I’ve been reading and hearing all these stories about tourists from Germany who travel to Poland to get major dental work done, because it’s so much cheaper here and the quality is good, or so they say. So, I thought I’d try it myself and since I had a couple of fillings to replace anyway, why not?

I asked around and one dentist came highly recommended. Supposedly she was very good and very skilled with panicky patients. And since I can be very panicky, I made an appointment.

Now, I have to explain something. I used to train taekwondo, and if you take the sport seriously, chances are that even when using a mouth guard, you will have a couple of teeth to patch up sooner or later. And I took my taekwondo very seriously. Add to that my legendary sweet tooth and now you know why I was forced to experience the pleasures of dental visits on five continents.

So I had plenty of control samples to compare the doctor in Poland with. Unfortunately, she fell short on all accounts. While I can take a beating in the dojang, I am a total wuss when it comes to dental work. And this lady, the champ that she was, attempted to fix my tooth without anesthesia. Even though I asked for a shot. She simply stated that she wasn’t going to give me one for such a simple procedure. Needless to say, the visit was a total failure. Yet, because I’m a glutton for punishment, I returned to her for another appointment. Again, she proceeded to drill me live. I briefly considered kicking her in the head (it was easy in the position I was in), but settled on escaping from the chair while she went to fetch something. I ran and didn’t look back.

A couple of days later it turned out she had overcharged me dearly for that first visit. Her prices were positively mainstream European. So, she was no good and ridiculously expensive.

Since I had a half-hacked tooth in my mouth, I had no choice but to find another dentist. And to find one quickly.
I called up a clinic right by where I’m staying, explained the situation to a very patient receptionist (who even spoke decent English and wanted to show off) and made an appointment.

My new dentist looked all of fifteen years old. She had braces on her teeth, for crying out loud! I was afraid. Very afraid. But she turned out to be fast, gentle and competent. She fixed everything that needed fixing. Under anesthesia. Her assistant was top-notch too. Do I dare to say this baby-faced chick with braces was better than my totally awesome dentist across the ocean? Yes, she was. She was much cheaper too. Her prices started at 100 PLN per tooth.

So, yes, if I lived in Germany, I would definitely travel to see her again.

Useful words:

• ząb (masculine, plural: zęby) – tooth audio
• stomatolog (masculine, plural: stomatolodzy) – dentist, but you can also say “dentysta” (plural: dentyści) audio
• dziura (w zębie) – cavity audio
• ból zęba – toothache audio
• próchnica (feminine, no plural) – caries, tooth decay audio
• dziąsło (neuter, plural: dziąsła) – gum (in your mouth) audio
• plomba (feminine, plural: plomby) – filling (dental) audio
• zakładać plombę, or – zaplombować – to fill a tooth audio
• leczenie kanałowe – root canal audio

and the most important of them all:

• znieczulenie (masculine, plural: znieczulenia) – anesthetic audio