Wisdom Tooth
Dentist visits are always something I consider ‘strictly necessary’. A dentist’s visit in Singapore is prohibitively expensive. A cavity is a big hole in my wallet, no matter if it’s a simple filling, or worse, a root canal treatment.
Recently, a molar that has gotten extensive work done started hurting. It was time for the inevitable. As a foreigner in Ho Chi Minh City, I looked up dental clinics with good reviews and ✨english-speaking✨ dentists and found one near my accommodation.
Here’s the 2-week rundown-
1st appointment: He was shocked that my previous dentist did a direct filling near the pulp, and suspected that it was the source of my pain. Fixed that and realized Vietnam rates for a ceramic crown = simple filling in SG so guess what your gurl did 🤗 He then advised me to extract my outgrown wisdom tooth because it’s useless and sitting there like a future problem. Fun fact: I’m a hoarder and procrastinator.
2nd appointment: A gum abscess developed. He drained it for me, and we decided to observe and not over-treat.
3rd appointment: The infection kept coming back. Turns out, it’s been there for a long time 🌈 He promptly did a root canal and fixed my old, hollow fillings, which evened out my bite. (Then I realized that’s why my face started becoming more asymmetrical in the last few years.) He, again, asked if I wanted to extract my trophy wisdom tooth before I get chronic diseases but ayeee my jaw was tired from 2.5 hours of procedures.
4th Appointment: Finished up with the root canal. He told me that an extraction will only take 3 minutes and I will be able to eat by dinner time (guessing this was the main reason behind my hesitation???). I couldn’t think of a reason to say no.
My point in this: It takes more than repeating your offerings when you’re marketing or selling. I extracted my wisdom tooth even though I was reluctant at first, and it’s not because he offered 3 times. So much went on before I made that choice:
The clinic has many great reviews.
He helped me solve my problems, both known and unknown.
He genuinely wanted to help me have a healthy and useful set of teeth.
He demonstrated his knowledge in other domains and told me more about wisdom tooth extractions from different perspectives.
By my last appointment, I’m happy to let him do whatever he thinks I need.
Having multiple touch points and “reminders” help. But the bedrock of any loyal, repeating customer is trust. Trust is cultivated when your interactions are genuine and when you actually solve their problems, both known and unknown.
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BONUS: here’s everything I got done: 1x pulp treatment, 1x ceramic crown, 3x filling, 1x root canal, 1x wisdom tooth extraction
Total cost: 731 SGD
(For perspective, a root canal is SG is 900 SGD, not inclusive of initial x-ray, medication, and final filling or crown) For my Singaporean friends, a round trip to HCMC for dental is cheaper + you get to eat local pho.
