What price?

studdlymurphy

Hi I'm looking for some sort of price assesments of work that I need done.
I have been for a checkup and here is the list of work I need completed.
2 crowns on the 2 front teeth, and 8 fillings. I have been quoted just under 4,000 euro from the dentist that checked me out. Any opinions?

BlackBlade

go to turkey or poland or something

Oral Surgeon

BlackBlade wrote: »

go to turkey or poland or something

Yeah I was quoted €60000 for a new BMW but a mate told me that I could go to Turkey or Poland and get a Toyota for €20000.....
If you go there it'll definitly be cheaper and that's great if you like cheap crap in your mouth.
OS

Oral Surgeon

Op, not really supposed to talk about price on the forum but that sounds like the high size of normal. If you are happy that you are in a good clinic and have confidence in the dentist and their work then work away... In my opinion that is better than paying half the price for half the quality and then needing retreatment...
Good luck,
OS

yobr

studdlymurphy wrote: »

I have been for a checkup and here is the list of work I need completed. 2 crowns on the 2 front teeth, and 8 fillings. I have been quoted just under 4,000 euro from the dentist that checked me out. Any opinions?

You don't say where your based but I think the advice in these situations is to shop around, why not make a number of appointments with a number of dentists and get some quotes? Why not also ask them what is involved in the treatments especially the crowns so you can educate yourself a bit better and be more informed. This will also help you get a sense of what dentist you feel more comfortable with, a not insignificant consideration.

CyberJuice

yobr wrote: »

You don't say where your based but I think the advice in these situations is to shop around, why not make a number of appointments with a number of dentists and get some quotes? Why not also ask them what is involved in the treatments especially the crowns so you can educate yourself a bit better and be more informed. This will also help you get a sense of what dentist you feel more comfortable with, a not insignificant consideration.

the problem with going to multiple dentists is every time you go to see one he is gonna charge you 70 euro or more just for the appointment,if you go to 3 or 4 dentists,then thats over 250 quid youve spent before youve even got any of this expensive treatment done.. best to just stick to the 1 guy or get a recomendation from someone you trust and have seen they got decent work done in their mouths

BlackBlade

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

Yeah I was quoted €60000 for a new BMW but a mate told me that I could go to Turkey or Poland and get a Toyota for €20000.....
If you go there it'll definitly be cheaper and that's great if you like cheap crap in your mouth.
OS

I must say thats the worst analogy ever!
I know lots of people who did over the years and the work they got done has stood the test of time with no problems.
on the other hand a friend of mine who just moved abroad has to fly back to Dublin to get her teeth fixed after having them done here and spending thousands the quality of the work is terrible!
so can you explain why here teeth are over priced and done to sub standard quality yet the ones who got the toyota teeth in turkey are fine?
no difference in what they got done materiel wise so why are we paying more here!
I have dental work I want done but wouldnt price it in southern Ireland..
Belfast would be the closest I would go.
so why are Irish dentists so expensive?

CyberJuice

why is anything in republic of ireland so expensive

blame the celtic tiger,people got greedy,prices went up,there was plenty of money around,banks where throwing money at people who went in and asked for loans,people were running up bills on credit cards.people could afford to pay for things and pay top dollar for them so businesses raised prices

but now the money has dried up,nobody has much money anymore but someone forget to tell the pubs the restaurants the dentists and various other businesses whos prices have not really dropped at all since we entered this recession..

we are still paying 2005 prices but now we are only making an equivalant to a 1999 salary

just look at various things,not even dentistr,just regular items you buy on a weekly basis,look at car insurance,look at A&E prices,look at the cost of alcohol.compare them with other countires in europe and also the north of ireland.we are being robbed left right and centre..


having said that im sure that prices vary in different dentists in ireland.some guy might do a filling for 120 and another might do it for 90 so just look up loads of places and check their price lists,the most expensive treatment is not always the best

BlackBlade

CyberJuice wrote: »

why is anything in republic of ireland so expensive

blame the celtic tiger,people got greedy,prices went up,there was plenty of money around,banks where throwing money at people who went in and asked for loans,people were running up bills on credit cards.people could afford to pay for things and pay top dollar for them so businesses raised prices

but now the money has dried up,nobody has much money anymore but someone forget to tell the pubs the restaurants the dentists and various other businesses whos prices have not really dropped at all since we entered this recession..

we are still paying 2005 prices but now we are only making an equivalant to a 1999 salary

just look at various things,not even dentistr,just regular items you buy on a weekly basis,look at car insurance,look at A&E prices,look at the cost of alcohol.compare them with other countires in europe and also the north of ireland.we are being robbed left right and centre..


having said that im sure that prices vary in different dentists in ireland.some guy might do a filling for 120 and another might do it for 90 so just look up loads of places and check their price lists,the most expensive treatment is not always the best

all that means nothing the celtic tiger gets the rap for everything!
dentists here have been charging crazy prices way before the tiger raised its head!
if they had more reasonable prices do you really think false teeth would be such common place in older people in Ireland?

go have a week away get you teeth done and by the time you pay for flights hotel accommodation and your dental work you will still save a lot of money on even smaller jobs.
how is the irish dentist worth more than the one in other countries?
they must all fly to work from Istanbul or something because I cant see any other way they can justify the prices TBH!

Oral Surgeon

BlackBlade wrote: »

I must say thats the worst analogy ever!
I know lots of people who did over the years and the work they got done has stood the test of time with no problems.
on the other hand a friend of mine who just moved abroad has to fly back to Dublin to get her teeth fixed after having them done here and spending thousands the quality of the work is terrible!
so can you explain why here teeth are over priced and done to sub standard quality yet the ones who got the toyota teeth in turkey are fine?
no difference in what they got done materiel wise so why are we paying more here!
I have dental work I want done but wouldnt price it in southern Ireland..
Belfast would be the closest I would go.
so why are Irish dentists so expensive?

Yeah, we all know someone who went to Budapest and got treatment for a fiver and it's brilliant... I retreat these cases on a weekly basis in my clinic and I see the opposite. The multiple threads on Boards will back me up on this one.
And yes the material may be similar or in some cases even the same but it's not all about the material (essentially ceramic is sand.....!!) What matters is the person who treats you and makes the crown and the time they take to do this. Even an excellent dentist and technician will not do a good job given the holiday timetable in these clinics abroad....

I'm not here to defend all Irish dentists, you don't need me to tell you that not all Irish dentists are good, but treatment done by a good Irish dentist in a realistic timeframe will be better than these quick full mouth crown jobs done abroad any day....

You can get cheap treatment done up North and cheap treatment done down South, neither will be very good. Good treatment up North will be the same as comparable treatment down here...
If you want cheap and good, you're asking too much or maybe you could lower your expectations

OS

BlackBlade

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

Yeah, we all know someone who went to Budapest and got treatment for a fiver and it's brilliant... I retreat these cases on a weekly basis in my clinic and I see the opposite. The multiple threads on Boards will back me up on this one.
And yes the material may be similar or in some cases even the same but it's not all about the material (essentially ceramic is sand.....!!) What matters is the person who treats you and makes the crown and the time they take to do this. Even an excellent dentist and technician will not do a good job given the holiday timetable in these clinics abroad....

I'm not here to defend all Irish dentists, you don't need me to tell you that not all Irish dentists are good, but treatment done by a good Irish dentist in a realistic timeframe will be better than these quick full mouth crown jobs done abroad any day....

You can get cheap treatment done up North and cheap treatment done down South, neither will be very good. Good treatment up North will be the same as comparable treatment down here...
If you want cheap and good, you're asking too much or maybe you could lower your expectations

OS

well tell ye what you PM me a price for 1 crown and scrape and clean if its reasonable Ill go with you and stop looking elsewhere!

davo10

BlackBlade wrote: »

well tell ye what you PM me a price for 1 crown and scrape and clean if its reasonable Ill go with you and stop looking elsewhere!

Tell ye what BlackBlade, PM me your job/profession or the benefits you are recieving, I'll post here what someone doing your job in Turkey?Poland or what a Turk?Pole recieves in benefits and we'll see if it's reasonable relative to what they recieve. If they get half what you get, will you acknowlege that you are grossly overpaid?. if you can prove that you are worth it, perhaps business's here will stop looking abroad for better value in their workforce.

Oral Surgeon

BlackBlade wrote: »

well tell ye what you PM me a price for 1 crown and scrape and clean if its reasonable Ill go with you and stop looking elsewhere!

