juansweetpotato wrote:Your right Saigon is a huge city with millions of people. Most are dirt poor. If you need to have someone help it is quite easy though as there are millions of students studying English there. Just don't ask a poor person or anyone over the age of about 30 as a general rule. Good luck with the op. At least Roomchang should give you a do I need or don't I need decision that you can 100% trust. A lot of dentist recommend treatment because they make money. that's not just here.

phuketrichard wrote:

Samouth wrote:

juansweetpotato wrote:

Samouth wrote:

juansweetpotato wrote:Samouth, wouldn't it be safer and cheaper for you to take a bus ride to Vietnam for your op? $5 on the bus and because your Cambodian, no visa. I have heard that if a dentist makes three mistakes in Vietnam and they are reported, they will be struck off the dental register. Do they even have such a register in Cambodia? True, in Vietnam, as a dentist, you can probably pay your way out of any bad mistakes, but in Cambodia it is a cert.

Thanks for the suggestion, however it will not go to Vietnam for such operation, i will take the risk to do it with Cambodian dentist. I think if i go to Vietnam to do it, i might have to spend even more money as i will not be able to find $5 bus from Phnom Penh to Saigon. Moreover as i don't speak Vietnamese, it will be so hard for me to tell taxi driver or motordop to where i want to go. I am more likely to be ripped off by them as i don't speak Vietnamese. So that, i will have to hire interpreter for $25 per day, accommodation and foods. Most of doctors in Vietnam don't speak English but French.

$5 Capitol bus, but I haven't looked lately so maybe up to 8 now. As far as knowing Vietnamese is concerned, it will do you good to see how foreigners have to get around without knowing the language. it can be fun too and you'll pick up some language . Anyway, you'll find a lot of people who speak English. If you think you will be cheated more than here, just remember the prices will be a lot cheaper for the same or better service.
If it wasn't for the visa fee, I would 100% go to Vietnam for my dental treatment as well as for glasses. Makes total economic sense and also allows you a holiday in a foreign country.

I bet you can't find $5 bus from Phnom Penh to Saigon. I think Capitol doesn't have operation to Vietnam. I have been to Saigon for 3 times, and every time i paid $10 for the bus. You are right that i have never experienced being alone in a foreign country. I have always been with my family every time i was in Vietnam. My grandma spoke fluent Vietnamese, but she is not Vietnam. Before Khmer Rouge she did business with Vietnamese and she picked up the language. So, language barrier was not a big deal. Don't get me wrong, i don't think many people in Saigon speak English. I remembered there was a night in Saigon, i went out with my aunt to have dinner. As my grandma was tired so we let her sleep and we decided to go by ourselves. Guess what, we couldn't get the waiter to bring us some rice until i used my basic Vietnamese i picked up from my neighbors (In Phnom Penh, i am living near vietnamese community).

Thanks so much for all the information, i decided to go with Romchang. I will get back to you if it is worth to spend the money.

whatever they tell you its worth the cost,
your teeth will not heal themselves

dont play, pay an get it done and not have to worry about it,

juansweetpotato wrote:Dentists are a bit like schools. You can build a beautiful building (ELT Tuoul Kork) and fill it full of nice equipment (front desk Apple monitors etc) but what about the people who run it? What about their ethos? Who are they employing? Family? etc.Are their employees chosen strictly for their qualifications? I always wondered how Cambodians see this seeming dichotomy. It's definitely not isolated to Cambodia, but is generally associated with being an LDC problem.

Yes but if a school has been around for some time, you have a pretty good idea of the level of formation.
Plus once again look where the embassy personnel go.
Embassy have been around for decade and they have the feed back of all their employee with some check when they go back home .
If the kids are not up to level it will show pretty fast. Same for medical work, it an hospital has a tendency to fuck up and to try to hide it they could be able to go away with it with isolated individual but not with an embassy.

Vietnam has had a very different history to that of Cambodia. For a start the country wasn't taken to pieces as much as Cambodia was. It has a real economy that scales. They also have good training and reasonably modern practices in some areas. still not quite up to scratch to western standards in many things ( sanitation, drainage, electrical engineering etc) but dentistry seems to be one area they are fairly good at.

Where did you hear that? The level of Vietnamese university in the medical and dental field is FARE from being up to western standard. Why do you think foreigner go to be treated in Thailand if they can afford it. For the dentist you have clinic operating to western standard but they are much more expensive than the local dentist same as Cambodia.

Just about all the high tech foreign dentists in HCMC have shut down because they can't offer a better priced service than the Viets.

False they shut down because there was some kind of tightening for obtaining visa . I spoke with a western dentist who was workingin a Foreigner run clinic. He has a Vietnamese wife and kid, was working for three year without problem, and last year almost without warning he had to leave no visa renewal. The clinic he was working in also had to close. There was no economic trouble for the clinic, they had a solid base of customer .
Vietnamese authority seems to have decided like you that in the field of dentistry they could do without the foreigner.

In Cambodia the locals often prefer to go foreign if they have the cash. Just some ideas.

ryoon wrote:
Yes but if a school has been around for some time, you have a pretty good idea of the level of formation.
Plus once again look where the embassy personnel go.
Embassy have been around for decade and they have the feed back of all their employee with some check when they go back home .
If the kids are not up to level it will show pretty fast. Same for medical work, it an hospital has a tendency to fuck up and to try to hide it they could be able to go away with it with isolated individual but not with an embassy.

