Earlier this year, I saw a few sus looking black lines on my teeth so I went to see a dentist. Checked some reviews on Japanese websites and went to a small dental clinic that is close to my apartment. It caters to children too and the office looked quite nice.
The first session was just consultation; the director of the clinic checked me and took some X-rays, and explained to me where I had cavities and what needed to be done. He also said that one of my wisdom tooth was growing horizontally, resulting in this space between two teeth where the toothbrush cannot reach, and it’ll be better to pull it out entirely rather than fix the cavity. I had cavities on all four sides, left and right, top and bottom, all at the back of my mouth. He explained that my bottom left wisdom tooth will have to be pulled out at a bigger hospital, as it was growing horizontally and they didn’t have the equipment to remove it. Other than that wisdom tooth, the remaining three cavities will be filled over three sessions. I agreed. He then said that my teeth look as if I have been grinding them in my sleep, and he said it’d be better to get a mouthguard. I also agreed.
Over the next few visits, I got my cavities filled one spot at a time, each time lasting around 15 minutes. The first red flag was that when I showed up to my first appointment, the doctor operating on me was another doctor at the clinic, not the director. They had never mentioned that other doctors will be operating on me, and I was under the impression that the director was the only doctor, as it was a very small clinic. My cavities were very small but there was some sensitivity. It was my first time getting cavities filled, so I didn’t know what to expect. I only thought something might’ve been wrong because the second time I went, it was the director operating on me, the cavity was slightly bigger, but it was painless during and after. Nevertheless, I got my remaining cavities – top right, bottom right, top left – filled, and got a mouthguard.
Fast forward a few months, I visit the bigger hospital they recommended to me with a referral (紹介状). Dentist there told me that although the clinic dentist only said to remove the bottom left wisdom tooth, the tooth right above it should also be removed, because without the bottom tooth supporting it, it will grow lower and lower into my gums. Funny thing is, the clinic dentist had already done work on that tooth, and charged me for it. I didn’t know that you’re supposed to remove the top and bottom teeth together; he never mentioned it. He stressed repeatedly that since I’ll be getting my bottom left tooth extracted, we shouldn’t do anything to it as it’d be a waste. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have gotten the top left cavity filled either.
So, was I scammed? Is it normal for the dentist on your consultation and appointments to be different people? Did they scam me into paying for that cavity on a tooth that is supposed to be removed? I find it hard to believe that the clinic dentist didn’t know that teeth should be removed in pairs…
15 comments
What you described sounds totally normal. First clinic took care of all the basic work that was required. It gets done across multiple visits because that’s the way the insurance works here. Multiple dentists working in one clinic is also normal.
There was more advanced work that the first dentist was not confident to perform, so he referred you to a dental hospital. The dentist at the dental hospital has a difference in opinion (or perhaps more advanced training) regarding the way to best extract your impacted wisdom tooth, and that is what he shared with you.
It is extremely unlikely that the original dentist set out to defraud you, it sounds like you got well taken care of.
Welcome to Japan. Things are done in increments here before the national healthcare system can only be billed for a certain number of minutes per visit before it comes out of your own pockets, thus most clinics will either rush and get as much done in one visit or split it into multiple visits.
That’s true that the opposite tooth will go down little by little. But this will be very slow and just to be checked annually if it becomes an issue. I am no dentist but my wife had to have a tooth removed and we waited 1 year before putting an implant. No issue with the opposite tooth.
I was in a similar position in Kyoto during the pandemic. Went to a well known English speaking practitioner and they did an X-ray for my mouth and found that I needed to get wisdom teeth removed. This could not be done in clinic. When I went to Kyoto Red Cross No. 2, they did another X-ray (even though I paid for the first one and the images were on file) the hospital confirmed that I need specialist surgery to remove the lower teeth.
The first time they tried to remove only one tooth, it was the most uncomfortable experience ever. The surgeon touched a nerve about 5 times and I felt it. I told them to close me up and schedule a full body anaesthetic surgery for me. 5 months later I had one other tooth removed plus the remainder from the first surgery.
Suffice to say, I now hate dentists. But to answer your question, it’s customary for doctors to run several tests as confirmation
Try to find a better dentist. This can be the norm, but not always. The first time I went to my current dentist I got a cleaning followed by x-rays and two filling. It was my first visit as well. The wisdom teeth thing seems right unless it was a simple extraction. I had mine out one at a time with my old dentist, but only because I didn’t want him pulling them all at one. Just local anesthetic for those and done in no time at all.
As long as they weren’t charging you some crazy price a session this sounds all normal to me. It is annoying they only do one filling a session but lots of offices run like that. Also my dentist has told me the same about wisdom teeth, you can’t get just one taken out because then you’ll just be biting the gum under it which hurts. Also they probably weren’t sure if you’d want to get your teeth out so they just filled it anyways because why not?
You have to understand that due to certain skewed regulations in the past under the historical background, Japan is now overcrowded with dentists. It has the highest number of dentist per population in the world, so the dentists in Japan have to compete with each other yard for yard. They will use whatever tricks to gain more revenues (not everyone, but most do).
Not scammed. It happens to everyone at the dentist here.
I may be spoiled because my country has some of the best dental care services in the world (Brazil fyi), but the first time i went to a dentist in Japan i was shocked at how bad they are, you’re treated like a car part in a production line. Now i only go for the eventual cleanup and sometimes they fuck up even that.
Teeth do not always have to be removed in pairs. It is really a case by case basis and the top tooth shouldn’t be removed unless there are problems with it. I had both bottom wisdom teeth removed and will likely never have to remove the top.
Sounds more like the hospital is trying to scam you by removing extra teeth.
Without looking at the horse’s mouth, pardon the pun…
This looks like a full service place. There’s a wide range of what’s acceptable when it comes to dentistry. For example in socialist countries, doctors typically try to minimise intrusive work, so they’d only make fillings, because “you lived with your impacted tooth long enough, you may as well live out you life like this”, and even may use their judgement if particular cavity is serious enough, because “let’s check it every 6 month and come back if there’s a problem”. On the other hand, in capitalist countries, they’d make a plan for you to extract all 4 wisdom teeth, because “better sooner than later”, fill the cavities, correct your bite, and try to upsell you on cosmetic veneer because you teeth “are not white enough”.
Both of these are actually kind normal.
The tradeoff is your time and cost vs certainty. It’s up to you to make a choice, ideally an educated choice.
No, like others have said what happened was essentially standard practice.
In regards to having both removed, it is recommended sooner than later as having just one removed can slightly shift your teeth which can alter your bite and cause discomfort.
It depends on the position of your teeth. Removal is not necessarily always done in pairs.
If your wisdom tooth lies horizontally, I doubt it properly supports the upper tooth even now.
I’d remove only the horizontal one for now and then wait and see.
Or you might wanna get another opinion.
If you don’t mind, how much did you paid for tooth extraction of your wisdom?
I didn’t get mine done in a pair because I told them I didn’t want to have the top one taken out. I didn’t fully understand that it would have been better. Did they think it was your preference only to pull that one that absolutely needed to be done? Like my dentist they might have gone with what they thought you wanted rather than what’s actually best practice. This wasn’t in Japan for me but that’s how I ended up getting the lower wisdom tooth removed and keeping the top one. Ten years later it’s still there but every dentist I see tells me it should have come out with the bottom one and that it should come out ‘in the future’. Sounds like less of a scam and more of a different opinion on whether pull a tooth that could be fixed or just fix it and leave it there.