How much should a dentist cost?

Zascar

I've been going to the same dentist all my life, the same one as my dad and sisters. Aparantly he's very good, and of course he has all my dental records etc, but he's very expensive. It was fine when my dad was paying for it, but now that I'm grown up and pay my own bills, I'm wondering do I really need such an expensive dentist?

This morning I went in for my yearly checkup. I told him that my gums bleed a little almost every time I brush my teeth - he said I had a plaque build up on the inside of my teeth which would have to be removed over a number of sessions. He scraped all my teeth for about 15 or 20 minutes - said I have to use Listerine 2-3 times a day for 10 days and then come back to him. And for that I was charged €150! And I'll probably be hit for the same again in 10 days, and who knows I might need to go back again!

How much should this usually cost? He is based in Waterloo road in Dublin 4 so I guess he's not going to be cheap but I don't have any major dental issues, any dentist can scrape & clean my teeth, and it should not have to cost be this much money. Aren;t you supposed to get a certain amount free form the health service?

All advice appreciated.
Thanks

btkm8unsl0w5r4

The PRSI benefits are discussed in other threads you can look up. However an interesting study I read reciently shoed that people who change dentists are more likely to have more fillings....why you ask...well your dentist that knows you may see a small spot of subsurface decay and decide to monitor it over time...when it stays the same nothing is done except to keep an eye on it. Now say you change dentist...the new dentist may decide to fill that instead (a valid clinical decision also) because he doesnt know that you have been able to keep it the same for years and years...so what am I saying? Well if you want to change dentist do, but a good dentist who knows your mouth is valuable....

eth0_

Come on, 150 euro for a clean? If he was suffering from periodontitis then I could understand the cost as it's a more involved procedure but for a simple scale and polish 150 seems extortionate...

Zascar

Exactly, how much would it usualy be?

btkm8unsl0w5r4

You should always check the price before agreeing to undertake any treatment, it prevents any embarrasing situations or bad feeling on both sides. I cannot stress this enough. Prices vary a little between dentists, however before compairing prices be sure that its the same treatment you are comparing. Good Luck

abetarrush

The whole price of dentistry here is rediculous!

And the dentists dont even do their jobs!

I had a bad tooth, that had to be either removed, or treated witha root canal, but the dentist just cleaned it, and never mentioned a removal or root canal.

So the tooth died and cracked, and its gone.

And a root canal costs 350 euro, for like one hour of work! Thats more than a full 40 hour paycheque, and the dentist takes that for one hours work, its sick! And a medical card doesnt cover things like that.

Over in the UK its only like £5 to get a checkup, so of course its gonna cost €55 over here

I jus cant understand why they're allowed do this, and how they can do it, ye'd wanna be a pretty heartless person to be able to do that

Big_G

Are we sure that this patient received just a scale and polish? If there was lots of scraping going on, there may have been some root debridement. Even so, it does seem a bit much. But what do I know. I would agree with fitzgeme, prior discussion prevents ill will later on.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

I dont think I am going to allow any more cost related threads on this forum. I know people have some issues with cost that I may not agree with but everyone is entitles to a point of view HOWEVER this forum is for discussion of dental problems not financial ones. I am ammending the forum rules after this thread there will be no more cost related threads allows. Sorry folks

Mountjoy Mugger

So cost isn't a factor when speaking about dental issues?

Why bother having the forum then?

btkm8unsl0w5r4

of course price is a factor and I am happy for discussion about the general costs of treatments like " I need a root canal and it my dentist says it will be 699 euro is this correct" but not threads like " Rip off dentists in irelands are crap and killed my cat and are bad people" like abetarrush's above. This thread started fine, but they always develop into a flam war of peoples saying that they got 1000 crowns in outer mongolia in 4 hours for 50 cents and why must dental care here cost so much. Consumer issues is the place of these issues, this forum is to discuss dental science not economics.

Big_G

Couldn't agree more.

lomb

abetarrush wrote:

The whole price of dentistry here is rediculous!



And a root canal costs 350 euro, for like one hour of work! Thats more than a full 40 hour paycheque, and the dentist takes that for one hours work, its sick! And a medical card doesnt cover things like that.

Over in the UK its only like £5 to get a checkup, so of course its gonna cost €55 over here

I jus cant understand why they're allowed do this, and how they can do it, ye'd wanna be a pretty heartless person to be able to do that

its called fees for professional services. no one can provide exams for £5 unless there is some kind of scam in the practice or the 'exam' takes 2 minutes.
there are responsibilities to being a dentist. u can get sued and u are resposible for the long term patient care.
solicitors, architects, barristers, doctors, all get paid at the same hourly rate. if anything dentistry involving surgery should be dearer than what it is all things considered, its like a mini hospital and there are huge overheads imho.

economics and science go hand in hand but people moaning things are too dear make a common statement that applies to the whole service based irish economy not just dentistry.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Very well put Lomb....I think a lot of people pay little heed to their teeth and when they find out how much they will cost to fix they mistake cost and value. Any well carried out professional service will cost more, it not a filling or crown you are buying its a service. Dentistry is a science and an art if done correctly and as a health care profession also the price will be high for private work. The idea of an examination fot 5 euro is a joke.

