Has anyone been lucky enough to find a really good dentist in the Düsseldorf/Wuppertal area - that thoroughly checks your teeth, offers thorough cleanings that are minimally painful, and is basically US-quality (or close)? ( - though of course there are also horrid US dentists, but on average, i think the quality of dental care is much higher on the other side of the pond)
i live in Wuppertal, have tried a few dentists here (all substandard), just tried one in Düsseldorf that also took about 2 seconds to look at my teeth and say - they're great, everything is perfect! (when i know it isn't)
i don't care if he/she speaks english or not, german is no problem, but i am desperate to find someone i can trust for me and my husband.
there must be american-trained dentists (or equivalent) somewhere in NRW!!
the list of dentists on the us consulate website is pretty useless, unless all you care about is if the dentist speaks english. i've also seen the other dentist thread on this site, but it looks like there too, english speaking skills are the priority.
i would be really surprised if someone sent me a recommendation in wuppertal - up to now, any doctor i've tried in wuppi - gynecologist, general practitioner, dentist - have been really disappointing (except for my general practitioner - i would be happy to recommend her if someone is looking, because she is nice and caring, and speaks english - not necessarily a brilliant doctor, but someone you can trust)
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US-quality dentists in Düsseldorf / Wuppertal area
Some recommendations
Extremely patronising post! I can't agree with you.
sorry, i didn't mean to be patronizing!
i lived in munich for 3 years, and found it much easier to find good doctors there. i've been unlucky so far in wuppertal though. probably because doctors are paid so little in germany, and in wuppertal probably even less than other places - it just isn't a very wealthy city.
so i'd be really grateful for any tips.
i lived in munich for 3 years, and found it much easier to find good doctors there. i've been unlucky so far in wuppertal though. probably because doctors are paid so little in germany, and in wuppertal probably even less than other places - it just isn't a very wealthy city.
so i'd be really grateful for any tips.
I go to the dentist on trips back to the states, but that's just out of convenience and not wanting the hassle of looking for a new one here.
Germans' teeth seem as good as Americans, that I've seen. They're not into whitening much, but frankly that kind of annoys me anyway. I think it's rather strange to look for an american-trained dentist here, or at least comes across as such without having more background.
Have you been to dentists here and had bad experiences? Painful cleanings? What was it that turned you off so much to dentists here?
Do you have dental insurance or private pay? If private, then I have to think that you could find some very good ones here (but again, I haven't been through this yet).
Germans' teeth seem as good as Americans, that I've seen. They're not into whitening much, but frankly that kind of annoys me anyway. I think it's rather strange to look for an american-trained dentist here, or at least comes across as such without having more background.
Have you been to dentists here and had bad experiences? Painful cleanings? What was it that turned you off so much to dentists here?
Do you have dental insurance or private pay? If private, then I have to think that you could find some very good ones here (but again, I haven't been through this yet).
QUOTE (Freiheit @ Aug 22 2006, 2:40 pm) 
Germans' teeth seem as good as Americans
believe me, the teeth here are not as good as North America! I have worked in Germany almost 10 years in Dental offices, and wow, the crap I have seen.
I can understand the original posters distress. I will ask my docs if the know of somebody, and what do you know, they do, was an Assistant to one of my docs. He is German, but worked with one of the docs here, and my docs are all American style (as much as I hate saying that).
Dr. Christop Schirre
Bankstr. 6
40476 Düsseldorf
0122- 49 80 148
good luck.
What makes you think there is something wrong?
thanks so much for responses/advice! i will try out Dr. Christop Schirre, thank you!!
i have public (gesetzlich) insurance, which at least in Munich narrows down who you can go to. here i haven't been turned away yet because of the insurance, but in germany they say privately insured get better treatment, so i guess that would apply to dentistry too.
why am i so paranoid about dentists here and think i have something wrong?
here are some examples..
