If only a small pain, I'd say wait and get it fixed next time you're outside of China. Cheap dental work can really make the matters worse. There probably a few good dentist somewhere in this kingdom, but when most keep their dentist chair next to the front window just to show that someone is actually using it, kinda makes you question the level of professional work.

I have never dared to go to see a Chinese dentist....

However, I have been twice to a French dentist here in Shanghai and he was really professional and good.

i had a tooth pulled the only thing i found strange was that they didnt do any x-rays

They'll get the job done, and they'll usually fix whatever problem you have, but they will do so as quickly and as conveniently (for them) as possible.

One of my friends needed to have a tooth pulled out - one of the molars in the back. Usually the procedure goes ahead when the teeth all around are also numb. For him, they just went straight at it when the anesthetic hadn't fully taken effect yet. Pulled the tooth out, gave him a compress to apply and he was out. In 12 minutes, he had gone in, gotten the tooth extracted, paid and was back out the door.

For the following 30 minutes, blood from the gaping hole at the back of his mouth was pouring down his throat. He spent most of that time vomiting in the bushes around him.

This was at the dentist at Peking University, so I'm not sure if that's a faithful representation of overall Chinese dentistry.

i am a dentist, if u got a toothache ,first to go to a public hospital, register and undergo a check-up, the dentist will tell you what to to next. it is not like what they above said.

first time I went (toothache) in 2006, the guy just started drilling away, didn't even apply a topical..  haha,,, very darn interesting I thought.  kinda gave me a feel for what torture could be like.  duh,, I jumped outta my shoes a coupla a times and he got the idea it was friggin' hurting me.  So,, he gave me an injection with a nice 1950's syringe, complete with re-usable needles.  gave the injection w/out a topical also.... lol.   I kinda always wondered if he was fkn me over cuz I was a white guy....  well,, who knows...  :-p 

I have been twice to the same dentist in the last five years and have nothing but praise for her. Very professional the right amount of painkiller applied and she always checked to make sure I was fine and not feeling any discomfort. The first time I went was to replace some bridge work and the second time to refit a dental implant that had come loose.There are bad ones out there but there are good as well.

  In my experience they suck. I've been a bunch of times, had a cap put on one tooth that was so lame it came off every time I ate a toffee. And at the last place I went to they mocked me for wanting a decent injection. Why? If I can have an injection that stops the pain, why not have it? The Chinese don't use it so much because they think it's bad for your health, but my brother's been injecting heroin into his crotch for 20 years and he's still going strong. The point is he might cop out tomorrow, but in terms of me getting a pain killing injection once every year or two, i'd say it's a pretty good advertisement for doing just that and taking the pain-killer. They were totally unprofessional and if it hadn't been for the fact that I was completely naked, I think i'd have just got up and left.

Good, painful and cheap. That may seem like an oxymoron, but there you have it.

It depends where you are. In Nanning in southern China they had the most up to date equipment and the dentists were very good and only about one tenth the cost in the US.

Go to a Dental Hospital...very professional and,here,at least it also had very modern equipment.

When you find the right one, you can praise him/her all the life after ... 

 I found my in Shanghai, when I was already in urgent need.. I tell you, she changed my fear of dentist from my school times, And I loved to come there again for "relax and repair" The only thing I hate is paying the bills. I got restoration and some prosthetic (8pcs) abd the cost was about 30-40k rmb within 1 year .

I really do not remember exactly how much. just my front-upper 2 teeth total cost was about 15k with all the treatment (4200rmb was list price for single ceramic piece) prior to making new ones. I could choose cheaper, but I saw the 200rmb teeth, which they will not match with your other teeth color and do not care is in line or no ... 

Had a toothache last year because a filling fallen out. Went to a dentist and asked him to put in a new one. The dentist wanted to extract the tooth instead. Just to be on the safe side and not mess up with my Chinese, I took along my good friend {Chinese] and he also told the dentist to replace the filling. The dentist refused and told us that the tooth was bad and needed to come out. Oh yes, he also mentioned that it was much simpler and cheaper to pull the tooth.  I left and had the dental work done in my home country.  Now I do not trust any Chinese dentist. Just take a look at passersby and see how many have gaping holes where once teeth were.