Wight

Armando Incalculable Watchband wrote:

The idea of an examination fot 5 euro is a joke.

The minimum time to carry out an examination to any accuracy and report your findings to the patients is 15 minutes IMO. And that's pushing it sometimes.

You have to pay:

1. Dentist.
2. Dental assistant.
3. Receptionist.
4. All the overheads.

Now, assume we pay our staff average industrial wage of €28,000 per year. That works out at about €14 per hour. Two staff, times 15 minutes, equals €7
You want a check up for UK £5, which is €7.50. 50 cent left for the dentist and overheads.

Do YOU think a dentist works for €2 per hour??? Oh, and overheads run at anything between €60-120 per hour.

And my sister lives in London. An exam, x-rays and scale and polish set her back STG£120. (€180) I agree with lomb, this country is a bunch of whingers. We all have enough money for the pub tho, eh?

lomb

Wight wrote:

Do YOU think a dentist works for €2 per hour??? Oh, and overheads run at anything between €60-120 per hour.

?

all correct 60 euro an hour is rock bottom on overheads before dentist makes a penny. probably more like 80 -100 though if u include fail to attends/quiet periods makes up more probably. the nhs fee in the uk was around 6 or 7 quid but nhs dentistry is basically a big scam where 'exams' last 2 minutes, fillings last 2 years and crowns would be lucky to last the same. still i can understand that some dentists charge unreasonable fees and its difficult to compare quality but people can rest assured that fees here are for most part reasonable with the priviso if it works long term. short term cheap dentistry like what happens for the most part in the uk is doomed to failure and is costly and time consuming to repair.
normal consumers cant understand (and reasonably so) that dentistry in the uk is controlled by the government pandering to peoples wishes for free/cheap healthcare and their wish to protect the taxpayer by paying peanuts. whats happened is there is a treadmill of patients on which u make 15 quid each on each patient and u see 40 of them a day. anyone that needs something complex like a crown will just have to get it done in 10-15 minutes as uve no time. alot of crap dentistry means the treadmill keeps turning.
orthodontics is done for 1/7th what its here, but fraud is absolutely rampant, and quality is very low. anyone who thinks thats the way to go is the one thats heartless..

Doomspell

My local denist only charged me 40-50euro per check-up:D Thats probably because he only has one other person that he has to pay other than himself. But Wight is right, also they have to pay the electricty and other essentials like that, along with paying for other equiptment.

Zascar

Doctors are no different but they haev a set fixed price for a checkup don't they? I haven;t been to the doctor in ages but I think its €40. Less that 1/3 the price of what my dentist charges...

lomb

Zascar wrote:

Doctors are no different but they haev a set fixed price for a checkup don't they? I haven;t been to the doctor in ages but I think its €40. Less that 1/3 the price of what my dentist charges...

most/all doctors have no nurse and many havent a receptionist either. their overheads are minimal, rent is minimal as space is small, the only cost is a prescription pad.
u can add another 50000 a year to a doctors overhead to get a dentists overhead. im not complaining most dentists do well, but so do estate agents, architects, solicitors, doctors , barristers, etc etc.
also no offense but to rent an office on waterloo road is going to cost in excess of 40000 a year.
i think that dentist caters to a particular clientelle, and his patients seem happy from what u say. like any consumer u have to put a price on that and whether its worth it to u..

dudara

Well, for the sake of comparison, a check-up and polish from my dentist in Cork costs €50. Extremely reasonable it seems in light of the OP's experience.

Interesting point made about dentists monitoring changes. I went in recently for my six-monthly, and was told that I will need a filling in a lower rear tooth. He said that he had been keeping an eye on it for a while, but he now felt that it warranted a filling. That's the the kind of service I'm more than happy to pay for.

kumar01

HI Buddies,
Why you guys are not thinking like this!!!
if my dentist cures my dental problem i can afford him very high to what he normally asks...of course you can afford high for your own functioning system
can't you????

kumar01

Hi

It is known that experienced dental surgeons always demands more for dental treatment.

edentalcare.blogspot.com for dental related issues

Regards,
Kumar.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

kumar01 I have warned you about advertising your site here contact the admins for advertising space if you wish.1 week ban

SedationDentist

Is €150 unreasonable?
Let's assume the best; a well run, well staffed surgery, modern equipment, excellent protocols wrt sterilisation/disposal of instruments, and a dentist who devotes a proportion of his/her time to continuing education. I would expect total running costs for each surgery in a practice like this in Dublin 4 to run to approx €16k per month. My feeling - for a guy like this, your money is very well spent.
I hope this sounds like your dentist, if not perhaps the value isn't so great