Those Perfect Little Teeth
Don't worry, Papa, I have no cavities in my teeth, Cici told me before we went to the dentist. The orthodontist required a visit to a regular dentist, and certification that all necessary dental work had been completed, prior to putting the braces on her teeth. This is why we needed to see the dentist.
So yesterday I took Cici to visit my Chinese dentist in Chinatown. He is the one who installed the implant in my mouth more than a year ago. I like him and think he is a talented dentist, though his staff always agressively tries to upsell everything. This upselling began shortly after we arrived and the dental hygienist began to clean Cici's teeth. The doctor will want to remove her wisdom teeth, she told me. They should come out before the braces are put in, she continued. That isn't happening, I told her. Let's just take care of cleaning her teeth.
When the dentist came in to examine Cici's teeth, he could see the same digital x-ray of her teeth on the large screen. Her wisdom teeth haven't erupted yet, he commented, so we won't worry about them. If they become a problem in the future we can talk about it then. My feelings exactly.
But he did find and show me the ten teeth that had occlusions that required attention. Cici was correct that she had no cavities that could be seen, but we could see beneath the surface of the teeth. These teeth definitely needed attention before they became a real problem.
Let the negotiating begin. Don't give me lao wei (foreigner) pricing, I told the doctor. He just grinned and said that his office manager would discuss pricing with me. But you are Mr. Solomon, he said, so we always give you a discount. A discount from lao wei pricing, I chided him. He and I actually get along quite well, and he knows I have referred other dental patients to him. He knows Ping, and had met Cici previously, so he was glad to have us there.
The office manager began to talley it up at $100 per tooth. What? I said. How long will this take the doctor to do the work? About an hour, she said. But he won't have time to do it all today. We will give you a ten percent discount, she told me. That is still lao wei pricing, I told her. We went back and forth, talking about other things along with the price. Eventually she said, because you are Mr. Solomon, we will give you a twenty percent discount. That is still too much, I told her, but if the doctor can get all the work done today while we are here, that will save a lot of my time, and my time is valuable.
Let me check with the doctor. I will get as much done today as I can, he told me, but I don't think I can finish the work today. Then let's get started, I told him. I need to tell Cici what is happening and make her feel comfortable, I told the doctor, so we went to the room where she was waiting in the dental chair. Cici, I said, patting her arm. The doctor will work on your teeth today. Don't be concerned, though, because he worked on my teeth and I didn't feel any pain. He will make sure that you don't have any pain either.
If you want to stay, you can sit on that stool by her feet, the doctor told me. So I sat and we talked while the doctor and his two assistants worked on Cici's teeth. Your daughter is very beautiful, like her mother, the doctor commented at one point. Yes, I agreed, she is very beautiful just like her mother. Cici could hear us talking, but they had a block inside her mouth holding it open while they worked.
We talked about many things and the doctor kept working. Members of his staff came in several times to announce that a patient had arrived. Do this with her, or do that with him, he responded. He continued to work on Cici. We are lucky that you came now, he told me. All of these teeth will be fine. This one tooth, he showed me, would have required a root canal in about six months if she had not been treated now. But today we have stopped the decay and that won't be necessary.
The doctor stayed with Cici until he had completed the work on all ten of her teeth that needed attention. Now she has a healthy mouth and is ready for braces, he told me. How do you feel, Cici? I asked. Just a bad taste, she said, reaching for a cup to fill with water so she could wash her mouth. We thanked the doctor for giving her special attention and saving us from having to make another trip to get the work completed. The office manager tacked on the cost of the cleaning and the doctor's examination and we paid for the services.
Now just three doors away from the dentist's office is the Classic Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant that prepares some of Cici's favorite foods. Can she chew food now? I asked. Yes, just don't eat anything sticky and don't chew any gum for two days, we were told. So Cici and I had a nice lunch together as we finished our little adventure in Chinatown. You have a $3,000 mouth now, I told her jokingly. Thanks Papa, she laughed.
And I could see all those perfect little teeth.
So yesterday I took Cici to visit my Chinese dentist in Chinatown. He is the one who installed the implant in my mouth more than a year ago. I like him and think he is a talented dentist, though his staff always agressively tries to upsell everything. This upselling began shortly after we arrived and the dental hygienist began to clean Cici's teeth. The doctor will want to remove her wisdom teeth, she told me. They should come out before the braces are put in, she continued. That isn't happening, I told her. Let's just take care of cleaning her teeth.
