Dental Work Abroad

Toothsmith

If all you expect of dentistry is teeth pulling, check up's and cleans, then you wouldn't spend very much in this country anyway.

But in this country, you are more likely to find dentists who aren't so keen to mutilate you.

Steve_xx

Toothsmith wrote:

So - you've just doubled your original estimate of how much a dental nurse costs!!!! You are much nearer the truth now, and as you say, that is an average.

In a quality private practice where service, customer care and high standards are required

I have not doubled my estimate of the cost of a dental nurse. Initially I made reference to the minmum wage. I made a further reference of an average of £9.50 and therefore that means that there will inevitably be some who are on more and there will be some who are on less.

I think that it is reasonable for us to expect that all dental practises offer all of us service, customer care and high standards. We should not only expect this type of services from those dentists who charge the earth for their services.

Your mention of a £2k charge for an implant is again an example of the exhorbitant tariffing prevailent in the UK.

You are wrong in your assumption that I have never experienced quality dental care, quite the reverse. I do put cost high on my priority list, of course I do, but it is not the only consideration. I have at numerous times chosen to pay for private dental work to be carried out where I have felt that the cost is justified and reasonable. But I feel that to have similar work done at todays prices on a private basis would likely be prohibitive. This is due to the fact that dentists have, over the last few years, increased their tariffs disproportionately to average increases in joe publics income. In other words, dentists have gotten greedy.

You seem to acknowledge that there are practise which are not as good as others?

I don't want, nor do I have time to learn more about the economics of providing decent dental care. But that view does not exclude me from commenting on how I feel the current state of affairs are with dentists in this country.

I fully understand that you will have a differing view on the state of affairs and I do not expect you to subscribe to the general view that you are ripping us off.

Toothsmith

Steve_xx wrote:

I don't want, nor do I have time to learn more about the economics of providing decent dental care. But that view does not exclude me from commenting on how I feel the current state of affairs are with dentists in this country.

You don't want to understand it, or learn more about it but you still feel entitled to have a view on it that others should listen to?

That says it all!

You should work in the Department of Health - You'd fit right in!

It is this sort of attitude that has allowed the Government to get away with decimating NHS dentistry.

They feed the 'greedy dentist' spin to the newspapers, and mugs like you swallow it hook line & sinker.

If you honestly feel that the general public should have access to affordable dentistry, then you'll have to learn more about it in order to direct your campaign at the people whose responsibility it is to provide it.

Until you do, I would keep your opinions to yourself unless you enjoy looking like a fool.

Steve_xx

Toothsmith wrote:

You don't want to understand it, or learn more about it but you still feel entitled to have a view on it that others should listen to?

That says it all!

You should work in the Department of Health - You'd fit right in!

It is this sort of attitude that has allowed the Government to get away with decimating NHS dentistry.

They feed the 'greedy dentist' spin to the newspapers, and mugs like you swallow it hook line & sinker.

If you honestly feel that the general public should have access to affordable dentistry, then you'll have to learn more about it in order to direct your campaign at the people whose responsibility it is to provide it.

Until you do, I would keep your opinions to yourself unless you enjoy looking like a fool.

Yes, indeed, I am entitled to hold my opinion and I am entitled to air my view on here. Equally, you are entitled to disagree with it. As I have already said, I would not expect you, in the position that you occupy, to concur with my own view.

I'm certainly not a "mug", nor do I "swallow hook line and sinker" whatever is published in newspapers. If I was that way inclined then I might easily be persuaded by your own arguments here, but clearly I am not. However, I am more than capable of taking a balanced view of a subject, without having to take a degree in it.

Your comments in post #12 are pretty damning of members of your own profession who are not UK practitioners I think?

Toothsmith

Steve_xx wrote:

Your comments in post #12 are pretty damning of members of your own profession who are not UK practitioners I think?

I'm sure they do the best with the resources they have. And if that's all you want from your denistry then fine.
Go for it.

All dentists, however, are not the same.

