Ahhhh the dentist, twenty minutes of poking, prodding, gargling, and annoying one-way scaldings about what's going to happen if you continue to forget to floss, eat too much sugar blah blah blah. But it's the adult thing to do! All it takes is one unlucky munch into a candied hawthorn or an escapee popcorn kernel to have you fumbling around trying to find a dental clinic while hanging on to the side of your jaw.
Most dentists recommend for adults get checked annually, even if you're not in pain, while kids should be going every six months. Once you start to feel pain or toothache, something's already wrong. Getting check-ups regularly mean small problems can be solved more easily and less painfully — that and you save money in the long run.
Here's 10 dental clinics pulled from our extensive health directory that are based downtown. Got a crooked grin? Here's six places to get clear aligners in case you don't fancy braces.
Most of the big healthcare names like Jiahui, United Family, Parkway, Yosemite, etc. also have their own dedicated dental health departments. Consultations with teeth cleaning cost between 700-2,000rmb.
* Not based downtown? Find our full list of dental clinics plus more health related articles in our Health & Wellbeing directory.
New York Dental Clinic (Puxi)
NYDC is well-known in expat circles, and widely recommended. Here the staff speak English and it has a dedicated family and pediatric dentistry department. As both the owners were trained in the U.S., you get American dental health standards in both service and equipment. Overall it's a good choice if it's your kid's first visit to the dentist, or if going gives you the heebie-jeebies. It's not cheap though. Consultations cost 600rmb, or 1,200rmb to include teeth cleaning. Here you can get the whole dental shebang including orthodontics, periodontics, cosmetic, implant, and aesthetic dentistry.
PureSmile Orthodontics & Dentistry (Jing'an)
PureSmile is the other dental chain popular among Shanghai's international families. It is accredited by the American Dental Association and operates by U.S. standards. Most dentists here have been trained in the U.S. but some are also from Germany, Canada, and China. Its services include braces (which cost around 30-55,000rmb), veneers, Invisalign, teeth whitening, dental implants, in addition to routine checkups and cleanings — which can cost anywhere from 600-1,050rmb.
DDS Dental Care (Puxi)
DDS Dental Care has been around since 1999, earning itself a decent reputation. Its dentists are multilingual and mostly internationally trained. Like PureSmile and NYDC, it's services are on the pricey side. Should you run into real teeth problems, root-canal and subsequent filling treatments will cost anywhere from 2,000-6,000rmb, depending on how bad it is. Consultations start from 550rmb and teeth cleaning sits at 600rmb. If you need teeth cleaning, make sure to mention this when booking your appointment otherwise you'll be asked to book another appointment.
Arrail Dental (Jing'an Park)
If Starbucks were a dental clinic its name would be Arrail. This dental chain now has 16 locations in Shanghai with likely many more on the way. Here you get an expat-friendly experience, as all the dentists speak English, for a lot less than you'd pay with the big dental names. Making sure you keep coming back, you're only charged for your first check-up at 260rmb, then each subsequent check-up (minus any other services) is freeeeeee. Its equipment and dental techniques are up to American Dental Association standards, and its services include routine cleanings for kids and adults to full-on dental surgery, orthodontics, periodontics, etc. Cleanings start at 500rmb.
French Dentist
The French Dentist has been around for over a decade and has a team of dentists and specialists from France, Germany, and Korea — so the biggest benefit to visiting these guys is multiple lingos, if you want to speak dental talk in your native tongue. Here they do a big range of dental services, including cosmetic dentistry, braces, implants, prosthetics, pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, and, of course, general dentistry i.e. extractions, check-ups, x-rays, root canal treatments, fillings, crowns, and teeth cleaning. Consultations usually cost 600rmb, teeth cleaning, depending on how dirty your gnashers are, costs between 950-1500rmb.
Orange Dental (Xuhui)
How do you convince your kid going to the dentist isn’t scary? Find one that looks like a giant play area of course. Orange Dental is a pediatric dental clinic, founded in Tianjin, that has been in Shanghai since 2017. Its Panyu Lu clinic was the first to open, but its other clinics sport bigger, more epic play areas — one looks a bit like a spaceship. Here, kids aged 0-18 can receive the usual services like check-ups, extractions, teeth cleaning, fillings etc., orthodontistry, braces, and Invisalign. For families with younger kids, Orange Dental insists on giving each child a class on dental hygiene, the importance of brushing and how to do it properly. Dentists speak both English and Chinese. Consultations cost around 200rmb and teeth cleaning is 300-350rmb.
DUZ Dental Clinic
This compact dental clinic is owned and operated by Dr. Daniel Dong 董亮 and has been around for 20 years. The staff are unusually friendly and like to send you reminders for check-ups or when they think it's been too long since your last cleaning. DUZ's services include the usual suspects (check ups, extractions, fillings, crowns, root canal) as well as orthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, implants, and dental cosmetics. Its prices are some of the most reasonably priced we've seen at 100rmb, teeth cleaning costs between 280-380rmb.
TSK Dental (Jing'an Clinic)
TSK aka Tokushinkai Dental Clinic is a Japanese dental group that has multiple clinics in Shanghai and China. The clinics have a modern feel to them and they claim to have cutting-edge technology for super-duper dental cleaning and services. Most of its dentists have been trained internationally and they all speak English. Services include preventative dental, periodontics, cosmetic dentistry, implants, veneers, orthodontics, fillings, root canal, etc. The first consultation costs 200rmb, then 60rmb for return check-ups. Teeth cleaning is 380rmb.
Welle Dental (Jing'an)
Welle Dental is a massive dental chain found in 35 cities across China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and more. Clinics here are very clean and modern and boast some pretty cool digital dental tech like CAD/CAM technology, oral scanners (intraoral scanner), and a CBCT (cone beam CT) — for those who need serious orthodontist work done. Sixty percent of the dentists here have trained internationally and they all speak English. Reception sadly do not, so, if your Chinese isn't great you might need some help booking an appointment. Services include preventative dental, pediatrics, cosmetic (teeth whitening), orthodontics (including Invisalign), fillings, root canal, implants, etc., and they are really cheap! When we called up we were told consultations were free of charge and teeth cleanings start at 200rmb.
Pearl Dental (Hongqiao Lu)
A local, good-value-for-money dental clinic with internationally accredited dentists. This clinic has separate departments for adults and children. Aside from offering the usual (orthodontics, periodontics, fillings, root canal, etc.) they also host small classes and workshops for kids to learn about teeth hygiene and how to properly take care of their teeth. Teeth cleaning costs around 200rmb, treatments like extractions cost under 300rmb. Check-ups are currently free of charge — but that will likely change.
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