Good dental clinics in Shiga Prefecture

Hello All,

It's about time for a regular dental check-up & tooth scaling. I live in Shiga prefecture and prefer an English speaking dentist. My Japanese is not so good but I could understand most vocabularies in JLPT N3 level if spoken slowly using simple grammar. ( My Japanese husband will come along and be my "interpreter" as well. )

My concern is how to find a good dentist near my city. In Hong Kong, I could read people's comments online to see which dentist is better but my husband searched online and could hardly find any Japanese comments on their experiences in a dental clinic. I am quite sensitive to pain so it would be much appreciated if anybody would give me a tip on this issue. Many thanks in advance!

All the best,
Chloe

Depending on where you are in Shiga, either Nagoya or Osaka shouldn't be too far. Both cities have large, very well-regarded dental schools with clinics, and a fair number of the faculty and staff members can speak English.

Osaka University Dental Hospital:
https://hospital.dent.osaka-u.ac.jp/index-e.html

Aichi Gakuin University School of Dentistry Hospital:
http://hospital.dent.aichi-gakuin.ac.jp/for_patient/time/

By the way, in Japan dental students are not permitted to treat patients, so don't worry about that.

very strange advise.
almost no Japanese go to dental school's hospitals for regular check-up.

if you want to find a good dentist, ask neighbors.
in general, they use ultrasonic instrument for tooth cleaning. almost no pain.

very strange advise. almost no Japanese go to dental school's hospitals for regular check-up.

Actually, a very small percentage of Japanese people go to a dentist of any sort for regular check-ups or for preventive dental care, which is why there are so many people in Japan who have poor teeth and visible dental problems.

Contrary to the unhelpful reply above, a Japanese dental school clinic is actually a very good place to go for routine dental care , and if you visit one, you will see that people do indeed go there for dental care of all sorts, including primary care. As the OP in Shiga specified, there is almost certain to be someone who speaks English well and who possibly even received training overseas. The equipment is bound to be new and up-to-date. If any additional care is needed, there will be a quick and easy referral to another department, probably on the same day. Also, you can usually make appointments for subsequent visits.

I go to a dental school hospital for routine dental care, as do many of my foreign friends in this area. And there are Japanese people at the clinic, too.

Unfortunately, as he so often does on this forum, Ken posts a reply out of ignorance:
"almost no Japanese go to dental school's hospitals for regular check-up"
If that is true, Ken, then please provide a citation for some published research that supports your assertion. I would like to see it.

@Oya Shirazu

very strange advise. almost no Japanese go to dental school's hospitals for regular check-up.

Actually, a very small percentage of Japanese people go to a dentist of any sort for regular check-ups or for preventive dental care, which is why there are so many people in Japan who have poor teeth and visible dental problems.


You are missing the point. When they go for regular check-up, they go to local dental clinics.
I've never heard any Japanese going to dental school hospitals for check-ups nor primary care.
You should notice you are making people with serious problems, who really deserve treatment at a big hospital wait longer.

Not bear to see ignorant foreigners call locals "ignorant" even though they are actually living in a "bubble"...