@Rog **********

I suspect it's a worldwide scenario apart from the occasional individual who has morals and maybe subscribes to the notion of karma.

@JP ******

Independent opticians or a chain, do you know?

@Vitico *******

Perfect. Thank you.

@Chris *********

Someone told me this is a good, English speaking, dentist in Kan. I will probably try there as I asked around and received only good reports. คลินิกหมอฟัน2+หมอสมชาย+หมอสมลักษณ์/@14.2,99.89,722m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x30e375ae48bbab6f:0x3000fafe2ed0193b!8m2!3d14.2!4d99.89!16s%2Fg%2F11f61fd4k8?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAxNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

@Christopher **********

Thanks for such a detailed account. Prices for fillings and extractions are certainly only a fraction of what I would expect to pay back home. Had root canal once. Never again. I asked for an extraction as even I could see the tooth was far too gone to fill it, but was sold a root canal, despite me saying I didn't really want one. I was too timid to put my foot down and say "no". No price or even estimate up front. Cost me £1200. As the dentist finished up she informed me there was a hairline fracture in the tooth she hadn't noticed before (I suspect it wasn't even there before) but not to worry as, if worse came to worse, it could be extracted. Two weeks of shear agony later, she advised me to have the tooth extracted (which is what I had asked for, all along). She even had the brass neck to charge me a further £150 for the extraction which is all it would have cost me if I had stood my ground, in the first instance. So I had two weeks of utter hell and an added £1200 out of pocket, just because I behaved like a pussy.

@Zack *****

Sounds like a heck of a trial and tribulation. I met with parallel, if not entirely similar, experience in the UK and paid through the nose in both cash and excruciating misery for a dentist's utter incompetence. Very often, it's the luck of the draw, hence why I'm seeking advice and recommendations from those with personal experience and anecdotal evidence. Thanks for responding in such great detail. It's appreciated and a salutary lesson to bear in mind.

@Christopher **********

Just basic (I think - but I'm not a dentist). One filling or extraction and another potential filling. Plus a tooth that half of just one side has broken off so maybe a crown or some kind of reconstruction of that one.

@Bryn *******

I'll watch out for that and only get tested where I pay for the test and own the prescription. Thanks. I had not considered that hurdle.

@Vitico *******

PS. When you get tested in Big-C, do they give you a copy of the prescription so you can shop around with it?

@Bryn *******

So you can't have your prescription, so as to shop around with it? I hope the tests are FREE in that scenario.