marble19 Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Hi everyone, I am currently 5 days post-op from mini vline and sliding genioplasty with The Face Dental. Concerns: Lower face symmetry, recessed chin, DES. My consultation experience: TFD - A small clinic, shares same building as Apgujeong Seoul Plastic Surgery Clinic. No one else in the waiting room. When I arrived, I was promptly given the consultation form to fill, then lead to do my xrays. Xray was 30,000 won. It was a bit difficult communicating in English with the consultant but if you're really struggling, you can bring out google translate. We first discussed about my surgery history, concerns and procedures I was interested in before I saw Dr Lee. My consultation with Dr Lee was very thorough and he speaks good English. He did not only talk about what procedures he would recommend and how he would do it, he also answered my random questions like why my jaw "clicks" and if I needed to take my wisdom teeth out lol. Since facial contouring is a serious and invasive procedure, knowing that Dr Lee is a specialist in oral and maxillofacial surgeries gave me the reassurance that I will not get botched. I told him that I would not do double jaw (as my bite is fine) and he explained to me as my asymmetry is caused by having one side more developed than the other, I would not be able to fully fix the asymmetry. I felt that Dr Lee was very knowledgeable as he also explained why my jaw was the way it was and gave me a realistic view of my final result. He asked if I was concerned about my zygoma and I said no, so he left it at that. I liked that he did not force any extra procedures upon me. At the end, he recommended sliding genioplasty and a right cut to fix bone asymmetry. After my consultation with Dr Lee, I met the consultant again and we discussed the price and surgery date. Price was reasonable so I did not bother bargaining. You get around 10% off for paying cash and no further discounts for modelling or sharing photos. For example, genioplasty is 4,400,000 won and if you pay cash, it will cost 4,000,000 won. My entire consultation experience was a little over an hour (I did not have a lot of questions) and I left TFD feeling very confident in Dr Lee's abilities. However, from my online consultations, Namu was my number one choice so I told the consultant that I will let them know if I will deposit with TFD a few days later. *A note: you will do a blood test when you deposit. So if you deposit on your consultation day, you will do it right after.* Namu - I arrived promptly for my consultation. Lots of people in the waiting room, probably 10 - 15 people. I waited 50 minutes before I was fed up with waiting and asked the front desk how much longer I had to wait. I was then given the consultation form to sign 5 minutes after. A woman who came in 25 to 30 minutes after me was given the consultation form before me. I was upset with my experience so far so it really soured my mood - especially because I really wanted to go with Namu. I felt forgotten. I am an emotional person and since I had a long day, I ended up crying in the waiting room. The front desk people were nice and tried to console me, giving me tissues. I think they ended up telling Claire to see me soon because I saw her shortly after. She apologised for the long wait as all their consultation rooms were full at the moment. In the consultation room with Claire, I talked to her about my concerns and she gave me her recommendations. I told her I wanted sliding genioplasty to fix my recessed chin, a way to fix some asymmetry in my lower face and double eyelid surgery. She recommended partial incision, buccal fat removal, chin implant, rhinoplasty and acculift, however, did continually tell me that these are only her recommendations and I did not need to do them if I do not want to. I told her I did not want chin implant and rhinoplasty. Claire was personable and nice. My consultation with Dr Kirk was quick. He told me my jaw was not suitable for genioplasty as I would end up with steps in my jaw and highly recommended chin implant. Claire told him I did not want to get a chin implant and Dr Kirk did an exasperated sigh, leaned back on his chair (in defeat lol), and reiterated why chin implants are better. I told them I knew of chin implant cases where patients needed it removed and he told me he has never had a patient come back with chin implant problems. At the end, he said he would genioplasty for me if I wanted but he would highly recommend chin implant. I did not feel that Dr Kirk was as knowledgeable as Dr Lee for facial contouring. He recommended chin implant and buccal fat removal (I do have a fatter right cheek), did not advise any bone cutting procedures. For my DES consultation, he looked at my eyes and recommended a slight crease increase and epicanthoplasty. He did not prod my eyes to show me how it would look. He laughed when I asked if doing epicanthoplasty only could be an option. Dr Kirk left the room and Claire told me the prices. At this point I was VERY late for my next consultation and knew deep down I did not want to go with Namu so I did not try to bargain. I cannot remember the exact price so please do not rely on this but I THINK they gave me a quote of around 8.8 million for partial incision DES, chin implant, buccal fat removal and acculift and around 7.6 million for genioplasty and acculift only. I was able to bargain to 5 million won for both procedures over Kakao. Xray was 10,000 won but it is free if you decide to go with Namu. View - After my experience with Namu, visiting View was a breath of fresh air. They were prepared and expecting me, promptly bringing me up to the View consultation level. I was given the form to sign and while signing, Henry (their online consultant) came to greet me. We had a casual chat about each other, the other clinics I have visited and what I have been doing in South Korea so far. He mentioned the PS Kakao group chats, so I can support the claims that he was in the group chats (I will not comment further about the Henry fiasco). After that, I saw Stacey and we talked about what I wanted to fix. I told her my weak chin and eyes. She asked me if I had a doctor I preferred and I said no. I waited around 30 minutes to see Dr Kang for my eyes. I liked Dr Kang as she was thorough. She prodded my eyes, told me to look at what she was doing and asked many times if I was happy with what she was recommending (epicanthoplasty and 1 - 1.5mm crease height). I waited another 30 minutes to find out that I could not have my FC consultation with Dr Lee as he had to go into surgery. It was around 7:15pm. I found that interesting. (They opened late because it was near the New Years). Stacey apologised and asked if I could see them the following operating day. Since my consultation was not finished, I did not receive a quote. She gave me a Oliver Brown Free Drink voucher at the end (the cafe is below View Clinic) so I ended my consultation day with a free hot chocolate. Xray was free. -------- After everything, I was certain I was going with TFD. ------- Since this post appears Namu-negative, I want to reiterate the IMPORTANCE of consulting clinics FACE TO FACE before depositing and to consult with MULTIPLE clinics. I wanted Namu to be the clinic for me, but I did not vibe with Dr Kirk and he did not appear as skilled as Dr Lee. However, I know people who have had a positive experience with Dr Kirk and Namu so I do not want this post to deter you from consulting there. MORAL OF THE STORY: if you can, please please consult with multiple clinics before depositing money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grvlpx Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Thanks for this - Namu was one of my top choices too, but I haven't been impressed with my experience with Linda on Kakao. I still plan to check them out in person, but I'm looking more seriously into other clinics now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kioku Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Do you mind if I ask how you felt about Linda and why? I've heard a lot of great things about Claire and at the time I didn't hear much about a Linda. I'm not sure if maybe I was taking her critiques too hard as it was my first online consultation, but I didn't like her demeanor (as much as a person can give off chatting anyway, haha), and how she was imposing stuff on me, but the second I said I wanted x instead of y, she immediately changed her tone to please? I don't know if that's how it normally works with consultants but it made me raise my guard up with what she was saying.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hello2019 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I also went to three different clinics for consults so I'm definitely with you on going to multiple places before deciding. Glad you found a clinic too! Good luck with your surgery update us with your journey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
didik Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I've met Linda and can say that she is straight forward with her opinion and suggestions, but actually I liked that about her she suggested one additional procedure to me and it made sense. so overall consultation experience was positive, I guess I am myself a no- nonsense straight talk type of person Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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