Going to the Dentist in China | What's The Truth & What Should I Know?

17 Keywords to Learn for Going to the Dentist in China

Going to the Dentist in China (or any medical appointment for that matter), might seem a scary thing, but do not fear! We are the ones in the know!

If you live in China a trip to the dentist is almost unavoidable, so you’d best be equipped with some keywords and knowledge about what, and what not to do.

Today we are going to discuss:

• How to say some keywords related to the Dentist in Chinese
• A lesson in why choosing the right dentist is important
• A recommendation on our favourite dentist in Beijing

Dentist in China – Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Dentist in China – Francesca’s Experience

Dentist in China – Lessons to Learn

Dentist in China – A Recommended Dentist

WATCH – Katie’s Experience at a Dentist in Beijing

Dentist in China – FAQ’s

Dentist in China – Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Before getting stuck into our visit to the dentist and Francesca’s experience, let’s learn some key words that will prove super handy.

The most important word we’ll take from today is:

Dentist in Chinese is 牙医 yá yī

Of course there’s a lot more to it than that.

So let’s get started with these words:

That’s 17 words in total that will help you on your visit to the dentist in China!

You’ll notice a common theme throughout those words, the character 牙 appears in a high proportion of them.

Why exactly?

牙 actually means tooth. Although listed above as 牙齿, this is often shortened.

Therefore words like FLOSS (牙线), literally translate to “tooth thread”.

This is a common theme when learning Chinese and actually makes learning Mandarin much more logical than one would imagine.

BONUS TIP – we’ve talked at length about Chinese Measure Words before.

So whilst we here it makes sense to teach you the measure word for teeth.

• One tooth: 一颗牙齿 yī kē yáchǐ
• Two teeth: 两颗牙齿 liǎng kē yáchǐ

The measure word for teeth in Chinese is 颗 kē

Note another great thing about learning Chinese is we don’t need to worry about plurals and singular.

In English we say one tooth, two teeth. That’s two different words to learn.

In Chinese it’s simply 1 牙齿 2 牙齿! Easy, right?!

To wrap up our dose of learning, here are some useful phrases that include some of the above words also:

Dentist in China – Francesca’s Experience

Our online Marketing intern gives her frank and honest experience of going to the Dentist in China.

This story shows the importance of sticking with well renowned international companies for things like going to the Dentist when in China!

My Two Visits to the Dentist in China

My story comes from Fuzhou, the capital of the Fujian province. Fuzhou is not a small city, with a population of around 8 million, similar to London. However in Chinese terms it is not anywhere near the biggest!

In fact Fuzhou lies 31st in terms of population size in China!

I went to two dentists in Fuzhou, both were ‘downtown’ let’s say. More local than international.

Why did I choose these you may ask? Recommendations oddly enough!

Various teachers found the two dentists and recommended them. Expats typically follow each other in China so it was natural to go on others advice at the time.

My First Dentist Visit

The first dentist I visited in China was very much of an open plan layout with seats separated by short walls.

Despite this it was actually still possible to see what’s going on in other dentists chairs. Something of course I wasn’t used to!

My dentist spoke no English so we communicated using a translation app and he called a friend to explain to me over the phone.

This is a very “China” experience than I’m sure every expat in China has felt at some stage.

This is where learning Chinese can make your life so much easier in China!

The dentist used a light numbing cream, one I’ve never seen before, to pop out a wisdom tooth then tried to extract a surprise extra tooth that showed up on x-rays but to no avail.

I took a Chinese friend with me for the second wisdom tooth extraction to ease translation but it was really awkward so I found a new dentist moving forward.

Some other points of note from this visit that are worth mentioning, both positive and negative:

• No advice for aftercare was given (in English or Chinese) 
• No painkillers offered
• Extremely cheap and fast procedure
• Easy to book
• Offered to let me keep my teeth after

My Second Dentist Visit

One year later, I paid my next visit to the dentist in China, this time changing to a different one.

There were walls around the rooms but no door. This meant there was a clear arch where people would come and go without any warning.

Again, somewhat lacking in privacy!

My dentist had been trained in America so spoke some English but this wasn’t very comforting, as he would often repeat phrases like “oh my God”, “IT’S SO BIG”, “look at this!” (referring to the hole in my tooth) repeatedly and over enthusiastically.