in munich i had a doctor put ice or something super-cold on my receding gums (super painful) just to try to make extra income from some kind of injections that supposedly make your teeth insensitive to cold (something i've never had a problem with, but i guess she wanted to prove that i did; every 2-3 months the injection would have to be repeated)
the crowns i had done in munich had huge gaps between them at first (now they've shifted a bit together, but i'd never had that happen before).. but the cleanings weren't painful, nor was getting the crowns
here in wuppertal i've had the most painful cleaning ever (about half my teeth are crowns, so in the US i almost lived at the dentist's office, had cleanings every 4-6 months - they never hurt though!) now my hubby doesn't floss and his teeth really need to be cleaned but he is so afraid of dentists i don't want to send him to someone where he'll run out screaming or have a fear-induced heart attack (when i told this dentist office about my husband and whether it would also be so painful for him, they said just don't tell him it will hurt!)
also in wuppertal, the dentist said my teeth were perfect but then his assistant (the one who really hurt) found 3 cavities which she showed the dentist, and he put together a costly plan for their fillings. at that point i was already a bit disappointed, so i tried 2 more dentists to see if they would find those 3 cavities but they all tell me i have perfect teeth (after spending 2-3 seconds looking at them! how are they supposed to see cavities if they don't poke around in there??) who do i believe now?
in stern, a german magazine, they've had articles in the past year on different kinds of doctors and what to watch out for. i read the one on dentistry especially carefully. they had someone who had major work to be done on his teeth go to different dentists to see what they say. i don't remember the numbers exactly, but the overwhelming majority found none of the problem or only a part of it; cost proposals then ranged from something like 2,000 to 10,000 Euro (i.e fluctuated really extravagantly)
plus my dentist in D.C. had warned me about german dentists before i left - she advised to get any dental work done when i visit the States
but now i live here and we don't get to fly to the US that often
and what if you have a dental emergency (i've heard horror stories from germans i've met about what happens if you don't have a good dentist and end up in that situation..)
on the subject of doctors in general, another example - i got lyme disease in september 2005; i strongly suspected lymes (had the telltale itchy growing spot and other symptoms) since i'd had lyme disease in the US about 12 years ago. went to a family physician here, told him i thought i had lymes and needed antibiotics; he adamently told me i was wrong (and that he knew a lot about lymes), prescribed some kind of cream (he was sure it was a fungus).. i also showed my symptoms to my brother and sister-in-law here, who are both doctors, and had had some minimal training with lymes - they both told me that it was certainly NOT lymes. anyway, i spent weeks trying to find a doctor who had a clue; at that point my symptoms were so bad i was having excruciating pains in my lower and upper back/neck plus lots of other nasty symptoms (like tons of hair falling out), it had already become stage 2-3 neurological lymes by then.. i've been lucky enough to find a fabulous doctor in hannover who put me on really strong doses of IV antibiotics for about 6 weeks (lots of fun you can imagine) and i spent many months in the last year unable to work and recovering. the pain is gone, but it is unlikely that the disease has been fully cured (it can come back any time, it's really hard to get rid of the buggers when it's stage 2-3)
dr kraemer in hannover was a godsend (but i worked really really hard to find him - for example i called/emailed pretty much every doctor on the lyme disease german support website; he was super-kind (guess what - he has chronic lymes himself and is deaf in one ear as a result) i don't know what the hell i would have done if i couldn't speak german well at that point (btw, he is fluent in english, but i would have never found him without being able to speak/read german)
in case you or anyone you know gets bitten by a tick and has a strange spot that keeps growing or other weird symptoms please get them in touch with me - i have tons of info, and the disease is much more widespread than one thinks. if it's untreated and your body doesn't fight it off by itself, you're pretty much crippled or damned to being sick for the rest of your life
btw, dr kraemer confirmed there are no doctors in my area that are specialists in lyme. but that one i've solved. i trust this amazing, selfless guru 100%.
ok, i didn't mean to be so super-longwinded, but who knows, maybe if some expat gets/has lymes and reads this, it might be helpful
i have public (gesetzlich) insurance, which at least in Munich narrows down who you can go to. here i haven't been turned away yet because of the insurance, but in germany they say privately insured get better treatment, so i guess that would apply to dentistry too.
why am i so paranoid about dentists here and think i have something wrong?
here are some examples..
