Oh ... forgot to mention that my friend had her teeth laser whitened on Friday. She had them done at the "Sea Smile Clinic" on Ratuthit Road, closer to Jungceylon. Cost was rather cheap, 10,000bt which is about $358 AUD. Here in Australia the cost is approx. $1800, so she thought she was onto a good thing. I went with her and we were both impressed with the clinic and the dentist. However .... during and after treatment (for about 24 hrs after) she went through excruciating pain which she was not really prepared for. On talking to others who have had it done, apparently this is normal. But ... she would NOT recommend it to anyone and she would NOT ever have it done again. She said the pain was like electric shocks going through all of your teeth all the time and also a massive amount of saliva constantly. So ... just for anyone contemplating having this done o/s, maybe think twice about it. Her teeth are whiter, but this is not a permanent whitening and is recommended to have it done every 18-24 months. I looked at the clinic's prices for tooth implants as I need 2 of these. Here in Australia the cost is approx. $5000 per implant (probably more now cos this costing was a few years ago) and at the Sea Smile Clinic it was about $2,000AUD per implant, so def much cheaper, although dont know if Id feel 100% comfortable having something like that done over there. There are dental clinics everywhere in Patong, let alone in Bangkok, so there is a definite market out there for those westerners wanting treatment done at a fraction of the cost. Im sure the majority of customers at these clinics are tourist as the costs for treatment would be quite well out of reach of the majority of Thais.
Anyway ... just something for those contemplating dental work in Thailand to ponder on .....
Kitty