Paradise by the dentist’s drill

Article by guest author and featured on Substack, by Willing Life

I decide to book a flight to tropically beautiful Thailand, known as the land of smiles. I think, to add to my beautiful smile, why don’t I get a problematic wisdom tooth drilled out on the first day I’m there. I mean, it’s not really a holiday in paradise without the sound and feel of a drill reverberating throughout your skull, with the taste of blood and anaesthetic trickling down your throat. Is it?

I had shopped around a number of Australian dentists who were unwilling to go near the extraction for fear of causing nerve damage (the impacted tooth had a root that on X-rays looked entangled in a major nerve). The alternative was engaging the services of an oral surgeon, which would have ballooned the price of the procedure into the thousands.

After a quick Google search for Phuket dentists, I stumbled across a service provider called MyMediTravel. After my initial enquiry and some emails back and forth, they informed me that they had found a dentist willing to undertake the extraction. I would need detailed X-rays for the dentist to work with. An appointment was locked in for day one of my holidays.

After flying into Phuket in the morning, I nervously yet calmly made my way to the late afternoon appointment. I was more than ready to have this tooth out. The staff were friendly and amazing. I felt genuinely cared for, which is a great trait of service in Thailand everywhere. The paperwork was thorough. I was given 5mg of valium and some general painkillers. By the time I was called to the butcher, I mean dentist, my legs felt soft and doughy and I was no longer nervous, just calm.

The dentist talked me through the risks of nerve damage which I understood. We decided that he would probably leave the root in place and drill/dismantle the tooth. This is called a coronectomy and from what I had read online, it was a good option in my situation.

I’ve historically been the world’s biggest pussy-cats when it comes to needles, but I did not feel worried and didn’t feel anything. Maybe the valium, maybe the skill of the dentist. Maybe a bit of both. At this stage, I felt like the Elephant Man, such was the numbness on the left side of my face.

I had a Spotify playlist with some calming music on, which I enjoyed very much as the drilling into my tooth and jaw began. It felt like it took maybe 30-40 minutes for the procedure, but I was a bit cooked from the valium and couldn’t be totally sure how long it really took. I was free of the tooth and had been stitched up like Frankenstein. The tooth was out in bits, but staring at it, I noticed roots too. The dentist informed me that he had drilled the tooth out and left the root, but it was just sitting there, loose. So he plucked it out.

I was given painkillers, antibiotics and instructions to follow for optimal healing and sent on my merry way. I went and treated myself to a massage for 300 baht (about $13 AUD) and then ordered ice cream back to my hotel room. Not a bad way to polish off a full day of life that included an overnight flight to paradise and oral surgery.

I awoke the next day with some trepidation that maybe there would still be numbness indicating potential nerve damage, but there was none! My man the dental wizard had done a great job with a tricky surgery, which had caused zero nerve damage. Sure I was sore, and looked like I’d taken a right hook from an amateur boxer, but this was the result I wanted. I even received a follow-up call from the clinic checking to see that I was okay and that the feeling had returned to my face after the anaesthetic.

The appointment, X-rays, extraction, plus medication cost $540 AUD all up. I was happy with the price and felt the service and surgery exceeded my expectations. I was happy with the communication that I received during the whole process from MyMediTravel and would look to engage them again if and when I need some more dental work. The rest of my holiday was fantastic – there was an element of eating that frog, getting the hard thing out of the way, and then getting on with enjoying my time in paradise.