My Emergency Visit to a Serbian Dentist

No one in their right mind enjoys a visit to the dentist. I have a horrible fear of the dentist. Just thinking about the sound of the drill and the smell of the dentist office, makes the hair on the back of my neck start standing. I have had several impacted molars that my old dentist back home told me to remove, but I never did. I didn’t have the time, money nor courage to do so. That was a mistake! You should never let your dental issues drag on and on because they will only get worse. The last time I visited a dentist prior to this Serbian dentist was 2013 ! He  told me that my back molar was going to need some attention in the very near future. I was about to head back over to Serbia so I just asked them to give me an estimate on what the repairs would cost. The two cavities were going to cost around $230 a piece and the “possible” root canal would be $1,100! No way was I going to spend $2000 before I left for Serbia. They would have to wait! Fast forward to December of 2014. I was eating some chocolate cake and it felt like a hammer had just been slammed down on my back molar! The pain was massive. I thought if I just  started avoiding that side of the mouth when I was chewing the pain would go away,  but it didn’t help. I had to find a dentist! I remembered a doctor had contacted me on Facebook a few months prior. He had mentioned that his girlfriend was a dentist and they were interested in getting into the “Dental tourism” business. I searched through my messages and found him. They told me to come over the next day so they could examine the tooth! That doesn’t happen very often back home! The office was very close to the center of Belgrade and was easy to find from the bus stop. I really had no idea what to expect from a Serbian dentist’s office, but it sure wasn’t the clean, modern office that I found. My dentist, Dr. Mirjana Filipovic,  was even a beautiful young woman who didn’t invoke instant fear in me like my other dentists. 🙂 She sat me down and asked me a little about about my problems. I apologized for eating some burek on the way over! 🙂 I can only imagine how nasty that was for her! 🙂 She found the issue and told me exactly what all I needed to have done. The cavities were 25E and the root canal that was a MUST, would be 100E. I couldn’t hardly imagine that would be possible. What was she going to use? Rusty pliers? Old, outdated equipment? She showed me all the tools that she would be using and even explained everything in detail to me.  All of their products and instruments come from Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Japan, just like my dentist back in the USA. She told me that most dentists use the old silver colored fillings instead of the white ones because they are cheaper. She ONLY uses the white ones and doesn’t charge an extra fee like most other dentists. She had me sold! 🙂 She started in on her work after giving me a few shots of something that numbed my entire mouth. She would constantly ask me if something hurt or if I felt anything uncomfortable. I felt NOTHING! She explained the roots in each tooth and how the root canal would be done. She opened both teeth and placed some meds in them before sealing them off. She said that I would need to return in one week.  ROUND 1… Complete with NO PAIN! I left the dentist’s office to shoot 8 hours of video for a  kitchen products company in Hong Kong! Thank God I was able to talk. My final round started the morning before I was heading to Uzice, Serbia for a speaking engagement in front of a few hundred students. The doctor met me by Sveti Sava church and told me that we would need to go next door for some x-rays of my teeth. We walked into a beautifully decorated office with a pretty young lady behind the desk. She took me right into the x-ray room, snapped the x-rays, and handed them to me within 5 minutes. The cost? Only 10E!!!  The lady was impressed with my few bits of Serbian that I uttered on the way out of her office. We bring the x-rays to the dentist for her to examine. She told me that there shouldn’t be any pain this time because the roots were dead. She was exactly right! The worst pain out of this whole entire project was the shots that she gave me in my mouth and it was only a little prick. I was amazed that a root canal could be done without any pain at all! The little devices that she had to shove down in the tooth looked horrible, but you couldn’t feel anything.  She finished up the procedure and told me that I could eat anytime I wanted to because she had heard my stomach growling. We all sat down over a coffee and discussed this whole procedure and how expensive it was in the USA. They told me that they can do porcelain caps and teeth replacement within 24-48 hours for around 120E too!  I told them that I wanted to use my outreach to bring them more businesses. We called my good friend, Boris Marunic (video producer from Belgrade), and asked him to help us with a short little video! Check it out by clicking here!  I can get you a dental price quote within 24 hours of you contacting me. If you have some dental procedures that you have been putting off, contact me asap!  You could fly over here, take some  exciting tours and get your teeth fixed and still pay less than you will at your dentist! Sound too good to be true? It isn’t! Everything is possible in Serbia 🙂 You have nothing to lose except thousands of dollars at your dentist 🙂 U.S. dentist was going to be around $1900 for all the work I had done while I got it done here for $150. Serbia wins this battle against the USA by saving us an enormous amount of money and time! 🙂

