Do you live in China and feel concerned about visiting a dentist (牙医, Yáyī) or Chinese hospital (医院, Yīyuàn)? Can you speak Mandarin Chinese fluently? If NO, how’d you communicate your problems with a doctor who don’t speak your language? Well, I totally understand the situation. It’s indeed a bit different experience to visit the doctors and hospitals in China, partly because of the language differences.
I live in Suzhou city and in November 2018, I happened to visit a dentist (Suzhou Dental Hospital –in Jiangsu province of China). Now, I’m dedicating this post to share my personal experiences and relevant details that may be helpful to the foreigners living in China to get an appointment with Chinese doctors. All the photos in this post are from the Suzhou Dental Hospital.
Why did I visit a dentist?
Well, I visited the dentist for a routine dental checkup and teeth cleaning in order to maintain a proper oral hygiene. In fact, in the past, I’ve regularly visited dentists, at least once every six months. However, after moving to China, one year had passed without any dental checkups due to the similar reasons as mentioned before. For example, I didn’t know which dentist was nearby, how to get an appointment, prices, etc. Also, my working and travel schedules kept me pretty much occupied all the time. Finally, I managed to visit a dentist on a November’s weekend.
My first hospital
When I set off to meet the dentist, I initially visited the following hospital (names in English, Chinese, pinyin)-
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University (Shiyan Street Campus),
- 苏州大学附属第一医院 (十梓街院区),
- Sūzhōu dàxué fùshǔ dì yī yīyuàn (shí zǐ jiē yuàn qū).
In fact, I had already been to this hospital in July 2018 for some other medical issues and had written a post about the same. Please check this one out-
I was back to the same hospital again.
I reached the hospital by 7.30am. Since I already had a medical booklet card (for registration), it was very quick process to get an appointment with a dentist (RMB 22). Soon, I met a lady doctor. She spoke decent English and was very friendly. She got me laid down on a dental chair and did some basic checkups. My teeth were in normal condition as the doctor said, “it’s all ok”. But I was at the hospital for the teeth cleaning, not just a routine dental checkup.
The doctor informed me that I’d need to come on a weekday to get an appointment for teeth cleaning as the cleaning staff probably didn’t work on the weekends.
Also, I learnt that the waiting queue for teeth cleaning was very long and it’d take a couple of months before I get my turn. The fee for a teeth cleaning was somewhere around RMB 280.
However, I didn’t want to wait for two months and wanted to get the whole thing done on the same day. So, I requested the doctor to suggest me some other suitable alternative (hospital/dentist) nearby. The doctor kindly suggested me to visit the Suzhou Dental Hospital. I even added her in my WeChat and she sent me the GPS address of the new dental hospital to me.
The new hospital
I took a local bus and navigated using the Baidu Map App. After some 20 minutes I was at the outpatient department (OPD) of the Suzhou Dental Hospital. The OPD ambience looked busy as I joined the registration queue to get an appointment with a new doctor.
Here are the name details of the new hospital –
- Suzhou University Affiliated Stomatological Hospital (also known as Suzhou Dental Hospital)
- 苏州大学附属口腔医院
- Sūzhōu dàxué fùshǔ kǒuqiāng yīyuàn
HOw TO Get to the Suzhou Dental Hospital?
The nearest subway station is Chayuanchang (察院场, Chá yuàn chǎng) on Metro line 4 (sky color line). Take exit 5 and walk for 1-2 minutes, you’ll soon see the OPD gate literally next to the road side. Here is the photo of the entrance to the OPD-
Getting an appointment at the Suzhou Dental Hospital
There are two windows to give appointments. Since I already had the registration card (from July visit), it was quite fast to get the appointment. RMB 12.
I also learnt that the dentists were situated on the 6th floor in another nearby building. So after the appointment, I had to go to another building.
I didn’t know where the new building was and a friendly local helped me to find the ways. I’ll share the map with you-
Teeth cleaning Fee
Soon, I was in the new building. I interacted with the receptionist (probably a nurse) using Google Translate App. She took me to the doctor for a routine checkup.
After the checkup, the dentist suggested me two types of teeth cleaning: A) for RMB 300, B) for RMB 600. When I asked about the differences between two types, the doctor replied, “the pain in RMB 600 is less”. She further asked me, “are you married”? I was not sure about the connection of the fee with marital status.
Anyways, I asked if RMB 300 was very painful, she said “no”. So I opted for RMB 300. Including some taxes and other charges, I paid a total fee of RMB 365 using Alipay.
Duration of teeth cleaning
After I paid the fee at the reception counter, I had to wait for my turn. There were just 3 people ahead of me in the teeth cleaning waiting queue. I waited for some 15 minutes, and then it was my turn.
Once the cleaning process started, it took some 20 minutes to finish the whole exercise. It was a normal experience. Nothing like painful as initially I thought.
Dentist timings
You should keep in mind the lunch timings (11.30 to 13.30). The doctors won’t be available during the lunch period, and so, no teeth cleaning would take place during the lunch hours.
Overall satisfaction
There was nothing to feel bad at the Suzhou Dental Hospital. The whole process was fast and efficient. I wanted the teeth cleaning on the weekend and that’s what exactly happened. The doctors were knowledgeable and friendly. Even the staff, who didn’t speak English, tried to help me using the translate Apps. Overall, I’d rate the dental facilities and services at the best (say 10/10).
By the time my teeth cleaning was over, it was already a lunch time and I was heading to visit some new places in Suzhou for the rest of the day.
In summary, it was a pleasant experience to visit a dentist in China for the first time. The whole process was simple and quick. Obviously, if you are looking for a dentist in Suzhou city, the Suzhou Dental Hospital is recommended.
That’s all in this post!
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Last updated: Friday, November 9, 2018