Han-guk Dentistry

I think I've mentioned it before, but Korean dental care deserves a post of its own. The thing you should know if you haven't lived in Korea is that dental care is very hit-or-miss. There's a national problem currently receiving governmental attention that a lot of dentists here are fraudulent, overcharge, and WAY over diagnose dental work. Being American, it doesn't surprise me to hear that any doctor would try to make extra money, but it's definitely become a cause for alarm amongst Koreans and foreigners residing in Dae-ha-min-guk. There are horror stories of people being told they have 10-15 cavities, that they need thousands of dollars (hundreds of thousands of won) worth of dental work, that patients are in grave danger if they don't get said work done, etc, etc. I've also heard horror stories of patients receiving inadequate or inappropriate care, not getting proper anesthetic, you get the idea. HOWEVER, this post is not about these issues. This post is about my dentist and what I think the intent of the Korean dental system is.

I found my dentist recommended on a few websites for Jeju foreigners about 6 months ago. Again, being American, I have not had adequate health insurance since I finished university and, therefore, not had regular dental care. I put off going for the 1st year I was here, but finally sucked up my fears and procrastination and went during my February vacation. I don't actually know my dentist's name, but I believe his family name is Lee so we'll call him Dr. Lee. Dr. Lee started by giving me an x-ray and detailing - in very nice English - the work he think I needed including extraction of wisdom teeth, replacement of old amalgam fillings, and new teeth that needed fixing. We talked a lot about the different kinds of filling material, the costs with health insurance, the pain of treatments, etc. That day I ended with a tooth cleaning and the total cost including x-rays was around 60,000won ($60). The cleaning is actually not covered my insurance, but practically everything else is. In the past 5 months I've had all but 1 old filling removed, the new cavities drilled, one root canal and crown, and all new resin (the clear kind) fillings. The cost of each filling is 70,000won and that is because I opt for stronger resin fillings instead of amalgam (the silver kind which would cost me $5 each). The root canal was less than $100 total (over 5 appointments) and the crown cost $350. (Actually less since the won isn't as strong as the round dollar equivalent.) I've never waited more than 10 minutes, never had an appointment longer than 40 min, and never had more pain than an anesthesia injection. Three or four cavities were filled without anesthesia, in fact, and there was absolutely no pain.

So what prompts this cheery post today? Well, I've been milling over the wisdom teeth extraction since that initial visit in February. I've been wary to have the teeth taken out because of some re-constructive jaw surgery I had in my teens and the metal pins that are still embedded in my jaw. Dr. Lee noted my concern and offered to send my x-rays and his recommendation to me via email so I could contact my dentist at home and discuss the necessity of said treatment. So obviously, he's not trying to pull anything over on me. Plus, I can tell that the wisdom teeth are crowding the already unstable environment in my jaw and that they should come out. Preferably sooner than later. So today I finally made the decision to have them removed before I leave in late August. I had a follow-up appointment scheduled after last week's periodontal treatment and I agreed that the teeth would, indeed, be coming out. So Dr. Lee says, "Okay. We'll give you an anesthetic and then you need to wait 10 minutes for it to take affect." "I'm sorry? Right now? We're pulling it right now?" "Sure. There will be no discomfort and no interruption to your daily routine. Can you come in tomorrow for a follow-up?" "Uh..okay. How much will it cost?" "Oh, maybe 15,000won ($15) or less. It's very cheap with health insurance." "Right." 15 minutes later I left with a prescription for a mild pain-killer and anti-biotic (which cost me $2.30), a hole in my wallet of $6.30 for the tooth extraction, and an English letter detailing the possible side effects of the procedure.

I'm baffled by the simplicity of this system.

Maybe it's this easy at home if you have the right insurance and a doctor you trust, but to me it seems I've hit the dental jackpot. My co-teacher today was saying that people throughout Asia come to Korea to get their dental work done. Even with no health insurance it's still remarkably inexpensive and, well, easy.

So I'm gnawing at a piece of gauze, anesthetic 90% worn off, about to take said pills and eat my dinner of baked french fries (I thought soft would be good for the teeth, but apparently I'm allowed to eat normally 2 hours after the extraction). Just FYI, the second tooth is slightly impacted so there will be a small amount of surgical work to pull it out. I was told today by Dr. Lee that this will take a 30 minute appointment. And probably also cost less than $10.

There are a lot of things about "the Korean system" that drive me up the wall. I'll tell you about them someday if you want to hear. But this one, when done the way it was intended, is pretty awesome. If you live in Jeju - or even if you're visiting and in need of some dental work - go see my dentist. It's the Yein Dental Clinic on the 3rd floor next to Emart in Shin Jeju. I don't think I ever left a dentist happy before, but here I do every time. That is certainly a credit to Dr. Lee.

Follow-up 8/22: I had the 2nd tooth removed last Monday. It was as quick and painless as the first, healed in a week and cost 22,000won (about $20). I may just fly back to Korea every year for my dental work. It'll probably be cheaper than seeing a dentist in America.