[Part 1] A woman obsessed with timelesz project goes for teeth whitening for the first time.

I was completely immersed in the timelesz project that ended last month.

Teranishi-kun is so cool...! As I watched the social media posts flowing in every day, I noticed something.

...! Teranishi-kun, aren't his teeth incredibly white?

(Hara-kun's are also insanely white)
Wouldn't I look out of place standing next to them? (Sorry, my thought process is a bit weird. Just kidding. lol)

I'm going to go get whitening too!!!

(I think if they used Teranishi-kun for an ad, the number of women starting whitening would skyrocket. Dentists nationwide, please do it!)

With that said, I searched for whitening on a whim.

This was the beginning of a long journey...

Searching like crazy for dentists in the area

I had been going to a dentist in my neighborhood regularly, but I felt something was lacking, so I searched for dentists on Google Maps.

If it's too far, I'll feel depressed about going, so I searched within a 1km radius.

Then about 40 results came up...
Tokyo is amazing...!!!! Could it be that there are as many dentists as there are convenience stores!?

Here are my important criteria when looking on Google Maps

• High rating

• Not collecting reviews through sponsored ads

• Whether they reply to customers

This stems from my time as an MR (pharmaceutical sales representative), when I would visit local clinics and check Google reviews before my first visit to get an idea of the clinic and the doctor.

Clinics with bad reviews actually had their reasons.

Google reviews can be deleted, so use them as a reference, but they are quite credible. (*Based entirely on my own research)

If the number of reviews is in the single digits or close to 300, it's a bit suspicious (they might be collecting reviews through ads), so keep that in mind.

And so, the clinic I went to was,

There are also many types of teeth whitening.

I've always been interested in teeth whitening, so I'd been looking into it vaguely, but wow, there are so many different kinds.

Since teeth whitening is an out-of-pocket expense, prices vary by clinic, and some don't offer certain procedures, so it was actually quite difficult to choose.

Go to the website of a clinic with good reviews on Google Maps
↓
Check whitening treatment plans and prices
↓
Compare and consider

I had decided that if I was going to do it, I wanted dual whitening, so places that only offered office whitening or home whitening were excluded.

Even if it's expensive, if I'm going to do it, I want to do it right, and it's a hassle to pay every single time, so I wanted a set package.

Thinking, 'So this is how the price goes up with the McDonald's Happy Meal strategy (lol),' I found myself stepping right into that trap.

First Visit

Finally, the day arrived. I'm not good with dentists (nobody likes them, right?), so I'm a little nervous. Lol

I booked an appointment for whitening, but apparently, for the first visit, they do various tests to check the condition of your teeth. (The last time I went to the dentist was about six months ago.)

X-rays / periodontal disease check / dental photography, etc...

This was truly incredibly thorough, and I was impressed.
(And since these were all tests covered by insurance, it was only about 3,500 yen.)

I used to have braces, so I was used to going to the dentist, but I was surprised that a regular dental clinic would do this level of initial examination...!!!

There was a large screen in front of the examination chair, and they used a system to explain the current condition of my teeth in detail.

The best part was that the doctor wasn't pushy about moving forward with treatments; their stance was to avoid treating teeth that didn't need it as much as possible. Keeping your own teeth is the priority. They had a clear stance that over-treatment, such as for small cavities, is a no-go because treating them can make the surrounding area more prone to cavities again. (This is important.)

And the staff weren't just doing what they were told, but were working proactively,(no offense),and I thought, 'I'm so glad I chose this dentist!'

It was seriously the most thorough one yet, and I wrote a review right away. In my history, this might be the first time I've felt so good that I wanted to write a review...!

But then, an incident occurred.

C...cavity!?

So, they said there were no cavities on the surface, but the inside of a tooth I had previously treated might be decaying...

Huh?
Huh, huh???

They took an X-ray of just that part again...

And it was basicallyconfirmed black, they said.
What!

Since I don't have any symptoms like sensitivity or pain, I could ignore it, but if I want to do home whitening, they'll need to make a mouthpiece. If I treat the cavity later, the shape of my teeth might change, and I might have to get the mouthpiece remade, they said.

That's the worst lol

So, I decided to treat the cavity before doing the whitening.

Sometimes in life, you're forced to make these kinds of decisions, right? Like, this might be fine in the short term, but looking at the long term, maybe I should do this instead... Oh well.

Plus, since they have to remove the current filling to treat the cavity, it's apparently a major procedure, and I'm faced with the choice of a silver filling or ceramic...

Hey, I really can't handle this... lol

And I've never had a cavity that big before, so I've never even had a silver filling...

I don't want my teeth to be super shiny!

So, is it time for my ceramic debut?

I was told to decide by next time, so I put it on hold and went home.

I only planned on whitening, but it looks like this is going to be a long journey...What will happen to me! Stay tuned for Part 2!