When the dentist came in to examine Cici's teeth, he could see the same digital x-ray of her teeth on the large screen. Her wisdom teeth haven't erupted yet, he commented, so we won't worry about them. If they become a problem in the future we can talk about it then. My feelings exactly.
But he did find and show me the ten teeth that had occlusions that required attention. Cici was correct that she had no cavities that could be seen, but we could see beneath the surface of the teeth. These teeth definitely needed attention before they became a real problem.
Let the negotiating begin. Don't give me lao wei (foreigner) pricing, I told the doctor. He just grinned and said that his office manager would discuss pricing with me. But you are Mr. Solomon, he said, so we always give you a discount. A discount from lao wei pricing, I chided him. He and I actually get along quite well, and he knows I have referred other dental patients to him. He knows Ping, and had met Cici previously, so he was glad to have us there.
The office manager began to talley it up at $100 per tooth. What? I said. How long will this take the doctor to do the work? About an hour, she said. But he won't have time to do it all today. We will give you a ten percent discount, she told me. That is still lao wei pricing, I told her. We went back and forth, talking about other things along with the price. Eventually she said, because you are Mr. Solomon, we will give you a twenty percent discount. That is still too much, I told her, but if the doctor can get all the work done today while we are here, that will save a lot of my time, and my time is valuable.
Let me check with the doctor. I will get as much done today as I can, he told me, but I don't think I can finish the work today. Then let's get started, I told him. I need to tell Cici what is happening and make her feel comfortable, I told the doctor, so we went to the room where she was waiting in the dental chair. Cici, I said, patting her arm. The doctor will work on your teeth today. Don't be concerned, though, because he worked on my teeth and I didn't feel any pain. He will make sure that you don't have any pain either.
If you want to stay, you can sit on that stool by her feet, the doctor told me. So I sat and we talked while the doctor and his two assistants worked on Cici's teeth. Your daughter is very beautiful, like her mother, the doctor commented at one point. Yes, I agreed, she is very beautiful just like her mother. Cici could hear us talking, but they had a block inside her mouth holding it open while they worked.
We talked about many things and the doctor kept working. Members of his staff came in several times to announce that a patient had arrived. Do this with her, or do that with him, he responded. He continued to work on Cici. We are lucky that you came now, he told me. All of these teeth will be fine. This one tooth, he showed me, would have required a root canal in about six months if she had not been treated now. But today we have stopped the decay and that won't be necessary.
The doctor stayed with Cici until he had completed the work on all ten of her teeth that needed attention. Now she has a healthy mouth and is ready for braces, he told me. How do you feel, Cici? I asked. Just a bad taste, she said, reaching for a cup to fill with water so she could wash her mouth. We thanked the doctor for giving her special attention and saving us from having to make another trip to get the work completed. The office manager tacked on the cost of the cleaning and the doctor's examination and we paid for the services.
Now just three doors away from the dentist's office is the Classic Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant that prepares some of Cici's favorite foods. Can she chew food now? I asked. Yes, just don't eat anything sticky and don't chew any gum for two days, we were told. So Cici and I had a nice lunch together as we finished our little adventure in Chinatown. You have a $3,000 mouth now, I told her jokingly. Thanks Papa, she laughed.
And I could see all those perfect little teeth.
Ah, next you get the shock of what the braces will cost. Mine ran $5000, and took 2 years to get the job done. But it was either that or have false front teeth. We will likely have an adventure at the dentist in the future as well...
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Yikes, that is a bundle, Craig.
A dentist in Texas developed and patented some braces that adjust both the root and the crown of the teeth at the same time using super elastic wires. The technique (called Fastbraces) is such that the time is cut to a year or less to straighten and align the teeth, with fewer visits to tighten the wire. It also cuts the cost significantly, to $2,600 if paid over time, or $2,000 if paid lump sum up front. Heck, the cost difference would pay for a trip to Texas, with enough left over for a trip to China.
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Why didn't you tell me this 2 1/2 years ago when I was getting braces? Oh right, because I had them for over a year before I started hanging out on the forums
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Come on down. But wait until Ping gets back home. She won't want to miss the occasion.
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Shocking information at the dentist office is never fun.
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