When I was a kid,like other kids, I hated the the dentist’s,into my teen’s it did’nt really bother me having to go,then my dentist went private their fee’s went up, and pretty much from the age of 18 I did not attend a dentist until I was 29,up until then, I brushed twice a day and used mouth wash everyday,at the time of the pain arriving I was enjoying the best part of year travelling around Thailand,this is where my story begins…..
I had tooth ache for around 2/3 days,I was kinda hoping it would just go away,until one night when the pain was incruciating,I phoned the local dentist and managed to book an emergency appointment,on arrival everything seemed ok,I left my shoes outside,so apart from half a dozen men sitting there barefooted with a nervous look on their face,it was normal,for a dentist surgery.
After around fifteen minutes,the nurse informed me that I should be seen in a few minutes,at this point, screeming started to come from one of the rooms,followed by a big crashing sound,like a hundred bits of cutlery being chucked onto the floor,and then a different sound,one of a man,yelling with what sounded like tears on the back of his throat,STOP! STOP ! STOP !
At this point,my leg started to develop a bit of a springy bounce,I was seconds away from casually walking out of the door,when a slim Thai man, walked into reception and mispronounced my name,part of me felt like pretending it wasn’t my name,but as I was the only person left in the waiting room it would have made a hard sell.
As I followed this Asian man down a corridor,I passed an Australian man,I detected his groan as he walked towards me,(this was the man yelling stop) he nodded at me,and then uttered some comforting words,THEY’RE BUTCHERS MATE ! I TOLD THEM TO STOP, BUT THEY WOULD’NT,BLOODY BUTCHERS!!,followed by a groan as he made his way to reception.
Now I was in the dentist chair,I was being examined,while questioning my own sanity for still being in this butchers disguising itself as a dentist,after a few minutes,the dentist told me that I need to have a tooth extracted,but as it was infected,I needed to come back within a week, once the infection had gone away,he told me the pain would be very bad if he tried to take it out,in the condition it was in that day,he followed this up by telling me he could offer a cleaning service that day and even go into teeth whitening prices,at this point I presumed the dentist was just trying to put my extraction off to make more money out of me,the Thai’s can be a crafty bunch at times,was my thinking as I left his premises.
After a few sleepless nights had passed,I told my girlfriend that I could not bare to live another day with this pain,she mentioned an all female dentist,that she goes to,she said they were very honest and straight forward,the idea of an all female dentist gave me comfort,women in general are kind hearted was my thought process as I arrived at this new and recommended dentist.
On telling them that another dentist had refused to take the tooth out,they waved this concern away with a NOT WORRY,WE TAKE OUT TODAY FOR YOU,SIR.
I started to relax a little,im sure this wouldn’t be pleasant,but at least their not trying to sell me whitening gel in the process,I sit down,in the black leather chair,and two very small Thai ladies inspect my teeth,then within 30 seconds,they inject the area around the problematic tooth,im thinking they are gonna send me back to the waiting area for the numbness to commence,no such luck,no more than a minute has passed and I see what looks like plyers going into my mouth,I then feel a YANK! and then I get my official invitation to pain city,I can feel every tug,every twist,because the Thai female dentist is so small she cannot angle her device to really get hold of what is now a broken tooth,she decides to gain extra leverage by placing her elbow in my eye socket and twisting and yanking with all he little might,mean while,back in the reception area my girlfriend is laughing as,she tells me that there was a gentleman waiting in there,but after hearing my howls of pain, walked out of the surgery,(CLEVER BASTARD).
My hell continues for around 30mins,blood is pouring out of my mouth,and each time they venture into my mouth,they swear,its for the last time,I hear the nurse call me a big baby in Thai,and then before I leave I detect a bad vibe from them,as the receptionist informs them that their other victim is no longer around because of the noise I had made.
All this pain cost me £20,I would rather have paid a million not have gone through it,once back in England I visited a new dentist who said,she was surprised I wasn’t climbing the wall,explaining that the infection would have made the drugs I was given useless,and that it could not have been more painful if I had done it myself,the first Thai dentist was right to refuse to extract.
With my face throbbing I had to drive my motorbike to get home,with Thailand’s roads being one of the worst in the world,I managed to drive into a pot hole on the way home,at the same time catching my big toe on the ground whilst recovering the bike,so I now had a heartbeat in my gum and one also my big toe,that was now streaming of blood,not one of my best days!
Expats have informed me that,a lot of the dentist’s in Thailand,do not want to be dentist’s,and that its a lot of family pressure to continue in the family business,regardless if they have a caring nature or not.
If you are stuck in Thailand with a tooth ache,refer to pain killers and alcohol until you get back to the UK.
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