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Finding a caring dentist in Tokyo

B

Brice

Junior member
Joined
Mar 7, 2018
Messages
2
Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum but in need for help.
I have been living in Tokyo for now 12 years and I am 37 years old.
I teeth are not too bad as I did go to the dentist once or twice every year.

These days, one of my molar which had an inlay was giving me troubles.
The dentist with who I am working with took off the inlay and say some cavity getting in.
He scrubbed it and put something back in. the teeth was not painful anymore without doing anything but still sensitive to bite. He then decide to try to keep the root while putting a temporary crown.

Now it is definitely less sensitive but if I am biting something hard (like nuts or granola for instance), then, the pain comes (something that wouldn't happen on my healthy teeth).

Anyway, I have a feeling I am going to need a root canal.
And that's where I am afraid.

Last time he did put the temporary crown, the anesthesia did work to some extent but I still felt some nagging low level pain.
I am afraid that if he does the real work of taking the root then, the pain will be higher.
I know I am stressing and seeing the thing negative in advance but I can't think otherwise.

Now, the problem in Japan is that all these nice things you guys have in western countries about sedative dentistry and so on is only offered at premium dentist that do not accept national health insurance...
I am talking about 1000$s of dollars worth of bill.

Anyway, I have been trying to mail some dentists here to ask if they offer some support for people like us but I am receiving absolutely no replies.....

I will continue to search for a dentist that can care about scared people like me and that offer some proper anesthesia techniques like I saw explained in the forums. But I really feel alone in Japan trying to find something that doesn't exist.

The main reason is that Japanese are very strong to keep inside stress and pain and do not show emotions. That is why almost all dentists here do not care about it.

If you would have some ideas to help me to find a good dentist, it would be so welcome.
I really want to get this tooth properly treated.
But I don't want to end up having the dentist getting to the root and me screaming and being traumatized after that. I am not yet at that point and I would like to keep a good attitude towards dentists.

Thank you for your help and kind words in advance and reading this long post.
 
Hi Brice :welcome:,

let me preface this by saying that I know absolutely nothing about how the dental system works in Japan.

Generally speaking, the best person to do root canal treatment on a molar is an endodontist (a specialist for root canal treatment). They have special equipment and training to ensure that the treatment has the very best chance of succeeding. They also have advanced training in relieving pain of pulp tissues that have become painfully inflamed. This might address your concern regarding potential pain during treatment.

Obviously I have no idea whether the national health insurance in Japan would cover all or part of the costs of seeing an endodontist, but it might be worth finding out :)!
 
Thank you very much letsconnect for taking the time to get back to me.

What you are saying makes of course sense and there are in Japan people who are endodontists. However, they do not offer for most of them sedative dentistry or even Nitrous Oxyde gas...

I know by being stressed before the appointment, I am reducing the effectiveness of the anesthesia. I would like to put all the chances on my side to get the process as smooth as possible.

The other issue I have in Japan is that many doctors do some specialization in endodontic but I am unsure how much they are really specialists (people who do only endodontic are very rare, I found only few page). As soon as you check the ones with very fancy pages that shows the high tech stuff, then you have to pay just for the root canal treatment around 1300$...that doesn't even include the crown of course which is usually another 1000$.

I understand good health is extremely important and it is up to anyone to decide how much they are ready to put...I am just feeling that I could get something more in the middle in Europe for instance (I am French by the way) AND with some care like offering Halcion or MEOPA (a popular gas used in France for dentistry).

Also, again here, their focus is how technically good they are...nothing about pain free or sedative dentistry.

I don't want to sound like I am only complaining, haha!
I appreciate your reply but I am trying to work out a plan to find something that will work the best.
Thank you for any tips!
 
This may be worth a look:

http://www.tokyo-endodontist.com/english/policy.html

'We exercise the greatest possible degree of care to ensure that the patient feels no discomfort either during or after treatment and to promptly take care of any discomfort that may occur.'

Japanese endodontist who trained in USA.

Also to save costs, don't start the crown for several months allowing you to be sure the root canal has worked.

Just agree that they can only work on you provided you are fully numb.

https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/faq/root-canal/
 
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