How to Find a Dentist Who Understands Your Lingo

Posted on: 21 September 2018

Do you find yourself far away from home in a country where your native language is not of much use? You may have been deployed to Australia from your native China for work reasons, and even though you could not speak much English, you felt that you needed to go. After all, this would help you to gather more experience and work yourself up the chain in your organisation.

The language barrier may not be too much of an issue in your workplace, as you may be surrounded by fellow immigrants and your job may be fairly technical anyway, but it can sometimes be a challenge when you're trying to fit in socially. It can be even more of a headache, quite literally, if you need to access an emergency dentist, so what can you do in this situation?

Fear of the Unknown 

Dental pain can be very debilitating and can sometimes strike without warning. You may have cracked a tooth trying to eat some native Australian food in a party and find that you cannot concentrate on anything else due to the breakage.

However, you have an inherent fear of the dentist's chair, and this is exacerbated due to the language barrier. You feel that you won't be able to communicate with the professional and will not be able to exercise any control over the situation. As fear of the unknown mixes in with your throbbing pain, you may encounter levels of anxiety that you'd never experienced before.

Familiarity Is Close

The good news is that there are a number of dentists in your city that can come to your assistance, as they once found themselves in your boat. They may have originated from China themselves and had emigrated to Australia to explore pastures new. They may even have trained in dental colleges here, but along the way learned to speak English just as fluently as their mother tongue. Furthermore, they understand that anxiety can be a universal language and will be able to predict some of your misgivings before you even arrive at their office.

Making Your Move

Don't let fear of miscommunication hold you back from getting any much-needed relief. Do some research to locate a Chinese speaking dentist in your vicinity instead. You never know, you may even be able to make a new acquaintance with someone who has good standing in the local community so that you can integrate even more into your new home environment.

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