My new teeth (p.1)
For a few years now I knew that my teeth were in a bad way. I had some serious decay and a few teeth were chipped and broken. I don’t think I’d been to the dentist for about 11 years! This was through a combination of laziness and fear of the chair really.
Anyway, over the last few months I admitted to myself that now is the time to get my teeth sorted out and see what is possible. I knew that having private dental work done here in the UK would be incredibly expensive. I’ve known a few people to have simple dental work done that has cost thousands.
My housemate Ru noticed a clinic in Oxford Circus who carryout the dental work in Budapest, Hungary. This is so that the costs can be kept as low as possible. I liked the idea that I could visit a clinic in the UK for consultations and checkups and then fly out to Budapest for the treatment.
Initial Consultation
At the end of January 2010 I made an appointment to see a dentist at Vital Europe in London. It cost £30 for the consultation and a further £30 for the subsequent x-ray that I needed. The clinic itself was very modern and clean. Although the stairwell leading to the practice could do with a little restoration. This is not the fault of Vital Europe, its a serviced / shared building.
I met my dentist, who I discovered would be the same dentist to carry out any treatment in Budapest (they rotate between London and Budapest). Dr Péter Rakics had a chat with me about the type of treatment I was looking for and what my dental history was. I had a quick x-ray which he talked me through (the image was later emailed to me, I thought that was a nice touch). The consultation lasted for about 20 minutes.
After a short wait the receptionist Enika gave me a print out of my proposed treatment plan complete with prices and various options. She told me to take all the information and have a think about what I would like to do. I was told to either call or email customer services with any questions I might have and they would sort everything out.
Part of the appeal was also that Vital Europe could arrange my accommodation and airport transfers in Budapest, making the whole experience a little easier.
I spent the next three weeks emailing back and forth between Enika and the Peter regarding my treatment. I had lots of questions and wanted to make sure that I understood everything about the treatment and the stay in Budapest. Eventually I was comfortable with everything and arranged my flight through EasyJet (£130 return) and four nights at the Novotel Congress Hotel (approx. £60pn which Vital Europe arranged). I was now booked up and ready to go!
The first visit to Budapest
I flew out to Budapest on the Sunday so that I didn’t have to worry about rushing to an appointment on Monday morning. The flight was the standard no-frills EasyJet type of deal. Arriving at the airport I spotted the taxi guy holding a sign with my name on. He lead me to the taxi and off we shot to the hotel. Even though I didn’t need to pay anything as it was included I though I should tip, I gave hi 500 Forints (£1.30ish).
The hotel was next to the World Trade Center and was more of a business style hotel. This didn’t really bother me, it was still very nice, I think it was 4 stars… I checked in and headed down for something to eat in the hotel restaurant.
My first appointment was at 11am on the Monday morning. I received a call from the clinic at about 10am asking if I could come in a little later, 1230pm. This wasn’t too much of a problem but I was starting to get a little more nervous as time went on.
I got a taxi to the clinic which was one 5-10 minutes away. I was a little early which was ok because they have a nice reception with music and coffee / juices etc… Unfortunately I had to wait for a couple of hours because a previous patient had to have some emergency treatment. Although the waiting made me a little more nervous it was quite comforting to know that the dentists will spend as long as they need to to fix your teeth. During the wait I got the chance to review my treatment plan and check my email / watch an episode of The Wire.
Eventually a nurse called me into the surgery. This is when I started to get quite nervous. The surgery was spotless and very modern, with nice music playing and my dentist there to greet me.
First of all I have some impressions of my teeth taken. If you have never had this done before its a bit like someone putting a small plate with plasascene in your mouth. After a few minutes it sets and they peel it off giving you a accurate impression of your teeth. The dentist, I’m just going to call him Peter from now on, were not that close but heh! Peter then explained to me what was going to happen during the first day of treatment.
First up, the anesthetic injections, two to start with. After a quick break to let the anesthetic do its magic I was called back into the surgery. This is when the hardcore work started. Basically Peter proceeded to file down my teeth, by the way I am only having the top eight done as they are the problem teeth. This is not the most pleasant experience in the world, especially when I realised that I needed more anesthetic as I would still feel a little pain from the grinding machine! It’s not really as bad as it sounds. After a few of hours Peter had finished preparing my top teeth for the first set of temporary crowns. This was a weird feeling. Having you teeth filed down into straight, smooth points, it must have looked quite shocking at the time.
Next he had to prepare my gums so that the new crowns could sit correctly. This wasn’t very nice as he had to cut arcs into them, basically making alcoves for the tops of the teeth to reside.
Finally, I had the dental nurse clean and polish my bottom teeth (I was also have them whitened during this visit). In my opinion this was the most unpleasant part of the entire trip. I hadn’t had any anesthetic on the lower set!
Anyway, once this was complete they fitted a set of temporary crowns which were basically a copy of my old teeth. It was quite unusual to have the same broken, crooked teeth knowing that they were actually fake. These were just for two days until I had the more permanent temporary crowns fitted. Have I lost you yet? This as the end of the first day of treatment. I was given some pain killers and jumped into a taxi back to the hotel.
The next day I had free to explore the city. I went for a long walk around Budapest which was interesting.
Treatment day two was just for the whitening of my bottom teeth. I had chosen to have the Zoom! whitening system which has had some good reviews. It was an unusual thing to have done. The basic idea is that they cover your gums and lips with a protective liquid and some material. Then a machine is positioned over your mouth that fires UV light onto your teeth. This plus the special Zoom! gel that iis applied to your teeth help break down any stains. You have to sit through 45 minutes of this for it to be effective. The UV makes your lips feel hot which is a strange sensation. Not at all painful though. My teeth were a little sensitive after this and couldn’t eat or drink anything that could stain my newly whitened teeth, tea, coffee, red wine and the like.
The final day of my trip required a quick visit to the surgery. The dentist removed the first set of temporary crowns so that he could fit the better fitting, longer lasting temporary crowns.
There was no anesthetic for this. I wish there had been! When he removed the temporary teeth the exposed original teeth were extremely sensitive. Even to the temperature of my own breath. The dentist needed to make sure my teeth were dry which meant blasting them with the pressured air Bose thingy. That was the worst bit, although it only lasted for a few seconds.
The new temporaries look great. A huge improvement on my original teeth. I now have three weeks until the permanent crowns are ready. I’ll be heading back to Budapest again and I’ll write up the experience here.
NOTE: I’ll link to the second post from here once it’s published.
The emotional and psychological impact of this experience is incredibly profound and the courage that it takes to recount the experience shows incredible strength of character. However much as human beings we aim to be as egalitarian and non judgemental as possible, we live in a world, particularily in business, where first impressions count and so the honest and open account that Rich has articulated provides insight into the delicate machinations that underpin self esteem, confidence and the emotional infrastructure that supports our ability to function in day to day life. This is inspirational staff and a clear demonstration of spitting in the face of adversity.
So how did visit 2 go?
@Sandi – Uuum, what?
I am thinking of going with vital europe need 26 crowns replaced and 4 implants anyone has feed back please email cheers