Where did you hear that? The level of Vietnamese university in the medical and dental field is FARE from being up to western standard. Why do you think foreigner go to be treated in Thailand if they can afford it. For the dentist you have clinic operating to western standard but they are much more expensive than the local dentist same as Cambodia.

Just about all the high tech foreign dentists in HCMC have shut down because they can't offer a better priced service than the Viets.

False they shut down because there was some kind of tightening for obtaining visa . I spoke with a western dentist who was working in a Foreigner run clinic. He has a Vietnamese wife and kid, was working for three year without problem, and last year almost without warning he had to leave no visa renewal. The clinic he was working in also had to close. There was no economic trouble for the clinic, they had a solid base of customer .
Vietnamese authority seems to have decided like you that in the field of dentistry they could do without the foreigner.

juansweetpotato wrote:
Thanks for addressing some of my ideas. The thing about the embassy seems to me to be valid.

Of course it is, They are in place for decades and have HUGE experience in what to look for and what to avoid when doing medical treatment abroad. The main difference between your experience and the embassy is the number. Embassy have many personnel and as mentioned earlier the work done abroad will be often be evaluated in the home country. You base your analyse on a very retrained number of case, without independent evaluation of what has been done.
Do you honestly think that you found a dentist being able to do the same quality for five time less than the German guy ? The embassy guy being long term in the region never knew that Vietnamese dentist where working cheap for a fraction of the price ? Or that they have a visceral opposition to being treated by some else than a withe guy ? They seems to have no qualm at consulting Thai dentist in Bangkok.

I even accidentally went to an NGO/ embassy dentist a few years ago. he was a nice guy it seemed to me. Huge fuck off house in TK. Gave me a quote for $750 for a front bridge (3 teeth). He was German. He recently shot himself so not sure where the embassy are going now. I got the work done in Vietnam after getting consultations and prices from 4 dentists in the UK. UK prices were as little as $1000 to well over 2000. Vietnam $150, with a filling and a clean. # years ago , no problems so far.

In the medical field when you have trouble after an act it tend no to be little , and as a general rule you tend to have what you pays for.


I heard it from quite a few sources actually. I have been told and read that Vietnamese have been sent to Russia etc for training in many areas.

I met several Vietnamese and other South East Asia university teacher medical and dental, I assure you that Vietnam has still a long route to go. The ONLY one up to standard is Thailand.

I think it was the same in Cambodia. Just that in Cambodia certain things happened that didn't happen in Vietnam. Its a bit like mechanics I think. It seems there are very few good ones around. The good ones I'm guessing, are the ones who did an apprenticeship in France or Russia etc, or those lucky enough to have studied under them. That whole apprenticeship lineage was effectively snuffed out in Cambodia by a few self important upper class twats of the first order of magnitude.

You have some very good Vietnamese medical professional, the only thing is exactly like in Cambodia the one with skill are more expensive than the one with medium or low skill.

Apart fro that, I think that the whole legal process in Cambodia including the police are so fucked that one just can't rely on anything. If a dentist were to kill a patient while under a general A, I'm pretty sure they could cover the whole thing up in many cases. What are the chances of that happening in Vietnam do you think? I am guessing that still a possibility but no where near as high.

It is more probable in Vietnam in fact if only for the fact that Vietnamese can be terribly efficient and organize for those kind of things.
The main difference between Cambodia and Vietnam is the size of the population. In Cambodia if you take PP for example you have a village effect. Good luck for trying to bury any story .
Some month ago on the other forum, there was a subject on a young english with a tendency to cheat people, the poster where able to follow his activity on a day to day basis.
If one of the top clinic fuck up with patients the story will go around quite fast.
In Vietnam with the size easier to be discreet.



Thanks for that, I thought that may possibly have been the case.

Not possibly it is the case this was a direct account not hearsay or somebody tell me.

I am extremely worried about letting someone into my mouth with power tools. I have worked in the building profession long enough to see the good work or incredible damage that can result from improper use. So try to check out as much as possible before making a decision.

For this kind of thing ask to people who are in a position to know without any interest in any possible recommendation they give.

juansweetpotato wrote:Dentists are a bit like schools. You can build a beautiful building (ELT Tuoul Kork) and fill it full of nice equipment (front desk Apple monitors etc) but what about the people who run it? What about their ethos? Who are they employing? Family? etc.Are their employees chosen strictly for their qualifications? I always wondered how Cambodians see this seeming dichotomy. It's definitely not isolated to Cambodia, but is generally associated with being an LDC problem. Vietnam has had a very different history to that of Cambodia. For a start the country wasn't taken to pieces as much as Cambodia was. It has a real economy that scales. They also have good training and reasonably modern practices in some areas. still not quite up to scratch to western standards in many things ( sanitation, drainage, electrical engineering etc) but dentistry seems to be one area they are fairly good at. Just about all the high tech foreign dentists in HCMC have shut down because they can't offer a better priced service than the Viets. In Cambodia the locals often prefer to go foreign if they have the cash. Just some ideas.

juansweetpotato wrote:If I was you i would choose RoomChang for the procedure too after reading this thread. Best thing is to go in for a consultation to put your mind at ease. I hope some of the ideas I have thrown in have been of some interest sorry to have mixed them in with your needing treatment, but I'm sure Roomchang will be OK . Good luck.