Another vacation; another trip to some "foreign" emergency room... our daughter is not the most fleet-a-foot or in simpler terms she can be a "klutz". 
Although she is in ballet and gymnastics...she still can not figure out how to fall gracefully. Saturday night when we were preparing ourselves for bed at our friend's house in Bangkok, Ava decided she was going to stand on the bed. She maybe stood for a split second and then fell off and caught her fall with her mouth. This knocked one of her front teeth out. I believe this is the 4th time in her young life that she has fallen and not caught herself with her hands. It is almost like she doesn't have the reflex for protecting herself against a fall. Anyway we packed her up and the tooth and headed to an emergency room not far from our friend's house. So this is where my blog really begins because if there was a way to make a negative experience pleasant...this was it because the hospital, staff, and facilities here are top notch. We arrived at Samitivej Srinakarin Children's Hospital. The emergency staff took one quick look at Ava and the tooth and decided we needed to come back in the morning to see a dentist in the same facility. They prescribed some anti-biotics and a pain killer and sent us on our way. We pretty much expected this outcome, but what we didn't expect was the bill. The total cost for the drugs and the emergency room visit was about $25. Wow, we thought that was cheap.
So on Sunday (thenext day) we scheduled a trip to see the dentist at the same facility. 
This again was a very pleasant experience. I have included some pictures of the facilities. The quality of the facilities, the cleanliness, the process they put you through to register and so on is all electronic, etc. etc.... (much different from China) I can't say enough good things about it. I would put this facility up against any that I have visited in the US. Really.Our actual time with the dentist was about a half hour and they took x-rays to make sure that Ava's tooth - root and all - had made a "clean exit" and that her permanent and other baby teeth were not damaged. Everything checked out "OK" and we asked for the x-ray film and headed on our way.
I then stopped at the cashier's desk to pay our bill. Again it was about about 730 Thai Baht or about $28. This included the dentist visit and the x-ray.
So until next time ponder this... I don't profess to understand the costs, quality, efficiencies, or inefficiencies we have in the US with our medical system. I have a mother, a sister, an uncle, an aunt, a sister-in-law, etc. that all work in the medical field... they are all professionals in their careers and the best at what they do. This is not about the care that we as Americans provide nor is it meant to be political in nature. What this is about is that much of the news and the negativity we have in the US is geared towards the inevitable change to this system...the costs, the insurance, the ____, the ____...for 50+ years we have not been able to figure this out. All is I have to say is... perhaps there is something that we can learn if we take a look outside of our "box". Again here in Thailand we were very, very happy with the care we were provided. We were also very happy with the cost...in total we spent about $60...not $600 plus. It is thought provoking, isn't it?
So until next time ponder this... I don't profess to understand the costs, quality, efficiencies, or inefficiencies we have in the US with our medical system. I have a mother, a sister, an uncle, an aunt, a sister-in-law, etc. that all work in the medical field... they are all professionals in their careers and the best at what they do. This is not about the care that we as Americans provide nor is it meant to be political in nature. What this is about is that much of the news and the negativity we have in the US is geared towards the inevitable change to this system...the costs, the insurance, the ____, the ____...for 50+ years we have not been able to figure this out. All is I have to say is... perhaps there is something that we can learn if we take a look outside of our "box". Again here in Thailand we were very, very happy with the care we were provided. We were also very happy with the cost...in total we spent about $60...not $600 plus. It is thought provoking, isn't it?
