HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
If you want expert dental care for a very reasonable price from a very experienced dentist who speaks good English, who will prioritise you and genuinely care about your well-being then Dr Tuyen from the Golden Smile Dental Office is an excellent choice.
Dr Tuyen carried out significant restorative work to my teeth. This included 5 crowns with root canal therapy, a wisdom tooth extraction, the replacement of my very old fillings and some additional work to address tooth sensitivity (fillings to the tooth areas which had become exposed due to receding gums).
The cost of this work was very reasonable and was at the cheaper end of the quotes I obtained from other clinics in Saigon. Dr Tuyen gave me the pricing upfront and there were no hidden costs or unexpected extras. I estimate it cost 80% less than it would have cost in Australia. It was also significantly cheaper than all of the quotes I obtained from clinics in Thailand. She did not try to drum-up any extra business. She also let me know when she thought that certain items which I had requested in my treatment plan were not essential or could be left until a later time (in case I wanted to reduce the cost). She is very honest and has integrity.
All of this work was carried out by Dr Tuyen herself and was carried out to a very high standard. I am extremely satisfied and happy with the work she did. My decision to choose Dr Tuyen to do my dental work was 100% the right choice.
While there were some moments of discomfort during some of the procedures (as to be expected), overall it was not a painful experience. I was very pleasantly surprised at how little pain/discomfort there was. Dr Tuyen was always mindful of my comfort and took appropriate action to address this. Her expertise kept any discomfort/pain to a minimum. To my surprise and relief, there was very little residual discomfort after each treatment day.
While there are many clinics in Vietnam doing dental work for foreigners, Dr Tuyen is not the same as the others. While it might be enticing to choose one of the larger, flashy, glossy clinics, these clinics would be a very different experience to Dr Tuyen. Many of these clinics are large operations that will have many staff carrying out the work and they will be servicing many patients each day. With Dr Tuyen, you can be assured that she will do all of the work herself – a highly experienced dentist with over 20 years of experience. You will be her main priority each day. It felt like Dr Tuyen was my own personal dentist and I felt very well looked after.
As many reviews have noted, another reason why Dr Tuyen stands out from the rest is she is a very special person. She is warm, kind and caring. Throughout my 10 days of treatment with Dr Tuyen, it was clear that she genuinely loves her work and gets great satisfaction from helping people. Over the years I have employed many people and that experience taught me that the best people always had the “care-factor” – a genuine care about the quality of their work which comes from within. Each night Dr Tuyen would message me to see how I was and to check if I was having any discomfort or issues. Another example, is she would take multiple x-rays during my root canal treatments to ensure the penetration/depth of the treatment was just right to maximise the outcome. Similarly, with my crowns, she took the time and care to ensure that the bite contact points between my upper & lower teeth were even and optimal.
Another difference with Dr Tuyen is her clinic is located in her home which helps her keep her fees at the low end of the spectrum - despite her being a highly experienced dentist. Her clinic is located about 4km from the centre of District 1. It was very easy to get to/from her clinic each day using the Grab or Xanh SM taxi apps. I was staying in the heart of the Pham Ngu Lao district and a motorbike taxi typically cost only US$1-2 (a taxi car cost US$3-5). I was happy to organise my transport myself but Dr Tuyen did offer to arrange it for me. There are also two local buses that run from near her clinic to the heart of District 1 (buses 13 and 65 which come every 10 minutes and which cost only US$0.30).
While going to a clinic in District 1 may be a little more convenient if you are staying in the tourist areas in District 1, you would miss out on the expert personal care that Dr Tuyen will give you. You will also miss the experience of getting out of the tourist area and into the real Saigon. Each morning there is a local street market that operates along the road to Dr Tuyen’s clinic. I chose to walk down it each morning as I loved the authenticity of this experience. Walking through the local market was my favourite part of my entire stay in Saigon.
Before going to Vietnam, I was nervous about getting my dental work done there. I was worried that the dental work might be inferior to that in Australia and I was concerned about choosing the right clinic and worried that the end-price would end up being significantly higher than initially quoted/indicated. With Dr Tuyen, the work will be carried out to a high standard (by her) and you can be reassured that there will not be hidden costs or unexpected surprises. When she sees your teeth in person, she might recommend some changes to the initial treatment plan – but this will be on the basis of sound dental advice (and because it is in your best interest) – not because she is trying to push you into more expensive or unnecessary treatments. In my case, for one of my teeth she was able to implement a crown instead of the proposed extraction and implant. I much preferred this solution and it resulted in a significant reduction in the treatment cost for that tooth.
As for the crowns used, Dr Tuyen can offer you a range of choices. I chose to pay a bit extra for the highly reputable Lava Plus Zirconia crowns which came with a 15-year warranty.
I have no hesitation in recommending Dr Tuyen and the Golden Smile Dental Office. My decision to choose Dr Tuyen was definitely the right choice.
