Dental Work Abroad

vfm

Toothsmith firstly I didn't and don't lack personal ambition. I have worked in both the public and private sector. Over ten years ago was earning in excess of £40k p.a.. I then realised that there is more to life than money and that I got a greater satisfaction from helping those less fortunate than myself. I also have a pension that will be more than sufficient to keep me in my simple (but happy) lifestyle, provided I don't have to pay excessive prices for health care, which I thought all the taxes I had paid would have provided for me.
You state that you pay taxes. Well so does the person on minimum wage who is paying for people like you to be trained, then having to pay you a high percentage of their hard earned money for dental treatment. Please give a thought to these people who because of circumstances, or maybe capabilities do not have the chance or capability to earn anywhere near what you and I have.

I have never critised you personally, so why do you feel the need to critise me and anyone who disagrees with your opinion?

Parisien

Toothsmith, when you reply to posts, please stick to what is actually said....not what you read into it!

"All the Germans don't go to Hungary"...I never said they did, nor is your dismissive attitude to those who believe they get better value elsewhere, particularly helpful.

I realise these posts are not to your liking or perhaps you see them as an attack on your profession(?), but we are all entitled to ask these questions and get answers!

Yes, your follow up points are very useful, thank-you, but I'd hope most people would consider these points as a matter of course.

Patently, people are fed up with relatively high prices, the absolute hit and miss aspect to finding a good dentist and then being mugged for payment.

You mentioned building up a good relationship with a your local dentist, I found this worrying....heres me thinking they would act in a fully professional manner whether you were a first timer or 20th visitor to their practice!

Things need to change from lots of perspectives...but they haven't so far.....everyone is at fault.........really, c'est la vie!

yankee_rower

I don't really think the prices in the UK are all that high compared to other developed countries. Dental care in America easily costs 2/3 more, I know mine did. Cost me $1500 for a crown. Cost me £175 to get the same crown replaced here.

I certainly don't mind spending £22 a month for my dental coverage, that's less than a night out or a phone bill.

Yes, you can go abroad for your care, but it is important to go every six months and have everything checked out and cleaned. Are you prepared to fly to India that often? I'm not and I'm obsessive about my teeth!

Steve_xx

yankee_rower wrote:

I don't really think the prices in the UK are all that high compared to other developed countries. Dental care in America easily costs 2/3 more, I know mine did. Cost me $1500 for a crown. Cost me £175 to get the same crown replaced here.

I certainly don't mind spending £22 a month for my dental coverage, that's less than a night out or a phone bill.

Yes, you can go abroad for your care, but it is important to go every six months and have everything checked out and cleaned. Are you prepared to fly to India that often? I'm not and I'm obsessive about my teeth!

£175 for a crown in the UK today seems an unlikely event to me. To have a new gold crown fitted on the NHS would, I think, take you to the £189 charge band.

If you are used to the American regime of paying privately for all medical/dental services then I can see how you would conclude that £22 per month is cheap to pay.

Toothsmith

Steve_xx wrote:

£175 for a crown in the UK today seems an unlikely event to me. To have a new gold crown fitted on the NHS would, I think, take you to the £189 charge band.

If you are used to the American regime of paying privately for all medical/dental services then I can see how you would conclude that £22 per month is cheap to pay.

Yes - that's right but it is the NHS charge that has recently tripled.

It is quite possible that single items provided privately can now be cheaper than some of the NHS bands.

A single tooth denture, for example, on my price list is £130 - and I'm not cheap!!! On the NHS, a single unit denture would also be £189.

My cheapest filling is £40. If you needed that item on the NHS, you would pay £42.40.

For people who only need the odd thing doing every now and again, they would probably be better off finding a lower priced private practice.

This, of course is all part of the master plan.

An NHS dentist only gets the same amount of 'NHS Points' for doing one filling as for doing a mouthful. If they don't get enough points by the end of the year, they have their funding cut.

If someone comes in with a mouthful of work, then it is an awful lot of time, for very few points.

So - the ones that hardly need anything doing are better off private, the ones that need loads doing are uneconomic to treat.

