The Tooth Fairy Lost Her Fairy Dust a.k.a. There Had To Be A Catch.

My last post was about the UGLY, this one is about the BAD, but with the real and present danger of becoming very very ugly......

I think we have established that I am extremely anxious about a visit to the dentist, Valium and alcohol are just as important as ensuring I've mortgaged my home before attending the appointment. It has always been an unquestionable given, I would NOT be awake for any of this dental work. FULL STOP. NO QUESTION. This was not even a question I thought I needed ask, I thought a general anesthetic (GA from now on cause spelling anesthetic is really annoying) was normal procedure......oh how wrong was I........

I had been gathering quotes, they all quoted me around THB2000 for "medication", I decided that I needed to know what this medication was and ensure it was for GA, I did not receive a response from Global Health Travel until this was included in an email

"I need you to confirm for me that I will be able to be sedated/under general anesthetic during the extraction and implant procedure. The quotes talk about medication but not what type. This is a MUST HAVE!!!! I would be physically and mentally unable to get this done if I wasnt heavily sedated."

The response

"In the past our patients who are petrified of dentists have been given valium and/or sleeping tablets but never have they been under general anesthetic as there are risks when been under anesthesia if not conducted by a professional anesthiest. Please understand that if I can co-ordinate this with the clinic then there will be an added cost for the specialist and anesthesia"

Hang on, did I read that right? Is she telling me that no one goes under GA to get dental work done?

A few hours later she called, it is indeed an unusual request, none of the GHT dental patients have ever been knocked out....

I thought she was maybe being less than honest about this, I needed to know I wasn't being given guidance based on any type of kick back, I have no idea if GHT get a commission for my referral, I am just presuming they do.

So I call the Bangkok International Dental Clinic and they almost laughed at my request, "No, No GA here no need for that"....but they could arrange it if they had to - it will triple the cost....OK then....So I contact a different medical holiday facilitator and this was his email response

"I have NO idea who will do dentistry under GA
Certainly Bumrungrad OR Bangkok hospital would be places I would try
And while they will do Anesthesia well I would be suspicious of their dentistry
Also I would expect high prices
In my experience NO hospital here does dentistry well BUT many like those big hospitals.
I might have them remove my teeth and some dental clinic do my dentures & implants IF that was possible"

 HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first thought was "Fuck it Im paying triple", but then reality set in, I have a very clear budget for this journey.

My mind was swirling, I am scared yes, but why? I'm not really scared of getting my teeth out, I'm tempted to rip them out with my bare hands at times,  I'm shit scared of the implants being put in. The idea of someone  drilling into my bone and screwing something in it while I'm aware makes my stomach turn. There is no way on the planet that this isn't going to be the most traumatic experience of my life if I don't have the GA.

I was trying to rationalise my fear, so I decided to de-rationalise it. I asked myself "Susie, are you the worlds biggest sooky la-la? Are you seriously more of a cry baby panic merchant than the millions of people who've had dental work before you in Bangkok?

HELL NO!

I can do this.
I will do this.
I MUST do this.

They just better dose me up so good on Valium and sleeping pills that I really do think the dentist is the tooth fairy...