Dentist in China (well, at least Changsha)

Having checked out the hospital during my trip to China in 2006 with tonsillitis, my teeth must have felt left out; can you imagine?  I had this particular tooth worked on in America before I left, costing me over $100 for the filling and a warning from the dentist that it might abscess.  Well it did.  I went to Changsha yesterday to see the dentist.  I spent almost as much money getting to and from, adding the metro shopping side trip, in taxi and bus fare as I did at the dentist.  Seriously.

11.50 yuan ($1.82us) doctor visit,
3.00 yuan (47 cents us) xray,
205.00 yuan ($32.39us) drilling into, cleaning out nerve, pack with medicine and close up the tooth.
219.50 yuan total ($32.39)
When have any of you went to the dentist, paying for the whole charge, and only had to pay $32.49???!!!!

The dentist said the return visit will be about 600 yuan ($94.79us)

So basically I am getting a root canal for $129.47 (not counting the travel expense).  However, the travel expense yesterday was only $24.41 usd. (taxi from Luiyang to Changsha (one hour drive), taxi to and from Metro shopping, taxi to bus station, bus to Liuyang, taxi to school) which I will have to pay again for the next visit along with a hotel room for the night, but still.  Now Luiyang is 46 miles as the crow flies, not sure the exact mileage, so I think this is a pretty good cost considering.  Even with all the travel expense, I will be spending less than $200 usd on a root canal.  In China, you pay the fee before the work is done.  So I went in and paid to see the dentist, then came back and paid for the xray she wanted, then while the dentist started, my field director went back out and paid for the day's work.

The dentist was very nice.  She explained everything and I had no pain (even without numbing).

Unlike American dentist offices though, you are not in a private room but in chest high cubicles with 4 or 5 dentist working at the same time with no assistants.  The dentist held the water and mirror in one hand and drilled with the other.  No suction; she would just stop and let me spit.  In the xray room, the technician put a disposable glove over this thing he put in my mouth and used my thumb to hold it in place while he did the xray. No little bite down thingies, didn't remove any jewelry, no protective vest.

So, back to the room with cubicles, while others were waiting their turn, or waiting on family members, they were watching me while I was being worked on.  Yes, you read correctly, while the dentist was working on my tooth there were other people watching the whole process. Maybe we will take pictures next time.

However, compared to my experiences with dentists in America, I had a great experience yesterday and I am not concerned about the follow up visit in the least. Would it be this way anywhere in China? Maybe not.

There are many things here that many of you would absolutely abhor, with this being the least of probably.  I would say to you that sometimes you can rule, regulate, and nik-pik yourself into a corner from which you are left to live a very limited life.  And contrary to what you believe, the Chinese people are thriving without all of your rules and regulations and they are a hard working, inventive society, who has a high regard for education and family.  All of which America lost many, many years ago.