We sought a second opinion from the dental clinic at NUH. The NUH dentist was more amenable to discussing various treatment options and she was also slightly more optimistic than our previous dentist from NDC. But the recommendations aren’t too far off – day surgery with general anesthesia, up to five nerve treatments and crowns, five fillings, three sealants and flouride. The NUH charges are not subsidized and could go up to $2225 (if up to five nerve treatments are needed). That’s about $300 more expensive than NDC.
Money aside, I am definitely more comfortable with the NUH dentist. Our last visit at NDC took all but 30 mins (checking teeth + polishing + discussing options), which made me feel that the dentist didn’t want to leave me with any treatment options other than the day surgery. Our visit at NUH took 1.5 hours (checking teeth + discussing options + cleaning teeth + discussing options again). Since it’s generally an unsubsidised clinic, there are a lot less patients in the queue, which explains why the dentist can take up to 1.5 hours with a single patient. Anyway, I now had a better understanding of the pros and cons of the day surgery option.
Both the NDC and NUH dentist booked provisional day surgery slots for us in mid April already. Now I just have to decide whether or not to subject K to day surgery, and if yes, which hospital to choose. Tough decisions to make.
PS: We came home with new bubble toothpaste samples from the NUH dentist. She was quite funny, said that if we liked the toothpaste there are only two places to get it – pharmacy or Mustafa! Mustafa really sells everything/anything under the sun! We’ve not tried it though. And today’s visit came up to $75.
Hi Jane, why does Kaizer have to go through such a procedure? Is his dental condition that bad?
I mean, the milk teeth will drop out soon right? Has he undergone any tooth patches before?
Adam did, for his 2 front teeth. he had milk carries! All probably for sleeping with the breast/bottle.
Today he complained of a toothache (for the first time). Yah, the milk teeth will drop out but his decay is on the back molars, so that will drop out between 10 – 12 years old? Still a looooong way to go. No problem (keeping fingers crossed) with his front teeth though.