in munich i had a doctor put ice or something super-cold on my receding gums (super painful) just to try to make extra income from some kind of injections that supposedly make your teeth insensitive to cold (something i've never had a problem with, but i guess she wanted to prove that i did; every 2-3 months the injection would have to be repeated)
the crowns i had done in munich had huge gaps between them at first (now they've shifted a bit together, but i'd never had that happen before).. but the cleanings weren't painful, nor was getting the crowns
here in wuppertal i've had the most painful cleaning ever (about half my teeth are crowns, so in the US i almost lived at the dentist's office, had cleanings every 4-6 months - they never hurt though!) now my hubby doesn't floss and his teeth really need to be cleaned but he is so afraid of dentists i don't want to send him to someone where he'll run out screaming or have a fear-induced heart attack (when i told this dentist office about my husband and whether it would also be so painful for him, they said just don't tell him it will hurt!)
also in wuppertal, the dentist said my teeth were perfect but then his assistant (the one who really hurt) found 3 cavities which she showed the dentist, and he put together a costly plan for their fillings. at that point i was already a bit disappointed, so i tried 2 more dentists to see if they would find those 3 cavities but they all tell me i have perfect teeth (after spending 2-3 seconds looking at them! how are they supposed to see cavities if they don't poke around in there??) who do i believe now?
in stern, a german magazine, they've had articles in the past year on different kinds of doctors and what to watch out for. i read the one on dentistry especially carefully. they had someone who had major work to be done on his teeth go to different dentists to see what they say. i don't remember the numbers exactly, but the overwhelming majority found none of the problem or only a part of it; cost proposals then ranged from something like 2,000 to 10,000 Euro (i.e fluctuated really extravagantly)
plus my dentist in D.C. had warned me about german dentists before i left - she advised to get any dental work done when i visit the States
but now i live here and we don't get to fly to the US that often
and what if you have a dental emergency (i've heard horror stories from germans i've met about what happens if you don't have a good dentist and end up in that situation..)
on the subject of doctors in general, another example - i got lyme disease in september 2005; i strongly suspected lymes (had the telltale itchy growing spot and other symptoms) since i'd had lyme disease in the US about 12 years ago. went to a family physician here, told him i thought i had lymes and needed antibiotics; he adamently told me i was wrong (and that he knew a lot about lymes), prescribed some kind of cream (he was sure it was a fungus).. i also showed my symptoms to my brother and sister-in-law here, who are both doctors, and had had some minimal training with lymes - they both told me that it was certainly NOT lymes. anyway, i spent weeks trying to find a doctor who had a clue; at that point my symptoms were so bad i was having excruciating pains in my lower and upper back/neck plus lots of other nasty symptoms (like tons of hair falling out), it had already become stage 2-3 neurological lymes by then.. i've been lucky enough to find a fabulous doctor in hannover who put me on really strong doses of IV antibiotics for about 6 weeks (lots of fun you can imagine) and i spent many months in the last year unable to work and recovering. the pain is gone, but it is unlikely that the disease has been fully cured (it can come back any time, it's really hard to get rid of the buggers when it's stage 2-3)
dr kraemer in hannover was a godsend (but i worked really really hard to find him - for example i called/emailed pretty much every doctor on the lyme disease german support website; he was super-kind (guess what - he has chronic lymes himself and is deaf in one ear as a result) i don't know what the hell i would have done if i couldn't speak german well at that point (btw, he is fluent in english, but i would have never found him without being able to speak/read german)
in case you or anyone you know gets bitten by a tick and has a strange spot that keeps growing or other weird symptoms please get them in touch with me - i have tons of info, and the disease is much more widespread than one thinks. if it's untreated and your body doesn't fight it off by itself, you're pretty much crippled or damned to being sick for the rest of your life
btw, dr kraemer confirmed there are no doctors in my area that are specialists in lyme. but that one i've solved. i trust this amazing, selfless guru 100%.
ok, i didn't mean to be so super-longwinded, but who knows, maybe if some expat gets/has lymes and reads this, it might be helpful
The things you learn on TT. Amazing. I've been to the doctor once in Germany and thought it a very simple procedure. I have public health insurance and was expecting, well, something very unpleasant (picture German doctors from old US movies). I think I was lucky to find a good doctor in the yellow pages who fit me in without a long wait.
I will definitely keep going to my old dentist in that states after reading your horror stories. Thanks for the info on a local dentist, carm, good to know just in case.
