I have no cavities whatsoever. None. Nada. Zero. They did, however, want me to spend $485 on a "deep cleaning", but I didn't need any fillings.
So what is up with these Taiwan dentists? Are they just a bunch of scam artists?
Once in Kaohsiung a dentist tried to scam me, too. I had a relatively minor gum infection on one of my back-lower teeth. He wanted to pull the tooth--for like $3000 NT, as I recall. I have not had any trouble since then. As for your $485 "deep cleaning" it sounds like the Dentist was referring to cleaning out your pockets!
ReplyDeleteThat's crazy, too bad there is not some way you can report these guys.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, either very misinformed, or scam artist...who knows
ReplyDeleteSo crazy, hope this situation got settled!
ReplyDeleteMost of the time these kind of artists use old techniques for any dental procedure also they don't have up to date tool kit.
ReplyDelete