My dentist friends back home are probably reading this thinking 'finally! someone who loves us!' I don't just love going to the dentist because I know a whole heap of them and probably taught (cell biology labs) some of the up coming graduates from New Zealand's only dental school. I love them for other reasons. I think going to the dentist is the best thing you can do for yourself because without your teeth you can't chew! If you can't chew, you can't eat!!! I love food!!! I love eating! Therefore, I love my teeth and who looks after my teeth?? My dentist! So I heart my dentist. I also heart my orthodontist, even though a little over 10 years ago she inflicted much pain on my choppers. There is at least one person in this world with the same shaped smile as me thanks to that wonderful woman! Seriously though, you only get one set of teeth so look after them.
Last night, I thought I was using my teeth for what they are supposed to be used for, eating raw carrots, when all of a sudden I noticed that some of the cement (glue, bond, のり, CR whatever you want to call it) holding my well hidden and very useful permanent/semi-permanent lower retaining wire in place had chipped off. It was most annoying. You know when you have a little bit of sharpness or pain or anything sticking out in your mouth that doesn't usually stick out? It was that kind of annoying. My tongue just would not stop playing with that darn bit of chipped cement. I decided, despite having used a few hours of my holiday at Christmas to go for a check up, to go to the dentist and make sure it was a) not going to fall out and b) that it got fixed!
An hour of surfing the interwebs at work hunting down a dentist later I asked a colleague to a) help me figure out if it was close and b) call them to check if there was a person who understood English on hand should my Japanese fail me. Straight after work I literally walked 300 meters from work to the clinic where I was the only patient and was seen immediately. I was so happy. They noticed that I spoke Japanese and decided to not bother with English and just got straight into it with the easy Japanese. I explained, using easy Japanese and gestures and with my tongue, which tooth it was, my colleague having explained what had happened on the phone. The nurse/dental assistant assessed it then got the dentist who also assessed it and asked the other woman helping and her to prepare some シアル (shi-aru [CR]) which was then applied straight onto the affected area after it had been cleaned up and dried out.
I've been through this procedure before at the orthodontist back home. Would you believe that this has happened to me before? Basically, what they do is whack some more cement on top as a quick fix until I decide to get the wire whipped out. However, usually when they are re-cementing it and they use a blue light to set it, they wear safety goggles and have me laying right back. Nope, not today, I was sitting up right and they were blue lighting with no goggles. However who am I to question it.
The whole experience was quite comfortable. There was some nice instrumental music playing on low volume in the background the whole time and the dentist was a man in his late fifties/early sixties. You bet your boots he probably understands English and appears very good at his job. The chairs weren't the most modern and there certainly weren't TVs on the roof like at my last dentist in Wellington but when I think about it the max-fac who took my wisdom teeth out didn't exactly have the most modern stuff in his consulting offices either.
Today was fast. In and out in about 20 minutes. Two people felt the area, decided the wire wasn't going to actually fall out and the quick fix that I expected came and went the same way the chip did. My tongue is happy. It's not running over something sharp any more. But the best part of the whole thing is that it all cost about ¥2400, bless the government health insurance scheme that I pay into.
So folks, if you want my advice. Look after those teeth. Japanese dentists can be good or bad it's trial and error but the facilities are never likely to be too bad. The people are kind and genuinely want to make sure your teeth are in good condition, heck they even gave me a blanket to keep me warm when I jumped in the chair and told me to look after myself when I left (I'm taking that as a subtle hint to lay off the raw ニンジン [ninjin/carrots]).
Make sure you get a check up annually, it may be the best thing you do for yourself. I know this because my uncle didn't go to a dentist for 50 years. He had to have them all out. He now has dentures that he actually uses, but before that the guy who took the teeth out and made the first set of dentures which were uncomfortable kicked the bucket with cancer, quite the long story there. You only have one set of teeth, be careful with them and if you have a retainer on your bottom teeth, make sure you bite your carrots using the back teeth, might be safer.
Trip to Japanese dentist. Check!! (even if I did cheat and it was for something that didn't need x-ras or drills.)
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