Dentistry = Highway robbery

System

DH and I went for checkup at our dentist last Monday. Examination (no x-rays), scale and polish was £16 each. I haven't a clue if they are NHS or private.

We generally don't have too much trouble with our teeth except when I eat a toffee and pull a filling out. I had a considerable amount of work done (gold fillings etc) when I was pregnant with my girls some 20 odd years ago by the dentist I had attended since childhood. Looking back I think he took advantage of the fact that dental work in pregnancy was paid by the NHS because I looked after my teeth and can't believe that they were really that bad. The amount of work done now means that taking out dental insurance is not an option because the premiums would be too expensive..

The only complaint I would have at the moment is that our current surgery is now promoting cosmetic procedures unrelated to dentistry like Cosmetic facial peels :eek: . What's that about?

Toothsmith

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

Bit of an irrelavant quote from JFK I suppose, but bear with me.

What is your girlfriend worth to her employer?

I have one dental nurse on £10 per hour. She's worth that to me. I would probably pay her more if I ever thought someone else was in a position to tempt her away from me.

From a business point of view, I have to pay her as little as I think I can get away with, as ultimately it is the patient that's paying her. And, of course, I don't want all my patients to bu££er of to Hungary where the nurses are paid the equivalent of £6 a week!

BUT - I don't want to loose her either, as she is an asset to the practice. She is good with the patients, has done lots of courses and is very well qualified, is good at her job, helps me with the running of the practice, makes very good business suggestions, comes up with some very efficient working methods, and I cannot think how I would manage without her.

How does your girlfriend fit with that description?

I have also employed nurses that I have felt I have been overpaying on minimum wage!!!!!!!!

If they turn up late, have sickies at the drop of a hat, show no initiative, can't pass the dental nurses qualification, think it's ok to prop up the reception desk chatting to a receptionist whilst patients are waiting, completely fail to grasp the importance of thoroughly cleaning instruments between patients, etc etc..... Then basically they are a waste of space.

With employment laws as they are at the moment, the only leverage a boss has is pay. If he keeps the pay low for poor workers, the need to sack someone and risk an unfair dismissal claim soon disappears!


Having said all this - there are of course some pretty crap employers!!

If your girlfriend really feels she is a good nurse and deserves more, then she does have the free market option. Find another job!!

As for the bit about dentist earnings - it's a different ball game, and not really comparable.

Yes, we earn a different amount by many times. BUT it' our business.

My house is the security for the (Approx £200k) loans I have on my practice (And I've been there for 14 yrs - I have invested/borrowed nearly £1/2m in that time)! How much return would you want if you had risked £1/2m in your own business?

I am RESPONSIBLE for everything. Employment laws, Public safety, Waste disposal, maintenance, wages, materials standards, marketing, regulations, etc etc etc.

I do not turn off when I go home.

The last few years, I have earnt about £100- 110k pa.

There are times when I'd willingly swap it for a zero-stress job on £10ph which I only have to think about from 9-5.

But on the whole, 75% of the time I prefer where I am.

If your GF went back to college, got 3 good 'A' levels in sciences, did 5 yrs at dental school, worked a few years as an associate, persuaded a bank to support her and lend her about £300k to start with to buy a share in a practice, she too could be on exactly the same as me.

Why not suggest that to her?

Francophile

Parisien wrote: »

Story goes like this.....

Holiday in France, 2nd last evening, thought I have a big bit of grit in my mouth whilst eating...turns out to be the gold filling plus side of a single tooth had come away.

Waited 1 month for an appointment....no one taking NHS patients any more in my home town.

Appointment for 4.pm....called at 4.02pm.

Initial assessment, everything else ok, 2 mins prep work with drill, 11 mins work, gluing said parts back onto original tooth, no other materials used nor x-ray etc......13 mins work, 1 minute pleasantries.

Bill £94...for private care.

Seems reasonable too you.......?

You should have gone to a dentist in France. 10 years ago on the 2nd day of a three week holiday I lost a filling from the back of one of my teeth. There was no way I could endure it for the rest of the holiday so went to the dentist in the village. No appointment needed, straight in to see the dentist.I was amazed at the surgery, very high tech, way ahead of us at the time and this in a wee village. The dentist put in a temporary white filling and told me to go straight to my own dentist when I got home to have it replaced with a permanent filling. This cost me £15 and she gave me a form to claim back for the treatment. When I got home I duly went to my own dentist and explained the story. He said that if that was a temporary filling it was better than any permanent filling he could have done and said he'd leave it as it would probably last 6 months or so. 10 years later it's still there.

jamesey07

hey toothsmith thanks for the reply and honesty in the questions well the dentist she works with continues to pay all her nurses £6 - £6.50 an hour, and says even that is to much, also they all work overtime which the dentist says is time on lue but they only get about 1 day every 8 months r else a couple of hours on 1 day and again that is only one in a blue moon, this dentist must be saving a fortune on wages as my gf does about 2 and a half hours overtime every week and since starting over a year ago has had 1 day and 4 hours off in overtime, this along with everyone bar the other dentists have done this overtime and don't get paid.. fair play to use for what use earn as use have clearly worked very hard to get to were use r and yeah if i risked that amount of money in a business i would definitely want a return on it

Toothsmith

If I was your GF, I'd probably be looking around at what else was available.

Being a dental nurse is a skilled job, and if she's good at it, there will be a demand for her services.

There are some bosses who just need to loose a few good employees in order to begin to learn their true value!


(EDIT - I have just realized the phrase 'if I was your girlfriend' is just a bit on the gay side! )

jamesey07

yup she has said a good few times that she is going to leave as not only is she doing dental nurse work but doing work that should be for cleaners like cleaning toilets and running to the shops for the dentist lol, also as i mentioned about the overtime she doesn't mind doing overtime it's just that after doing over a year with 2 and a half hours near enough every week and getting 1 day and 4 hours for it, think she is scared to look for somewhere as it'll be the same, i was wondering though is this normal?

Toothsmith

Like every industry/trade/profession, there are good bosses and bad bosses.

Sometimes you can think 'better the devil you know', but she won't know what else is available until she dips her toe in the water.

Nothing wrong with going to a few interviews.

(I take it this is the only place she's ever worked? Is she a qualified dental nurse?)

jamesey07

yeah this is her first job as a dental nurse, and nope she isn't fully qualified yet, she's doing that dental nurse course at the minute, i think the rest of the dental nurses r in the same boat to where they r doing there dental course and aren't fully qualifed, I've heard that this dentist has a very high staff turnover.. i know if it were me I'd be looking for something else

Toothsmith

£6.50ph is about standard pay for a trainee dental nurse though.

Might be best for her to stay put, and look around once qualified.

jamesey07

thanks, yeah she'll most likely look around once she gets fully qualified, think the pay only goes up to £6.75 an hour once she is fully qualified, see the way you were saying it's non stop being a dentist do you ever get to do other things like say go to a football match, hobbies etc? i think it'd be a stressful job along with being say a doctor, surgeon, awkward patients etc, i've learned a bit about teeth since she's started working there haha