A dentist you can trust

In Zhu Tuo, a town located in the district of Yong Chuan (another one million plus city in China I had never heard about before), a few hours from Chongqing, we met one of the two local dentists and asked him how business was going.

Like with any person anywhere in the world that own his business, we got the expected 'so-so' answer. But this time we could empathise as being a dentist in China has always been a tough job to make money.

Most people, especially away from big cities have never been to the dentist and would go only in case of extreme pain. Overall there is a big lack of trust with dentists.

But our dentist friend, which is still making about 2-3000 RMB a month, found the solution by keeping the dentist chair ostensibly visible from the street. When we ask if people don't have any issue with being treated almost in the middle of the street, he answers the opposite: 'that way, my patients feel more confident that I have nothing to hide and will do my best job'.

Change in attitudes towards dentists is slow in China, but dentists are willing to create more trust!