Seeing a Chinese Dentist

Well, wouldn't you know? Just because you tell the dentist you see in America a week before leaving the country that you can't possibly have oral surgery done does not mean that your mouth finds a way to magically heal itself. No, it just means you get to have that oral surgery in China! I happen to be super lucky and have not just a wisdom tooth that needed to be pulled but a nice little case of gingivitis. I swear I brush my teeth two times a day...why do they hate me all of a sudden? I've put it off as long as I could, but at some point realized I wasn't going to make it the whole year so I might as well get the pain in my mouth checked out. Sarah in the office was incredibly helpful and found a nice little dental cli it downtown with an English speaking doctor! (Only one though, and not perfect English, but pretty good.) 

It is a smaller clinic, but wasn't butcher shop reminiscent as a friend insisted all Chinese dentists were. This one even took a stab at western style decorations with an aquarium in the lobby!

You have to hand it to communist countries, they provide super affordable healthcare. My checkup was absolutely free. Then Dr.Zhou started preparing the gum by working at it with some kind of medicine for two weeks that only cost 50 rmb ($8.50) a session. This week was the big one. They numbed the area, and since I didn't get the luxury of getting knocked out by gas, I just tried to keep my eyes shut so I didn't have to see three Chinese people huddled over my face holding various sharp looking instruments. They literally sewed up my gums (I didn't even know you could do that!) and then holding my head still with one arm and pulling on the tooth with the other, Zhou yanked the wisdom tooth out. Surprisingly quickly I must say for such a skinny guy. The total cost for both operations? 300 rmb (50$). I even got some medicine and painkillers thrown in for free.

In summary, going to the dentist in China for surgery is not that bad. It's not the most enjoyable thing in the world, but that's the nature of dentistry. My recommendation for anyone who finds themselves in a similar position, make sure the doctor speaks English and takes his time to explain to you exactly what it is that he is going to do before hand. The last thing you'd want is to have a mouth full of gaping holes after a visit!

And....here's a gross shot of my bloody tooth and the crazy things that were in my mouth: