Hello Dental Kuala Lumpur Dentist Review

During my long stay in Kuala Lumpur, I decided to get my teeth cleaned and checked by a local dentist. Kuala Lumpur is one of the top medical tourist spots in the world, as basically all the doctors speak English, have great training, and charge a nominal fee compared to the US, UK, Australia, etc.

To find a dentist, I just looked up “dentist” on Google Maps and chose one that was close to my apartment. (Another good place to find reviews of traveler-friendly dentists is on various expat/traveler FB groups, especially the ones called “Expats in [location]”.)

The closest dentist with good reviews was Hello Dental at Sunway Velocity. I messaged them on WhatsApp to make an appointment, and the receptionist got back to me very quickly and booked me an appointment with Dr. Khei that same week.

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Teeth Cleaning

Teeth cleanings are done by dentists here! In the US, we get our teeth cleaned by dental hygienists and then the dentist just checks things over at the end, so having the dentist doing my cleaning was pretty fun. She offered me two types of cleaning: the standard kind where they scrape off the plaque (scaling) and do a polish, or a slightly more expensive kind where they use a sonic thing. I went with the standard cleaning and found it very gentle overall. Plus she managed to get a stain off one of my bottom teeth, which was great!

I also booked a consultation as part of my cleaning, as I’d been having some tooth pain whenever I had cold drinks. Turns out my gums are receding slightly, so the dentist recommended switching toothbrushes, using Sensodyne toothpaste, and swishing with a special oxygen mouthwash.

The exam room was very clean, with modern dental stuff (not an expert but it didn’t look old, anyway) and a comfortable chair. The dentist had a playlist going with calming music, which I loved. All the staff wore masks during the cleaning and consultation as well.

Note: X-rays aren’t included as part of the standard visit like they are in the US.

Total costs for this visit

Cleaning: RM150 / $31.78 USD

Consultation: RM30 / $6.36 USD

Mouthwash: RM60 / $12.71 USD

Filling Replacement

Two days after my appointment, I ripped out a filling while flossing. 🥲It was old and had come out once before the previous year, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected. I was just glad that it happened while I was still in KL! I messaged the dentist again and they got me booked in for the next day.

The filling that came out is fairly large, and previous dentists told me that I’d need a root canal and a crown to fix it. However, Dr. Khei said that we could try to just replace the filling and see if it works out for me, rather than jump straight to the root canal/crown scenario.

We did x-rays, and luckily I didn’t have any secret cavities anywhere. Dr. Khei gave me some numbing stuff to help with my horribly sensitive gag reflex, and then she and her assistant started to work.

How they do fillings here is slightly different than how I’ve experienced them in the US. They basically partition off the tooth by putting a dam around it, which involves setting up a contraption to keep it in during the procedure. I guess my mouth is so small that it took a bit of doing to get it set up properly, but it eventually worked. After that, though, it was basically the same as every other filling. The dentist drilled out some decay that was inside the tooth, then started layering up filling composite. All together it took about an hour, including the x-ray part.

Total costs for this visit

X-ray: RM150 / $31.78 USD

Filling: RM350 / $74.15 USD

Numbing stuff: RM30 / $6.36 USD

I also got a copy of my x-rays for free.

To compare: when I first got this filling in California it was over $500 USD, NOT including the cleaning/consultation I had before it.

Post-treatment

I went back once to get the new filling touched up after I ground part of it off overnight (bruxism is a beast), which was free. After that, it took maybe a week to stop feeling slight pain/sensitivity when I chewed on that side. It’s been a month since the filling was replaced and I feel no pain whatsoever and can chew normally. Yay!

After every visit, reception messaged me on WhatsApp to check on me and see how I was doing. They also sent over a post-treatment tips graphic to help heal faster after the filling.

Final Thoughts

I’m very happy with my experience at Hello Dental in Kuala Lumpur. The staff are so nice, and Dr. Khei was friendly and offered tips for better tooth health without being judgmental or harsh about it. I’ll definitely come back to them if and when I come back to KL!

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