Thursday, October 9, 2014

The Japanese Dentist - Part 2

I wrote about the first trip to the dentist for the chipped filling here.  Last week I went back again to actually get the new filling.  The old filling that chipped was a white filling that I think I’ve had since I was in college (a long time ago!)

When I arrived, the dentist showed me a cast made from the impression he took the last time.  There were three white upper teeth and three lower teeth, with a little piece of silver in the middle lower tooth.  After he removed the temporary filling from my tooth, he took the little piece of silver from the cast and put it in the space.

When I tapped my teeth together, it felt a little high, so I said Sukoshi takai desu.  Takai can mean high, like a tall building, or it can mean expensive.  I don’t know if it means high as in the filling.  I hope the dentist didn’t think I said it was expensive, especially since I hadn’t received the bill yet.  I think he probably understood what I meant because he filed it down a little, then glued it in permanently.

The filling feels good and I’ve had no problems with it.  And just in case you are wondering, the cost was not takai. The total cost for both trips to the dentist was about 3000 yen (under $30 USD).

4 comments:

Wendy said...

glad all went well with the dental appointment.

Thoeria said...

That's a pretty good price for a dentist ....not sure about in the States....but definitely here! Glad that it all went well :)

D1-D2 said...

That IS a pretty good price. In Canada it is much higher (especially if you're not covered by your employer)

Queeniepatch said...

Your Japanese is perfect, the dentist must be impressed with your language skills. It is surprising how good and cheap dental care is sin Japan.