Spending thatmanyyearsinChina itisperhapsinevitablethat soonerorlateryouwill get a toothache. Once an old filling leaves my tooth for good. Each and everyone advises me： “Get this done in Germany， or why wouldn’t you go to HongKong？”Iwonder，whyindeed？DoallChinesepeopleofShenZhenwalkaroundwith
toothache and never get it cured？ That is not my impression so far. But frankly， I confess： I do not want to go into one of these dental practices which can be watched from the street through a large window； I know that in China everything is public， but I do not want to be treated in full public view at my teeth.
So I’m asking around， I get all sorts of recommendations， one of which sounds appealing： There is said to be a new group practice in FuTian， a district of ShenZhen. There I go on a Sunday morning after having arranged an appointment (with SunLi’s assistance).
For those who still do not know： Service in China， especially southern China， is to the delight of any working man. Anyone who – like me – never has any time to spare will in ShenZhen face no trouble in yet achieving everything， other than in Germany where as soon as you have found some time you will also find that the others have run out of it. Everything is possible to get at almost any time， even this appointment on a Sunday morning.
The practice is new， and as I sit in the treatment room， I’m convinced： This is a modern dental practice. Wang QiongHao (王穹浩) is a young， compared to me even a very young doctor， about the age of my sons. He quickly lays me flat on the chair. But he cannot speak English. My Chinese is limited. We manage somehow – until we suddenly realise： He can speak French！ Me too！ What a surprise！
Now things become most funny， because we fluently and enthusiastically communicate in “Chin.ais” (that’s the French-Chinese equivalent of “Chinglish”). Whatever he does not know in French， I can understand or tell in Chinese， and vice versa. It was a wonderful synergy. He is a Chinese from HongKong (his Mandarin
One way of getting teeth treated in ShenZhen： A dental practice with unhindered showcase view.
is quite fine， though)， has studied and practised for a time in Paris， then joined a practice in HongKong， but there was no more success. “The competitors are destroying everything， dumping prices and quality.”
The gang of four physicians decided to move to， and start anew in ShenZhen， where everything is new and they may escape the competition in HongKong. The practice is better equipped than anything that I have known in Germany.
The repair of my tooth means no trouble. But Wang QiongHao has instilled confidence.
About a year later I get a real problem： nagging toothache. I call the practice， but don’t remember the name of the doctor.... Sorry， please. When registering， I ask (in crude Chinese) for being treated by that doctor who speaks French. “No problem， tomorrow at 4 o’clock， is that all right with you？” – “Sorry， I would like to come next Sunday at 10 o’clock， it that possible？” – “No problem！”
This Sunday it is a real ordeal： root canal treatment， complete dental revision， ceramic crowns， four sessions altogether. Our Chin.ais is perfect， with one caveat： He can talk normally， I have to keep my mouth open with ten tampons inserted， that way speaking Chin.ais is not so easy！ Four hours after the sessions I play as a goalkeeper ... straining all my resources. It is a tough challenge， but I enjoy to meet it.
I have rarely – or more precisely， never before or again – endured so inspiring (albeit serious) and modern dental treatments (has the X-ray image of your root canal treatment ever been shown to you right on the dental chair， and then copied on demand to an USB stick？). And then with a somewhat swollen jaw I kept away the shots from the goal....