The Dentist in Korea

Did I come back after months of inactivity just to talk about the dentist? Why yes, yes I did. This should have been written months ago, but I was not feeling inspired to write. However, I’m back, so let’s get into it.

At one point during my time here in Korea, one of my teeth started hurting. In reality, it had been hurting on and off for awhile but I had been ignoring it because dental insurance. Who has that in the US? Not me. It was getting to a point where I could no longer ignore the pain, so I decided I needed to attend to it.

Finding a Dentist

The first thing you need to do is find a dentist. Obviously. This can be difficult enough in your home country. How do I know they are good? Where are they located? How much do they charge? All valid questions. In a country where you do not speak the language well, it becomes even more difficult. Your options are:

• Find a random dentist and walk in (and there are many)
• Do an online search
• Ask someone

I did the second and third options. I started by searching online for English speaking dentists in Busan and seeing what came up. I looked at reviews and where they were located. The problem with this method was that some of these reviews were old and therefore unreliable. I did not know if the practice was still around or even if the same personnel were still there. I did make note of them though.

I then asked my co-teacher if she knew of a good dentist that she could recommend. Right away she told me about a place that was near my apartment and that her daughter had recently visited. She took control and right away called to make an appointment for me. I did not have a chance to research them and add that information to what I had already gathered.

The Dentist

There were pros and cons of the dentist I ended up seeing, like everything.

• I liked that they were close to where I live. I could walk there and did not need to use any sort of public transportation. This ended up being very beneficial for me.
• The office was very clean and modern
• The staff was all very nice and friendly

• The staff did not speak English. The dentist who worked on my tooth spoke enough English to tell me what she was doing, but overall no one was fluent or close to fluent. My Korean was good enough to handle paying, making appointments, and understanding a majority of what they hygienists told me.
• I was unable to compare prices among various dentists, so I have no idea if they were comparable to other practices

The Procedure

My first visit (because there ended up being many), they determined that I had more damage than I thought. I though that I just had a cavity, but they told me that I needed a root canal. Not what I was expecting.

This was all done through my co-teacher. She showed up while they were looking at my teeth and translated for me. However, while her English is good, she does not have the English vocabulary necessary to discuss dental procedures. So, she was typing into Papago to translate into English for me. This isn’t the most ideal situation, but it worked. It was infinitely better than me being on my own. I am grateful for her being there with me in that moment.

Since it was determined that a root canal was needed, the immediately got to work. Now, I have never had a root canal in the United States, and I don’t know anyone else who has had a root canal in Korea. I do not know what is standard here in Korea. I do believe from talking to my parent that in the US it takes two longer visits to complete a root canal.

I had six appointments to complete my root canal. All of them 30-45 minutes. It seemed like one step was completed at each appointment. This is why I am grateful that the dentist was so close to me. If i had needed to travel for any length of time, it would have been a difficult and annoying process. Due to the distance, it was easy for me to make later appointments after work so I did not have to take any leave.

This was a negative of the English speaking offices I had found online. They were all at least 30 minutes away via subway from where I live. Not ideal when I did not want to take time off of work.

Overall, the procedure, while drawn out, was easy and painless. Since I had been there so often and I was the only foreigner, the staff all recognized me and I think got less nervous about interacting with me.

The Price

I do not remember the exact price I paid for everything. There were a few small procedures that I paid for before the actual root canal such as a teeth scraping and such. The root canal itself was 500,000 won (about $422 USD), In total, everything probably cost about 575,000 won (about $485 USD). This is much cheaper than it would have cost in the United States, especially without insurance.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a positive experience. I hate going to the dentist regardless of the country or language spoken. The language barrier did add a little difficulty and some initial nerves, but everyone was very nice and helpful.

I have not had a problem with my root canal since it was done and I have not needed a dentist for anything else since, and I plan to keep it that way. However, if I did need to go back I would be okay with it.

It was an experience that made me appreciate communication, though. Going throughout my day in Korea, my Korean is good enough to do what I need to do. I can shop and order food when necessary. Even if I don’t understand everything being said to me, I can understand enough to get the gist of a conversation. Being in a medical situation, though, really makes you want to understand. You want to know what is happening and why they think this needs to be done. You don’t want to jump into any medical procedure without the facts, and those can be hard to get when there is a language barrier.

All in all, though, I had a positive experience at a dentist in Korea (despite the root canal surprise). I think if anyone finds themselves here in need of a dentist, they do not need to worry. There are many dentists all over both Busan and Seoul from what I have seen, and I’m sure with a little bit of help, they can find a good one to help them.