Result - NHS dentistry finally collapses. This new contract is all part of the plan to push dentistry out of the NHS.

Toothsmith

Parisien wrote:

You mentioned building up a good relationship with a your local dentist, I found this worrying....heres me thinking they would act in a fully professional manner whether you were a first timer or 20th visitor to their practice!

Again, you are assuming everybody is exactly the same! They're not.

The first time you go to a dentist, he can only do the treatment in the way that works best for the vast majority of the people that he has treated in the past.

If you've been going to the same dentist for years, he will know exactly what works best on YOU.

Next time you're in a resturant, have a look around. Is everybody eating exactly the same thing? - No. Is everybody eating in exactly the same way?- No. does everybody smile, and talk and show their teeth just the same?

All these differences reflect in how the teeth wear, what materials work best, and what things can be left alone, and what should be treated.

If you live in a house for 40 years, you know every little thing about it. You also get to know what the weather is going to be like from the sky.

Of course, on your first visit to a good dentist you will get a thorough professional service, but nothing can replace experience.

Toothsmith

vfm wrote:

I have never critised you personally, so why do you feel the need to critise me and anyone who disagrees with your opinion?

I don't mind people disagreeing with my opinion, provided it is based on the correct facts.

I would love to have a debate about the best way to provide decent publically subsidised dental care.

I have been on this site, mainly stalking the 'Healthcare' section for quite a while now. I try to post anything relevant to my profession as it comes up in the news which has shown just how the Government has shafted NHS dentistry over the years.

As well as giving people tips about how to save money and get the best value from dentistry (Which, I'm afraid very rarely means paying the lowest price possible)

I am not rich.

I cannot afford to provide high quality dentistry to everybody who needs it. that is the job of Government.

Maybe if I win the lottery I will - and you can choose who I see and turn away those I can't

It is my business - the thing that pays my mortgage and feeds my family.

I have made the decision that providing dentistry to the best of my ability and charging what is necessary in order to do that is more ethical than working on a system that rewards speed and a quality of work that I feel would be damaging to people.

I will happily debate that dilemma with you.

You haven't criticised me personally, but you have said you believe dentists are ripping people off and are greedy. You also assume that just because I am a private dentist I have no interest in the community around me. I take that personally!

Toothsmith

Pammur wrote:

My complaint would be with first of all the standard of dentistry offered by the NHS - English dentistry is the laughing-stock of American sitcoms. My proof - Tony Blair's teeth for a start. How shameful that he is in ultimately in charge of the Nation's health and has such appalling teeth. What does that say about the British dentistry care system.

Don't forget our Foreign Secretary - Margaret Beckett.

The yanks have the lovely (even with the little gap) smile of Condie Rice. We have a werehorse!

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle

I feel an urge to stick my two penneth in. It isn't dentists that are the problem. It's the government. Same with everything else that's wrong with this !!!!!! hole country.

Over 90% of dentists serve both private and NHS patients.
Most of these dentists' gross income comes from only 48% of NHS patients.
As has been said, many people opt to see a dentist only when necessary.
They don't visit regularly and as a result end up being not registered. Eventually we end up with a situation where half the population of england isn't registered. The PCT f@nnies about with the pricing for NHS patients. Dentists go private because it's easier. People need treatment on the NHS and oh, what a shame, they struggle. The government insists it is trying to get more amd more graduates through dental schools. They are investing money. Well what I want to know is where? I see none of this where I live.
It's the same story with midwives. I watched a programme the other night. "3 midwives had finished their courses and become qualified. Out of those 23, only 12 had been givein jobs. The other 11 were told there were no jobs available. Why were there no jobs? Because there was no money to pay them. It's an absolute shambles and the government must sort it otherwise it will continue to decline to a point where only the rich can afford treatment.

bonnie_2

Fair enough its the government, but why does everybody in the country want everything for nothing.
Name me one other country where you get free health care, i bet you can't.
We are fortunate in this country that we get everything free.
Also the man who lives on £80 would surely get free health costs as he earns under £16,000 a year.