Check-ups, Fillings, Whitening and Dentures

What a first visit costs

A dentist looks at the whole mouth, not only the tooth that hurts, and tells you what is there, what is urgent, what can wait, and what the total would be.

If you decide to go ahead, the examination is included in the price of the treatment. If you would rather think about it, the examination on its own is 100 THB. Walking out to think is a normal thing to do here, not an awkward one.

X-rays

• Periapical X-ray (single tooth)200 THB per image
• Panoramic X-ray (whole mouth)600 THB per image
• Cephalometric X-ray600 THB per image
• 3D CT scan (CBCT)3,500 THB per image

The dentist picks the film the job needs: a small one for a single tooth, a panoramic one to see the whole mouth in one image, and the 3D scan only where bone thickness and nerve position matter, such as implants.

Fillings

We use tooth-coloured composite, not the silver amalgam of years ago. It sets in the chair, so you eat normally the same day.

• Composite filling (tooth-coloured)800 (400) THB first surface (each extra)
• Closing a gap between front teeth3,000–3,500 THB per area

The price follows the number of tooth surfaces that need filling, not the size of the hole. A tooth has five surfaces, so decay that spreads across more of them costs more.

When a filling is no longer enough

There is one question behind this: is there enough sound tooth left around the hole to take the force of chewing?

If the walls of the tooth are still thick, a filling is fine. If they have become thin, or part of the tooth has already broken away, there is nothing for the filling to hold on to. It will break sooner or later, and when the crack runs deep the tooth cannot be kept. In those cases the dentist recommends a crown instead.

This is the practical argument for a check-up every six months: decay found early can still be filled. A filling and a crown are an order of magnitude apart in price, and early decay does not hurt at all — you have no way of knowing it is there.

Read about crowns →

Whitening

Two different things get called whitening, and they are fixed in different ways.

In the clinic

• Innowhite (in clinic)2,990 THB per visit
• Polar (in clinic)4,500 THB per visit
• Zoom (in clinic)8,500 THB per visit

At home

• Zoom day/nite (take-home kit)3,990 THB per package

For the home option the dentist makes trays that fit your mouth and you use the gel yourself, for as long as the dentist tells you. It takes longer than in-clinic whitening but you control the pace.

A single dark tooth after root canal treatment

A root-treated tooth often darkens on its own, because the tissue inside it has died. That tooth is bleached from the inside, which is a different procedure at a different price.

• Internal whitening of a root-treated tooth2,000 THB per tooth
• Refilling the internal whitening agent500 THB per visit

The thing that disappoints people most: bleaching only works on natural tooth material. Crowns, veneers and fillings keep the colour they were made in. If you already have a crown or veneer on a front tooth and you whiten the teeth around it, you end up with teeth that no longer match. The dentist will tell you at the examination what to do in which order.

For a week or two after whitening the enamel takes up colour more easily than usual — go easy on coffee, red wine and dark sauces in that window.

Removable dentures

When several teeth are missing and implants are not the plan — for cost, for health reasons, or simply not yet — a removable denture is quicker and much less expensive. You take it out to clean it, and teeth can be added to it later if you lose more.

• Acrylic base. The least expensive of the three. Thicker, but the easiest to add teeth to and to repair.
• Metal base. Thinner, so less bulky in the mouth, and stronger. More expensive than acrylic.
• Flexible (Valplast). No metal clasps showing when you smile, and comfortable to wear, but harder to adjust than the other two.

Prices for each base, for a full set, and for repairs and adding teeth are in the list below. A denture made elsewhere that has broken or gone loose can be brought in — it does not always have to be remade from scratch.

Two things to know about dentures before you decide

They take getting used to. Speech and chewing feel awkward at first. That usually settles within a few weeks, and most people come back once or twice to have a sore spot adjusted. That is a normal part of the job, not a mistake.

The bone underneath keeps shrinking. Without a tooth root to work against, the ridge slowly resorbs, so a denture that fitted well becomes loose over the years and eventually needs relining or remaking. Implants are the option that keeps the bone loaded.

Compare with dental implants →

Prices

A dentist examines you and plans the treatment before anything starts. It takes about 20 minutes, and you hear the full cost before we begin. The examination is included in the cost of treatment; on its own it is 100 THB. If a filling or a scaling needs local anaesthetic, that is 100 THB.

See the full price list →