Dental Work in Russia Again! (Time to Fix a Filling!)

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee here in Moscow, Russia and just thinking about the weekend.

On Saturday morning we decided that I had to do something about a molar tooth that seemed to have issues. It had been filled almost twenty years ago and a piece of the filling had cracked out a few months ago. It started to hurt a month ago and finally was keeping me up at night.

We have a dentist near us with in walking distance. So Svet and I took a walk on Saturday morning and checked out the Dentist office. The idea was to just get an appointment to have a consultation about what was wrong. I had no intention of having the work done since dentist are always busy. 🙂

Well we got to the building and found a beautiful, clean, tidy and professionally run office. They (The receptionist and Dentist) told us that there is no charge for consultation. The consultation consisted of three x rays and lots of hums and haw’s!

After about 15 minutes it was decided between my expert translator of a Russian wife and the dentist, that I needed to have the old filling removed and refilled after fixing all issues. This exchange of communication was done very fast and the only thing that I really picked up on was something about men and they can not handle pain, you know!

By the way this was an all women dentist group, just like most doctors and dentist in Russia they are women. So as my wife, the receptionist and the dentist laughed at their jokes about men and ignored me. For I was just a man! 🙂

So at this point feeling like a bird caught in a cage, I then proceeded to have my tooth issue fixed.

I will say, the Lady Dentist was very good and she took meticulous care in her work. The office was of the highest standards of any American dentist and all the equipment was new and modern.

So out came the old Amalgam Filling from America that had lasted twenty years. They then found that there was a huge hole under the filling that came out and it was cracked badly. This turned into alot more drilling and cleaning up the bad tooth – hidden by the old filling.

Then in went a new Composite filling that matches the color of the tooth perfectly due to the dentist way of staining the filling with iodine as she layered the filling in. I have never had a Composite filling done before and this was a new experience for me. They use a ultraviolet light gun to set and harden the composite. Cool!

It was explained to me that American dentists like the Amalgam material and that is so old fashion. That the Russian way is to use the pretty new Composite materials and produce works of art to repair your teeth. I always smile inside when I hear words like this. Russian doctors and dentists are very proud of their occupations and they want me as an American to know that they are going to take care of me better than I would be taken care of in America. 🙂

Well the lady Dentist did take care of me and now I am pain free in my tooth.

Oh, lets talk about the cost?

The total procedure from beginning to end was 3000 rubles. That included consultation, 3 – x rays and all work done by the dentist. Around $90 American dollars. I thought that was pretty good since it was a weekend and no appointment.

Also I could have done it much cheaper (half cost) by insisting on a Amalgam filling. But since the ladies (Wife, receptionist and Dentist) were in control of my destiny at that point. I just went along for the ride and ended up a happy American.

I am always glad I keep my mouth shut, because my wife does always know better!

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.