Chile Forum

La Serena dentist--I recently went to Mohen on Huanhuali, one block east of Balmaceda on the north side of the street. I got a consulta for 15000, full xrays for another 15000, and a full waterpick and then brush cleaning of my teeth over two sessions for about 80000 (this apparently will vary depending on how much tartar and plaque the dentist has to abrade off your teeth, mine was moderate). I had a female dentist, forgot her name. No English though. She seemed professional to me, certainly not trying to sell random procedures. Not really a problem if all you want is a thorough cleaning and a cavity check. My husband is getting a cleaning and a couple of minor cavities dealt with next week, total about 200.000. The dentists there are all specialists, so they may charge more. I just didn't want the hassle of shopping around and the office is not too far from my house.

Thanks. I think I know the place you mean. It sounds like I might not be paying over the odds then, but I'm not happy with this splitting the cleaning into multiple visits (I've never heard of it before and it's clearly just a mechanism for charging more -- I sat around waiting longer than he spent cleaning half of my teeth; he should have just finished the job I made the appointment for)

About splitting the cleaning into multiple visits-- my estimate was based on a total amount of cleaning rather than how many visits it was done in, how many "areas" of the mouth she had to do (and since I was a moderate case, she cleaned all my teeth but only charged me for 2/3 or so. She actually split my cleanings because I have jaw articulation issues and she didn't want to hurt me by having my mouth open for too long. The waterpick cleaning was a new thing for me, I hadn't had it done before, and it actually does take a long time. OTOH no more sharp steel picks get poked around in your mouth to do the scraping, and it doesn't hurt except for the occasional sensitive spot on the gums.

Oh, thanks, that makes more sense. I assumed you meant the steel thing so I'm intrigued by something that doesn't hurt...