Dentists in the US vs Japan

This is my experience of seeing a dentist in the US.
I have a lot of cavities. I have known about that for a long time but I had not been to see a dentist since I came to the US. It was not only because I do not like dentists, but also because I was not familiar with dentists in US so that scared me.

Last week I went to see a dentist for the first time in the US. I think the dentist was friendly, and I assume that American dentists are in general more friendly than Japanese ones.
As I anticipated, he found a lot of cavities and most of them were serious. He was surprised that I had not not felt any pain with them.

I was comfortable during the dental work. Actually it was more comfortable than at dentists in Japan. It was very expensive, much more expensive than dentists in Japan. I have a dental insurance which covers most of dental work, but I had so many serious cavities that the insurance could not cover them all. I should have seen a dentist before my teeth became this bad...
I have heard that American people go to see a dentist for check-ups or cleaning before they have problems with their teeth. On the other hand, Japanese people go to their dentist only after they have problems with their teeth.

By the way, my dentist is supper kind! Once I biked to see the dentist and it was rain when my appointment finished, so my dentist drove me and my bike home.

I like a dentist. But I still do not want to have bad teeth!