Monday, August 24, 2015

Cheap Dental Treatments in Johor Bahru

Good dental hygiene is very important, not only because it can cost serious cavities and infections that could lead to super bad breath and pain, but the heartache when having to come up with a big sum just to fix the problems hurts bad too. I should know better. For years I had procrastinated on getting the crowning done for my upper molar after its root canal treatment (which was really expensive too!). I wasn’t able to find anywhere in Singapore that charges any lower than SGD$600 and had depended on temporary fillings all these while. But there was still a need to get it re-filled as the filling doesn't hold for long.

The dental clinic I went to, was just across the street from Pelangi Mall, on the 2nd floor.
The stairs leading up the clinic actually looks quite dingy.
So I decided enough is enough and ventured elsewhere to get my problem fixed. Singaporeans had been known to travel to Johor Bahru (JB) to save on petrol and groceries and no one would bat an eyelid. However when I mentioned that I did my crown in Johor Bahru, almost everyone gave me the “wu nyia boh” look and asked if it was safe to do it in JB. I was like, walau a, where else would Johoreans go for their dental treatment anyway? I felt safe too, because the dentist I went to, was "recommended" by my Malaysian friend.

The furniture were so retro that I felt as if I was transported back in time!
Brought Stacci along during one of the trips and nagged her to take good care of her teeth. 
Even my wife tagged along for her dental treatments too!
My experience with the tooth crowning in Johor Bahru wasn't exactly as smooth as I hoped. The entire treatment should have been completed in just 2 trips, one preliminary assessment plus mold-taking, followed by a return trip to fix the fabricated crown. Unfortunately it turned into 5 trips because my porcelain crown cracked a day after it was fixed. It appeared that the porcelain crown may have some manufacturing fault and I ended up needing an additional 3 trips! She was apologetic over it and luckily I needn’t have fork out any more money. Otherwise this post would have turned out to be a very different story. I also ended up with a metal crown in the end because I chose to play safe this time round.

High tech one ok? Gotta take X-Ray to check first to ensure my root canal was ok. Cost RM$100 if I remembered correctly.
My pretty new porcelain crown for my upper molar before it was fixed.
Unfortunately the crown chipped one day after it was fixed, and this piece was dislodged.
So why did I choose to do my crowning cross the causeway? Because it only cost me RM$800 to get my crown done in JB, as compared to the cheapest quoted price of SGD$600 back home. I tried asking many dentists in Singapore, but the cost are all around the same. Yes, it may have taken me a lot more effort to go for the dental treatments, but I always took it like a day shopping and makan trip. And I also brought the kiddos over for their (much cheaper) dental check-ups. Kill multiple birds with one stone. I really cannot comment much on the treatment I got over in JB because I seldom have any dental treatments done in the first place. However it definitely wasn’t painful, or as irritating as I feared, and the dentist was quite friendly. 

I brought one kid in with every trip and they all got their dental checkup, scaling and polishing done as well, It should cost around RM$80 if I recalled correctly.
Steffi looking apprehensive? No lah, she steady one. 
According to my wife, some of the dental clinics back home specializes in seeing young kids and the dentists are generally used to crying kids. They are also really patient with kids and knows how to pacify them. However, you do pay a lot more. This Malaysian dentist is what I would describe as a no-frills dentist. My kids are okay with going to the dentist, hence I wouldn't know how she would fare with crying kids. Thus, please use at your own risk! For me, I am going to ensure that the 4 kids take good care of their teeth and go through the proper brushing regime lest I spend lots more money for their dental treatments in future!

This is NOT a sponsored post, although I am tempted to ask the dentist for discounts should I go over again. Oh wait a minute, my Malaysian friend had kindly sponsored my accommodation and transport whenever I needed to go into JB the night before my appointments. A big thank you to you! This post is just to share with all of you that if affordable dental treatment cannot be found here in Singapore, you can always try find cheaper alternatives over the causeway (which shouldn't be a surprise anyway). It worked for me, for even though I have a SGD$200 dental benefit from my company, it is still worth it for me to do it in JB. With the exchange rate of ringgit at an all-time low against Singapore dollar, the savings would be even more!

[Update]

I have been bombarded with emails on the contact details of the dentist so here it is. At you own risk hor!

2 comments: