The Land of Smiles

I’m not sure why they call Thailand the Land of Smiles, but besides the general cheery Thai disposition, a possible explanation could be the abundance of quality, inexpensive dental work.

So . . . in the spirit of adventure (more accurately in the spirit of being cheap and without dental insurance), I went to the Thai dentist for a teeth-cleaning and check-up.

You might think this is a boring post, and yes, I’m stretching a little for material, but I have discovered 2 things about Thai dentistry that absolutely need to be imported to the United States:

1) This towel-thing that you wear over your face with a hold cut out for your mouth – this is great! It eliminates having that awkward staring contest with the dentist or closing your eyes and wondering if s/he can see up your nose.

2) Price discrimination – no not the illegal kind – but the kind that meant that my teeth-cleaning was only 600 Baht (less than $20) compared to the normal price of 1000 Baht because “there wasn’t a lot of stuff in there” as the dentist put it. What a great incentive to brush your teeth :-)