Friday, August 14, 2009

Visit to the Dentist

One of the fun things about living overseas is that things like going to the dentist become worthy of a blog post! I got my teeth cleaned on Tuesday, and I was definitely impressed with the staff at the dentist's office. They escorted me to a dentist chair in a long room with about eight chairs in a row. Each chair had a television monitor suspended above. It kind of reminded me of a gym since those individual screens have gotten popular. The receptionist switched the channel of my screen to a movie channel that was showing "Men in Black." Of course, I couldn't hear the audio, and the subtitles were in Korean, but it was a nice gesture. After a few minutes, my hygienist came over and got me positioned in the chair. She handed me a pair of glasses to protect my eyes while she cleaned my teeth.

For the cleaning, she used a high-pressure water jet, which I have never seen before. It made a high-pitched noise and was a little, ummm, uncomfortable, but man I think my teeth have never been so clean! After a long session with the water jet, she polished my teeth with that gritty paste they use and then flossed for me. I think she was the gentlest flosser ever! Finally, she gave me a lesson on proper flossing procedure using impeccable English. She was a little tentative and giggly with some of the words, so I think it was a bit strange for her to be giving her spiel in English, but she did a great job. No cavities, so I was free to go. I was really happy to find out how easy and inexpensive it was to visit the dentist and how professional and able the staff were. Good job TLC dentist in Okpo! See you in six months.

3 comments:

Mom said...

I'm glad you had a good experience there.

Jamie said...

That is so neat, Ellen! One of those mundane, commonplace experiences that is novel and interesting because you are in Korea!

chrissy said...

That experience almost makes me want to make an appointment with my dentist here. um, maybe not.