 

USA vs Serbia … Cost of obtaining a driver’s license

This one totally blew me away!! The United States of America has 50 states and each state has different laws that govern the rules and fees that apply. This comparison was based on my home state of Illinois. Keep in mind that Serbian yearly salaries are substantially lower than ours. This is an approx comparison of salaries based on the 2010 census:

Illinois per capita median income in last 12 months- $28, 782

Zrenjanin, Serbia.. this number is a higher than many of my friends but approx- 6,000E. You can see there is about a $20,000 dollar difference in income per year. The picture below is a Croatian drivers license but very similar to the Serbian old license..Here is the difference in cost of obtaining a driver’s license…..

1. Zrenjanin, Serbia..

• classroom part- 260E
• written test – 30E
• medical exam-35E
• driving test-30E
• license-30E

Total-385 E or $461.00

1. Illinois…

• Drivers education course is held in public schools and according to the latest Illinois State Board of Education rule PA 97-0145 that took effect on July 14th, 2011.. “the school may charge a fee not to exceed $50 unless a special hearing is called for an increase” so lets say – $50
• written test, driving test, eye exam and license- $30

Total- $80

THAT IS A DIFFERENCE OF $381!!!!!!!

That is a lot of money for a Serbian family!! That doesn’t include the HUGE difference in license plate fees and gas! I broke those down in an earlier blog …. see AUTOMOBILE OWNERSHIP under the PRICE DIFFERENCE tab…. 

USA WINS HANDS DOWN!!!!!

 

Are you a Serbian university student who would like to spend the summer working in the USA? The United States Department of State offers a 5 month, J-1 Visa for university students. This program can change your life! Check us out at “Work and Travel Group“. You can also read some of the stories of those who have been on the program at “My American Summer“

 

USA vs Serbia…..price of a haircut

 

I am getting really insecure about my age! Don’t they call that a midlife crisis?? I am getting little bits of grey hair and like my hair cut once a week. After living in Charleston, IL for a few years …. i was accustomed to $13 haircuts. I usually tipped $5.00 so it cost me about $20 a week. While living in Chicago the price was $25.00 for a cut and $5 for tip so it ran me $30. I know some girls in the USA that spend $50 to $100 or more on their hair.

Here in Zrenjanin, Serbia…. i get my haircut for 180 dinars or $2!!!!!! She cuts it quick and just like I want it!! She may think I am a spy but she does a great job!!! 🙂 The place I go has one lady from 7am-1PM. She is always friendly but speaks ZERO English!! I have never seen one person cut so much hair without a break!! Today…. I sat in there with 6 guys ahead of me…. she cut, cut , cut and had them done in 1 hour!!! No break, no rest!!!! WOW!!! She even gives me a shot of rakija most days!!!

WINNER ….SERBIA!!!!!

 

Automobile ownership

One of the first big differences I noticed when I arrived in Serbia was how small the cars are. It is very rare to see pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles or even 6 cylinder cars. Coming from a country where almost every family has two vehicles with one being a pickup truck or van it was very strange to see these BIG guys in small cars! I soon found out why.

My state of Illinois   has a yearly registration fee of $98. Two years ago it was $78 dollars a year. The fee is the same for standard passenger plates for a 4 cyl- v-8. That is not the case in Serbia.

The Serbian license plate  registration fee  is based on the size of your engine. Many of friends drive little 4 cylinder Fiat or Yugos. They pay anywhere from 150E to 200E a year. Larger engine vehicles and those considered “luxury” can have yearly fees up to 1500E a year!!!! INSANE!!!!!

Gasoline is another expensive item in Serbia. The current approximate cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in the state of Illinois is $3.22 a gallon. Serbia they use liters. There are 3.78 liters in one gallon. The current price for a liter of fuel here is about 150 dinars or 1.5E when you convert it into dollars per gallon it would be $7.60 a gallon!!!