It is a practical job, and some are better at it than others. Sure, in passing their degree they all reach an acceptable standard. (At least in this country - were you aware some eastern european countries have dental degrees as a correspondance course?)

We are not robotic clones.

Some, by refusing to work on a quantity driven treadmill, put themselves in a position to carry out better work than others.

There are some that charge higher fees and still work at 100mph.

There are some that by presenting lovely waiting area, kid people that the end product is fantastic.

There are some that say they are NHS, then tell you when you get in that certain things are not available on the NHS (This is a lie unless it is a purely cosmetic item).

Why am I a regular contributor to MSE? I am annonymous. I do not attract any patients for myself off it.

I try and let people know the difference, and actually get good value for money from a quality dentist.

To return to the original subject - Is going abroad for dentistry good value for money?

My answer - for the vast majority of people who are tempted by this- is NO.

My recommendation for people who have let their teeth get into such a state where it will cost thousands to get a 'Hollywood smile' back again, is to forget about a hollywood smile, and concentrate on getting diet and other lifestyle factors affecting your teeth right first. With a local dentist, have treatment to stabalize things first, and only when the galloping gobrot has stopped think about a more aesthetic rebuild.

By that time however, you should really see how and why your dentist earns his money, and the UK costs will seem much better value for money.

sazzlewhit

Last week I was quoted £1610 for the work that is needed to stop the pain and teeth crumbling. My diet/lifestyle is fine in fact it is only since having my child that I have started to suffer with my teeth. I can not possibley afford this treatment and even opp. for 4 out to lower the cost however what are people supposed to do when there's no dentist locally that are taking on NHS patients and private work costs so much?

Toothsmith

When did you last see a dentist?

Teeth don't just crumble. Something is happening to cause it, and it will be something to do with diet & lifestyle.

Steve_xx

Toothsmith wrote:

When did you last see a dentist?

Teeth don't just crumble. Something is happening to cause it, and it will be something to do with diet & lifestyle.

You're completely missing the point here. The poster states that she can no longer afford dental health, and as she also rightly points out, she cannot secure the services of an NHS dentist readily. She's even opted to have extractions rather than pay for her teeth to be fixed. How bad is that for a developed country?

Toothsmith

Steve_xx wrote:

You're completely missing the point here. The poster states that she can no longer afford dental health, and as she also rightly points out, she cannot secure the services of an NHS dentist readily. She's even opted to have extractions rather than pay for her teeth to be fixed. How bad is that for a developed country?

Terrible.

But it costs what it costs.

If you want it to cost a fiver, then the great british taxpayer has to stump up the £1605 difference.

That is what it refuses to do. Which may or may not be fair enough depending on whether you think providing brilliant smiles for people with crumbling teeth is a priority.

How long it has been since sazzlewhit saw a dentist is crucial to any advice I may be able to give though - as if she last saw a dentist 6 months ago, and now £1600 worth of treatment is necessary, then in my opionion someone somewhere is not doing their job, and she could get it all via a negligence claim.

If however it was years ago.......

Steve_xx

Toothsmith wrote:

Terrible.

But it costs what it costs.

If you want it to cost a fiver, then the great british taxpayer has to stump up the £1605 difference.

That is what it refuses to do. Which may or may not be fair enough depending on whether you think providing brilliant smiles for people with crumbling teeth is a priority.

How long it has been since sazzlewhit saw a dentist is crucial to any advice I may be able to give though - as if she last saw a dentist 6 months ago, and now £1600 worth of treatment is necessary, then in my opionion someone somewhere is not doing their job, and she could get it all via a negligence claim.

If however it was years ago.......

Yes it may cost what it costs, but actually, it costs too much for the average person to afford. The poster did not say that she wanted her treatment to cost a fiver, on the other hand, she obviously doesn't want to have a mortgage in place for her dental requirements.This may be a hard concept for a well paid dentist to grasp. That's why somebody on here has started a thread in order to obtain advice as to where in the world that dental treatment can be obtained at a reasonable cost. They're asking this because they think that dentistry in the Uk is either not affordable and/or not good value when compared to services offered in other domains.