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?

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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.

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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.

Paradise by the dentist's drill | News by Thaiger

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.

HealthOpinionThailand Travel

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