Recently I was advised that I should get my teeth cleaned. I try to take good care of my teeth since I have been paying for them for the last 44 years. They are precious to me. The last time I had dental work done was when I was working in Bangkok over 8 years ago, so I researched the local dental landscape. I settled on Dental Care Center Pattaya to re-acquaint myself with my teeth and their needs.
In the past 8 years, I have had 2 teeth chipped and part of a filling fall out, so I knew I had problems that needed to be addressed, but I was not sure how bad they would be.
Dental Care Center Pattaya
I booked my first dental appointment approximately 4 weeks ago over the phone. I had to wait almost 2 weeks to see the doctor as the clinic is popular and I wanted to see a female dentist. I have had bad experiences with male dentists in the past.
The main waiting area is expansive with plenty of space and drinks available.
When I arrived for the initial appointment, I was paying cash, so no forms to fill out, simply my name, address, and phone number. I was 15 minutes early but was situated quickly into a dental chair in all of its splendor. Bear with me here, I have never had fond memories of dental chairs, and I am certain many of you feel the same way.
Dr. Monthirada Leekpai soon made an appearance and asked me what I required. I assume this was a formality as I had booked a cleaning and an assessment. Indeed, she soon confirmed that this was what was scheduled and got to work.
The only bad thing about Dental Care Center Pattaya is that there is limited parking as it is located on Pattaya Klang, and it is not easy to park a car there.
The cleaning of my teeth
I was prepared for some serious work here as I have avoided a dentist for a while, and I have “camel teeth” according to my Thai family. My lower front teeth are all squeezed together and overlap in some cases. When I was growing up braces to straighten perfectly good teeth were not a necessity, and I never felt the need to have it done myself. So, often there is accumulated plaque and scale built up there. I have been slowly getting better at keeping that area clean, but I was still expecting to feel the dentist mining away there for a while.
Surprisingly, it did not take long for the sonic cleaner to finish with all of my teeth. Dr. Leekpai was fast and efficient. Nothing hurt at all.
The Bad News
She informed me that I had 2 cavities, and one tooth would need a crown. I would need to book another appointment to get these things fixed. I would need to decide if I wanted a Porcelain crown at 5000 THB, or the ceramic at 9000 THB.
The total cost for cleaning my teeth was 700THB. I was there for approximately 30 minutes. I made an appointment for the following week to prep the fillings and crown area. The crown itself would take another week.
Returning to the Scene
One week later I was back in the chair and prepared for the worst. Needles and drilling are everybody’s nightmare. I did have to wait about 20 minutes for Dr. Leekpai to arrive, and she apologized for being late when she did so, but I was happily enjoying the delay for the drilling, so, it was okay.
Surprisingly it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Once Dr. Leekpai got started, she informed me that it looked like there would be 2 crowns needed as one tooth was worse than she thought. I knew this might be a problem as those two teeth have been bad for a while now, so I was not surprised. I said OKAY, let’s go for 2 and we continued on.
It did take some time to prep the teeth for crowns, one of the cavities was adjacent, so the whole area was numb, but it seemed to be a different numb from what I remembered. I am getting old, so maybe I just do not remember things so well anymore.
Shaping teeth for crown placement seems to take some time, however, it is different from when the dentist is in there drilling for oil when you have a massive cavity to fill. Once the teeth were shaped there was some mild discomfiture while what appeared to be silly putty was applied to the top and bottom of my mouth. I suppose this is to accurately gauge the shape and how the teeth fit together to build the crowns, but it still felt weird.
I was in the chair for close to an hour and while it is never pleasant in a dental chair, I felt no pain after the first needle with the numbing agent. Once the doctor was finished with these teeth to her satisfaction, she announced, “I think that is enough for today”. I could not agree more.
I left the shop with one cavity fixed, 2 teeth prepped for crowns, and a temporary shielding around the teeth that would have crowns.
