What did I want for my birthday last October? I couldn’t think of anything and Neil was trying to come up with ideas. I finally said what I wanted for my birthday was to get my teeth fixed! I had been ignoring them for a long time as I don’t have dental insurance. I was hurting on one side but then the other side of my mouth started throbbing too. Time to take some action.

I remembered a friend once talking about going to India for good but inexpensive dental work. I emailed him and also a friend who lived in Mexico. My requirement was a holistic (also called biological) dentist who didn’t do amalgam (silver/mercury) fillings. The only biological dentists in Mexico are in Tijuana and their websites read that they wanted multiple visits. My other friend suggested Thailand and the Philippines over India. I had been to Thailand before so started online investigation. There are several dental clinics that cater to international clients. They start your appointments the day you arrive and continue daily until complete. And they have their own in-house labs so crowns are processed quickly onsite. I chose Dr. Sunil International Dental Center in Bangkok. In addition to the positive reviews for excellent dental service, they have limo service that handles your airport transportation and drives you to each appointment at the clinic, and also have a boutique hotel for clients in a good location in Bangkok.

Within two weeks of beginning the search, I was on a plane to Bangkok! My return flight was for three weeks later. The clinic suggested allowing at least a week for the dental work, I thought two to build in buffer, and Neil suggested three so I had some time to tour. I went by myself because Neil was still recovering from the serious road burns on his legs and wasn’t able to travel yet. I missed Neil’s companionship on the trip but I have traveled often by myself so was comfortable with the trip. Neil and I spoke every day over the HangOuts app and he did invaluable research for me on places to see in Bangkok and later options of where to travel out of Bangkok for my week holiday.  

The country of Thailand was in mourning: King Bhumibol Adulyadej had passed away on October 13, 2016 at age of 89 and was the world’s longest-serving head of state, and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history at that time. People were requested to wear black or subdued colors for one month of mourning. I packed only black: black tops, pants, shorts, hat, purse, day pack, and shoes. It was easy to coordinate everything and it was appreciated by the people of Thailand as a few stopped to comment to me. There were memorials up all over the country and black and white banners outside every school and government building. The clubs, music, and entertainment was subdued. And many Thai websites like the official government Tourist information site changed to black and white for the month; same information but text and photos lacked color.

I left Maui on Wednesday night (redeye) and arrived in Thailand Friday morning after crossing the International Date Line. My driver was waiting outside immigration and whisked me off to the hotel. They changed my initial appointment to 5 pm so I thought I could get a few hours of sleep and maybe be more alert. Mid-nap, the housekeeper knocks on my door and hands me her phone where the voice tells me they changed my appointment to 3 and could I meet the driver downstairs. The Dr. Sunil’s boutique hotel is on the 5th floor of The Bloom, a gated high rise condominium building, with the pool and workout room on our floor and an accessible rooftop garden that has a wonderful view of the city. It is only a short walk to the Phra Khanong Skytrain (BTS) station. Neil had read about the area before I left noting it is one favored by expats and has both a wonderful native Thai and an eclectic feel. That evening as I watched sunset from the rooftop, I met a building resident also enjoying the evening. Chris is from the UK and has loved living in Thailand for several years. He gave me great info about the outside food court across the street and suggestions on outings including the weekend market. Thanks Chris!

A great feature of the hotel is the small number of rooms and all guests are international clients of the clinic. The other guests I met were from Australia and New Zealand and it was fun trading stories. I met Jill and Grace from Castlemaine, Australia, the first morning and had a great time hanging out with them all week.

Back to my first visit to the clinic: The driver was early and waiting. It only took about 15 minutes to get to the clinic from The Bloom. The first thing I saw was white and gold and chandeliers plus several employees. The valet brought me ice cold water and little slipper covers for over my shoes while I waited. I was escorted upstairs to have x-rays taken and escorted back downstairs to wait to see the doctor. Your first consultation is always with Dr. Sunil himself. I knew from the throbbing and that I had some chipped teeth but needed to hear what he recommended. He recommended two root canals and crowns, plus a third crown to replace one that was chipped, three small fillings, and extraction of the two right wisdom teeth that were both decaying, He didn’t feel I needed to replace my three remaining amalgam fillings with composite because they were in good shape. And of course I needed a cleaning.

Decision on jetlag: I believe my choice of doing all the procedures was the right one because they all needed to be done and the two women dentists who did all the work within the week that followed were exceptional. That said, my only real issue was feeling “rushed” to make the decision and to pay. I wanted to internalize it a little and come back with more questions and had wanted to talk to Neil (but 17 hour time difference). My concerned was about having root canals however I had done the research before leaving home and the only real alternative to root canal is extraction. I said yes to all the work ($3200) and they had a driver take me to a nearby money exchange booth to get a better exchange rate than they could give me (very considerate of them.) Once the payment was transacted, the work began with my teeth cleaning that evening and an appointment set for the next night for the root canals. All the appointments were all set for late afternoon or evening and the work was completed within the week. I had daytimes off to explore Bangkok. Stay tuned.

Text and Photos by Nanette Harter