I am so exhausted with dentists here...
There are many things I enjoy about Japan, but the way that most dentists operate here is making my hair turn grey.
This is my time with four different dentists in Tokyo
September:
Goes to Dentist 2 with cracked painful tooth.
Get an X-Ray and an examination.
Gets told that I will have to make a new appointment where we will discuss what should happen.
Comes back a week later.
They cannot offer me any treatment that is covered by insurance.
1 week later I go to Dentist 2
Get an X-Ray and an examination.
They drill in the tooth and puts a temporary filling and tells me to make new appointment to finish treatment.
October:
I return to Dentist 2.
They remove filling, removes one root canal out of three.
Puts new temporary filling, tells me to schedule new appointment.
3 weeks later
They remove filling, removes second canal out of three.
Puts new temporary filling, tells me to schedule new appointment.
November:
I return to Dentist 2
They remove filling, removes one root canal out of three.
Puts new temporary filling, tells me to schedule new appointment for a crown.
2 weeks later
They take measurements and mold for new crow.
Tells me to schedule new appointment for getting crown attached.
December:
Start getting extreme pain in the tooth with the temporary filling.
Dentist 2 has no available times so I go to Dentist 3 for emergency treatment.
Dentist 3 performs my third X-Ray and Examination.
Confirms that the tooth is indeed infected.
Tells me that I will have to make a new appointment where we will discuss what should happen
3 days later
They decide to give me antibiotics and no further treatment.
January:
Only a few weeks after taking antibiotics I develop a giant abscess under the tooth with the temporary filling. My appointment with Dentist 2 is still a week away, and because my face is starting to look swollen I got to Dentist 4.
Gets my fourth X-Ray and examination
Gets a dental cleaning of all the other teeth, which I did not ask for.
In the last 10 minutes they remove the temporary filling so the "infection can come out", cuts a hole in the abscess and... nothing. They tell me to schedule a new appointment and sends me home with an open tooth and a now bleeding abscess
I am almost too tired to go back to Dentist 2, because I know that the procedure that Dentist 4 made will now be the main topic and will delay my crown even further.
It has now been nearly 5 months for one... ONE tooth.
In comparison, back in Europe I got a full root canal treatment (all three roots) in one day, and they had a plastic filling ready for me the week after.
I am happy that dentists in Japan are cheaper, but oh my god I am SO tired of these multi-visits where they do as little as possible before sending you home.