That’s me:
Or, rather, that was me before I had 4 wisdom teeth removed a couple of Fridays ago at Westcoast International on Dong Khoi by Dr. Andrew.
Here’s the after:
I haven’t put the teeth under my pillow for the tooth fairy yet, but who knows how much I can cash out with those!
I had been meaning to get my wisdom teeth out for awhile for a few years now. I still had insurance before I left for Vietnam in 2006, but the dentist got sloppy with the scheduling, and I missed out. I started thinking about doing it Vietnam about a year ago, and after a few rescheduled appointments, I finally got it done last week.
My appointment was at 10:30 AM. I came in, sat for a few minutes and then one of the dentists came to get me. I asked if I should take all 4 wisdom teeth out at once, and Dr. Andrew then came in (by the way I’m not sure if Dr. Andrew is a real doctor. The title should answer that question, but in Vietnam, it’s not uncommon for non-doctors to be called doctors) and we talked a little. I decided to do all 4 based on his advice, and I lay down, waiting for all the fun to begin.
“Get those needles away from me!â€
The shots actually went well. I would love to make-believe that I’m super tough, but I’m not. After the dentists applied a form of anesthesia on my gums and mouth, I was injected several times (probably 5-10 times total) all around my jaw. I actually didn’t feel much, and sometimes I wasn’t even sure I felt anything.
I was pleasantly surprised by the relatively little pain and discomfort I felt during the process. In the middle of it, I was thinking, “this is going pretty well, a lot better than I expected. It could definitely be a lot worse.â€
I had been told earlier that the whole process would take close to two hours, but it took less than one hr. Despite this, I didn’t feel like any of it was rushed. I closed my eyes and listened to music most of the time, but occasionally I’d open them and see a big sharp instrument. I would then quickly close my eyes again to avoid thinking about what was going on.
I have heard horror wisdom tooth stories of people with residual bleeding who later had to go to the emergency room. My sister had a swollen jaw for a week. As for me, I didn’t even take a nap after the surgery. The next morning, I was pretty low in pain and probably could have avoided pain medicine completely. I even had a fairly normal dinner the day after surgery, with just slower chewing to compensate for slight pain and soreness. In the week since, I’ve had some pain, but nothing particularly terrible and unendurable.
Perhaps some of this easy recovery could be just me, but I think most of the credit has to go to the dental work. Relatively little pain, little or no swelling- it could definitely have been a lot worse.
The end cost was a bit high, $700 USD for the four teeth with local anesthesia, another $250 if you want to sleep during the procedure. This certainly isn’t for a normal Vietnamese. I guess I’m lucky in that I have done well enough in my work career that I can save enough money to pay for this. Westcoast is probably the most expensive (and one of the best) dental practices in the country, so considering you’re getting the best, it wasn’t so bad. I don’t regret it at all. Dr. Andrew was nice through the process, and did a good job of communicating and just creating a positive atmosphere during the extraction. He called me the day after surgery just to check in, and the other dentists were pleasant as well.
In a way, none of what everyone did was that special or extraordinary. You do pay high fees for a high-end professional service. But just because someone is paid to be a professional, doesn’t mean they actually are.
Especially in Vietnam.
My Review Verdict on Westcoast: Certainly a premium dental service, but if you can afford it, I recommend them highly. Having wisdom tooth surgery is one of the most daunting dental experiences you can have, and I had all 4 teeth pulled out at once. Somehow, though, the procedure was done so well that I felt like I could have gone and played basketball the next day if I had really wanted to.
Tags: dentist, ho chi minh city, saigon, tphcm, Vietnam
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