Things to note from this visit:

• I had my first ever filling – I wasn’t sure how the process for fillings worked before so I didn’t ask for any numbing injections. He drilled down to the nerve and I cried (the nurse was really nice and gave me a hug after).
• First of two wisdom teeth – my wisdom teeth were growing sideways. The procedure was fairly quick. I paid for two days of painkillers afterwards to numb the pain.
• Final wisdom tooth – This one was rather traumatic. Flesh needed to be cut to access the tooth and the tooth proved stubborn and hard to remove. The dentist stopped halfway through the procedure when his colleague came in to chat and observe the difficult tooth. Eventually the tooth came out (lots more tears). Unlike the UK system the piece of flesh sliced off my gum was left in my mouth and I spat it out when rinsing. We had a (jokey) dispute over painkillers and he agreed to sell me enough for a week and a half this time.

Do rest assured, these visits do not reflect any potential dentist visit in China. It just shows the importance of picking a dentist you are certain about. We’ll talk more about recommended dentists later on.

A few more notes I wanted to share relating to my 2nd visit:

• Painkillers were available but for an additional cost
• Numbing injections needed to be requested and were not a given
• The visit was extremely cheap and quick. Extractions and fillings were on the same day. This is not possible at my London dentist
• The level of communication was OK but there is definitely a cultural difference allowing other dentists in to observe/discuss/prolong my treatment
• The staff made themselves available over WeChat for advice. I had food poisoning a week after and worried about my stitches but he was super helpful 
• Advice given on foods and recovery
• Did not offer to let me keep my teeth after the treatment
• Sent me photos of the x-rays also

Dentist in China – Lessons to Learn

The key lesson to take out of Francesca’s experience is the importance of research.

Whilst you’d hope foreigner recommendations would be beneficial (and of course generally they would be), everyone has a different level of tolerance.

Whereas for one person the experience might feel smooth, for another it might feel awkward or uncomfortable. This is even more true in China where things can be chaotic or very different to what you are used to.

For things like the Dentist or going to the Hospital in China, going International, or perhaps paying a little more money makes the world of difference.

Thankfully at LTL, we’ve been around for years and years now – we know where to go and where to avoid. If you are studying with us, simply ask and we’ll sort you out.

If you are conducting your own research, be thorough.

Check online, maybe give them a call. Check if they speak English, do they make you feel comfortable? Do foreigners work there?

Ask yourself these questions and only go ahead if you feel at comfort.

In the bigger cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou for example, there are far more options simply as more foreigners are based there.

In cities like Fuzhou, where Francesca was, or other smaller cities, research becomes even more important!

Dentist in China – A Recommended Dentist

As stated, we’ve been around the block for years now and have staff from all over the world and hosted students from nearly every country you could name!

With this comes experience and knowledge. And of course, knowledge is power.

A dentist in Beijing we would wholeheartedly recommend is KINGS DENTAL.

Kings Dental are experts in general dentistry, implantology, orthodontics, periodontics and pediatrics and their international team speak Chinese, English, German, French, Russian and Japanese!

They also have some top-class, imported equipment from Germany which includes Sirona, Siemens, Duerr Dental, Melag, EMS and 3M.

A visit to Kings is like a visit to your Dentist in Europe or America and we’ve always enjoyed a positive experience there.

Kings are conveniently based in the Liangmaqiao area of Beijing, as shown on the map below.

Costs for treatments at Kings Dental are as follow:

DISCOUNTS – All LTL students are invited enjoy to a 10% discount with Kings if you wish to visit a Dentist in China. Just take proof of your course with you to Kings and you’ll qualify for a 10% discount on the prices above.

You can contact Kings Dental with these details:

ADDRESS – Ground Floor 102-104, Air China Century Plaza, No. 40 Xiaoyun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing. 100027

PHONE – 010-84580388

SCAN THE QR – You can also contact Kings via WeChat by scanning the QR code here on your phone. Nice and simple!

WATCH – Katie’s Experience

Our Marketing Wizard Katie recently paid a visit to Kings to show you that visiting a Dentist in Beijing is super simple and super friendly – whether you know Chinese or not!

Check it out here, see Katie visit the Dentist and chat to their team in more detail.

Dentist in China – FAQ’s

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