I will definitely keep going to my old dentist in that states after reading your horror stories. Thanks for the info on a local dentist, carm, good to know just in case.
if you are young and healthy and are lucky not to get any major problems, german doctors and the german health system are fine. they tend to be friendly and spend more time with you than doctors in the states. there are outstanding, amazing doctors here, like dr kraemer in hannover, or the surgeon in heidelberg who operated my mother-in-law for pancreatic cancer (she is still alive after 2 years, while the survival rate is less than 2% - BUT she was diagnosed really really late because of the incompetence of her family physician; or the amazing surgeon in russia who saved my brother-in-law's life when he got a ruptured appendix - but the russian health system is certainly substandard, on average); there are really crappy and really good doctors everywhere i guess (the first doc i went to in the States when i had lymes told me i had a wasp bite! my mom luckily knew better so i got treated really fast and was fine after a few months);
i guess the difference is that the german health system just doesn't have as much money as the one in the states, because they have socialized medicine. i guess it's better to be sick in the states if you're rich or middle class. it's better to get sick here if you're poor.
i guess the difference is that the german health system just doesn't have as much money as the one in the states, because they have socialized medicine. i guess it's better to be sick in the states if you're rich or middle class. it's better to get sick here if you're poor.
Wow, I have had dental prodedures galore here, most of them at a dental school. Completely satisfied with their work. I had one quack outside the school, but then I found right away another fantastic dentist. My ob/gyn was great. My GP is fine. When it was thought I had gestational diabetes, I had to go to a diabetesambulanz to see if I had it or not. The attending endrocrinologist was a really nice guy (turned out I didn't have it).
Bad luck, maybe?
Bad luck, maybe?
are you in the düsseldorf/wuppertal area of NRW? if so, could you pass on the names of your fantastic dentist/ob-gyn? thanks!
I went to the dental school at the Universität Witten-Herdecke. From what I have been told, it is the best dental school in the country. It is also one of the only private universities in the country. The only annoying thing about having students for your non-surgical care is that they have weird schedules and you can end up playing a lot of phone tag. However, their work is fantastic and always checked out, no matter how simple it is, by the attending head professor. To me, it was worth the hassle at the time. Now that I have a kid, I am no longer so flexible, but whatever, I still recommend it to others. I had my wisdom teeth removed in their oral surgery center by the professors themselves while the students observed only. One was removed under local, the other two under general. Removal went great, healed up no problem. They also have 24/7 dental emergency services. My husband had to use them once. No problem there either.
Seems I can't PM, but my OB/GYN is also in Witten. I have no idea if it would be of any interest.
Seems I can't PM, but my OB/GYN is also in Witten. I have no idea if it would be of any interest.
As soon as i read the title (US-quality dentists) of the thread i thought immediatly thought of this guy
Orin Scrivello, DDS
anyone remember him
Orin Scrivello, DDS
anyone remember him
oh gosh i remember this guy!! took me a few seconds to place him but suddenly the memories came flooding back...so funny.
just wanted to post a quick comment on the dental stuff here...
i work at the Universität Witten/Herdecke and it's dental clinic does have a good reputation. Always lots of ppl waiting to be treated! Never actually had the need to try it out myself but i know the dept works well there and the students are really interested in their dental studies.
just wanted to post a quick comment on the dental stuff here...
i work at the Universität Witten/Herdecke and it's dental clinic does have a good reputation. Always lots of ppl waiting to be treated! Never actually had the need to try it out myself but i know the dept works well there and the students are really interested in their dental studies.
Try Dr. Zafiropoulos at http://www.blaues-haus-duesseldorf.de/index2.html
That one made me laugh. Used to live in Hamburg and the Blaue Haus (in Altona) is a really nice pub. Somehow the reference to blau seems more fitting for a pub...
Anyway - good luck to those who search for US-qualitys dentists in Germany. But be aware that having a perfect set of white teeth here will just make people think that you let your own rot away and got yourself a new set...
Healthy teeth are a beautiful thing, don't get me wrong...
Anyway - good luck to those who search for US-qualitys dentists in Germany. But be aware that having a perfect set of white teeth here will just make people think that you let your own rot away and got yourself a new set...
Healthy teeth are a beautiful thing, don't get me wrong...
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