I went to the dentist for the first time! Well, in Japan, that is. I've been meaning to go for a while now, but I've been putting it off. Anyhoo, Takagi sensei (assistant math teacher at Kizaki) found an English-friendly place nearby, so we went together to get my teeth checked out. In Japan, people don't usually go for regular check-ups, so she told me to tell them I am feeling pain in my teeth. Hehe. The moment I stepped inside, it felt like a dentist's office to me, with all the people waiting, that is. I guess the difference was that before I even stepped in in, I had to change into the indoor slippers that were provided in what looked a slipper microwave? I was told that it was actually to sanitize the slippers? Umm...I have no idea, but it really did look like a cross between a microwave and a vending machine. Strange. Oh yeah, another really strange thing were the chairs in the waiting room. They were LITERALLY airplane seats. Seriously. They must've been from way back when it was still PC to say "stewardess" b/c there was a button that read "STEWARDESS" on the side of the chair. I kid you not.
Although there were a lot of people waiting, I must say that they operate much more efficiently than dentists' offices back at home. They called a new name every 5 minutes. Then finally came my turn. I went in and a dental assitant checked out my teeth, then came the dentist. His English was surprisingly good. He had me at "fracture." He wanted to take a quick X-Ray of the area that I said had "hurt." When I was I led into the X-Ray room, I saw that they actually use a protective lead apron while taking X-Rays! Imagine my surprise! I have been told numerous times by people that have gotten X-Rays in Japan that such aprons are not used. I was sure I'd get radiation poisoning from a mere check-up. Luckily, this dentist realizes that radiation exposure is NOT normal. Yaay. After the X-Ray, he determined that I only had a chip on my filling and that I have no new cavities. Although I was happy to hear that, I somewhat questioned his professional opinion as there's no way I don't have at least 10 new cavities from eating sweets in Japan. Seriously.
Oh, I have a question for my 2 readers. Has there been an advance in technology in the dental arena since I've left the States? I only ask b/c it was truly shocking when they repaired my filling in 0.2 seconds. It was awesome. So yeah, just one visit and that's it! Yaaay! The best part was that everything only cost 1400 yen, roughly $11! Yaaay Japanese health insurance! Maybe now I will visit a Japanese doctor, just for fun. Haha, j/k.