The total cost for today was 18,000 THB. I suppose they want to be sure you will pay for the crowns before they have them made outside the shop. I am not sure why there was no charge for the cavity fill, but I suppose it was lumped in there with the crown work.
It took close to 2 hours for the left side of my face to feel anything again, but I did not suffer any lingering after-effects, in spite of the doctor telling me that one of the teeth appeared close to the nerve.
Crown me
When I returned a week later to have the crowns installed, I was happy to be getting them in. I had experienced no issues over the week with the exception when I chewed some food on that side of my mouth one time, and that just did not feel right.
It was a little bit busier when I returned as it was 1300 and there were several people waiting. However, I was ushered into the chair shortly after 1300, and within a few moments, Dr. Monthirada joined me. The first question she asked was if I had any difficulties over the week or anything I wanted to say. I had no issues to report, and we soon got down to installing the crowns.
The nub of my tooth where the crowns were to be installed was inspected. The protective coverings along the sides were removed and the area prepped. Mostly cleaning and drying as far as I could tell.
The two crowns were positioned on top of the nub and forcefully pushed into place. Please note this was not a painful procedure, but it did take some effort on the part of the doctor. Once in place, she checked the fit and the bite of the two crowns against my other teeth. There were some minor adjustments made to ensure a good fit. Some dental floss was applied to ensure I could continue to floss normally. I do floss regularly.
The crowns were then removed and some more cleaning and drying of the area was carried out. A gauze was placed against the nubs to keep them dry, and then onward to adhesive.
Locking the Crowns into Place
The adhesive was applied to the nubs of my teeth and the crowns were once again forcefully maneuvered into place. I do not know how to say this any better. It takes effort to get them in place and the doctor had to exert the effort required. There were several beeps while the adhesive was allowed to dry and then it was done – or so I thought.
The biggest problem that I had with the crowns was getting the dental floss back between those teeth once they were glued into place. I thought effort was expended in placing there, but I was wrong. The real effort came with getting that floss back between the two crowns themselves, and the teeth on either side of them. A lot of effort was needed along with some judicious use of the drill.
Have you ever tried to ram some dental floss between your teeth and then had it slip through into the gum – well you know what I am talking about. It was really only the one time, but it did wake me up. It was not as bad as it seemed, because I was not cut by the floss and there was no residual pain.
Anyway, the floss was worked through, and it was all over. I had two new crowns that felt great next to my other teeth. I admit the area was a little tender for the first day, but rapidly improved until now a week later it feels like I always had these crowns.
Note: I do not know exactly what floss the dentist was using, but it must have been industrial strength. It did not break and did not leave behind any flossy bits stuck between my teeth. One of the first things I did when I got back home was to floss my teeth with my regular floss and I am happy to report there were no issues at all.
The Last Filling
Dr. Monthirada asked me if I wanted to go for the last filling today, or if I had had enough. It was up to me. To be truthful, I just wanted it to be over, and although the filling was on the other side of my mouth, I still wanted it to be done that day.
I was not sure how bad fixing that filling was going to be, but braced myself for the worst and said, “Go ahead please”.
It turned out it was not so much a filling as a repair of a tooth that had chipped. No injection was required, a short stint with the fine drill, followed by the coarser drill and we were ready to slap in the filling.
The whole thing took less than 15 minutes, and I was done. Anticlimactic, I know.
A Summary of my Experience at Dental Care Center
I finally got off my ass and got my teeth looked at after 9 or 10 years. I had no issues with them, they were not hurting, but it was time.
My research led me to the Dental Care Center on Pattaya Klang Road. I made my appointment and got a cleaning and an assessment followed by two crowns and 2 fillings.
Dr. Monthirada Leekpai was friendly and at the same time very professional. I had minimal discomfort during any of the procedures and I am very satisfied with the results. The two crowns feel as if they have always been there, and I have no issues eating with them.
Overall, I am very happy with the Dental Care Center on Pattaya Klang, and I would encourage you to try them out if you need a dentist. I will certainly be returning there.