I don't do crowns and don't do scrape and cleans either.
I am a specialist oral surgeon, one of only 40 registered in the republic but despite this, my wisdom tooth extractions, implant placements and IV sedation is usually on a par with other general dentists and in some cases, cheaper. I do these treatments every day and offer a quality service and price myself and training accordingly. Whether you want to recognize my 10 years training and personal sacrifice and business risk in getting to this stage is up to you, I really don't mind.... Go wherever you like for treatment.

OS

btkm8unsl0w5r4

My own view on my fees is summed up here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu0qeb_rJYU

You will find dentists set their fees based on the practice they want to have, the type of dentistry they want to do and the type of patient they want to attract. This is the same as any business. There are cheap and expensive dentists in every country, the type of dentist you are willing to pay to go see is not a dental issue and should be discussed in the consumer issues forum.

makon_mc

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

Yeah I was quoted €60000 for a new BMW but a mate told me that I could go to Turkey or Poland and get a Toyota for €20000.....
If you go there it'll definitly be cheaper and that's great if you like cheap crap in your mouth.
OS

I understand, that you are trying to keep business in Ireland, but i'm sure you can drop price by half easily and still earn good money.

A friend of mine works in a dental clinic and her boss recently bought new aston martin for 150k

I think that doctors and dentists earn too much, so if you have choice look around. Google your alternatives, I heard many good stories, and there are some clinics in cheaper countries that are good.

davo10

makon_mc wrote: »

I understand, that you are trying to keep business in Ireland, but i'm sure you can drop price by half easily and still earn good money.

A friend of mine works in a dental clinic and her boss recently bought new aston martin for 150k

I think that doctors and dentists earn too much, so if you have choice look around. Google your alternatives, I heard many good stories, and there are some clinics in cheaper countries that are good.

makon even though I know you may have to pay a mortgage, support your family etc, I'm sure you could take a 50% cut in your wages and still earn good money!.

This is what you are saying to dentists, but on top of mortgage and family, there is rent/mortgage on clinic, staff wages, lab fees, insurance, utilities bills, equipment leasing payments, materials costs etc,etc,etc.
It's a commonly held assumption that what you pay is what the dentist gets to take home, this is not the case.

I do not know anyone who paid €150k for a car, I may know someone who may have borrowed a huge amount to buy a new car to keep up the appearence of success.

Dental treatment will never be cheap to provide, not here, not in the UK nor in Hungary relative to the cost of living, it may however be cheaper for someone like yourself who is paid considerably more than a Hungarian doing your job, to have treatment in a lower cost economy.

I find it hypocritical for people to say we should pay less for this and pay less for that yet complain bitterly when they have their wages cut by companies trying to be more competitive.

Big_G

makon_mc wrote: »

I understand, that you are trying to keep business in Ireland, but i'm sure you can drop price by half easily and still earn good money.

A friend of mine works in a dental clinic and her boss recently bought new aston martin for 150k

I think that doctors and dentists earn too much, so if you have choice look around. Google your alternatives, I heard many good stories, and there are some clinics in cheaper countries that are good.

What a load of rubbish. Most dental surgeries run at about 60-75% overhead. Where can they cut price by 50%?

BlackBlade

makon_mc wrote: »

I understand, that you are trying to keep business in Ireland, but i'm sure you can drop price by half easily and still earn good money.

A friend of mine works in a dental clinic and her boss recently bought new aston martin for 150k

I think that doctors and dentists earn too much, so if you have choice look around. Google your alternatives, I heard many good stories, and there are some clinics in cheaper countries that are good.

My point exactly!

Oral Surgeon

BlackBlade wrote: »

My point exactly!

That proves absolutely nothing.... I know a farmer with an Aston, I even know a fast food guy in London with 2 Lamborghinis...

Your ignorance of turnover vs take home pay is crazy, watch a few episodes of Dragons Den and you might learn a few things

davo10

BlackBlade wrote: »

My point exactly!

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/doctor-guilty-of-botched-care-insists-he-did-nothing-wrong-2914684.html


Blackblade, this guy was arranging for people to travel to Budapest for dental treatment. If you contact another well known "agent" about treatment in Budapest he talks in depth about dental treatments on the phone yet does not inform the patients that he is not actually a dentist, this surprises a lot of people when they find out later.

Blackblade, you say that dentists here are paid to much and should lower their prices to be more competitive with clinics abroad, I asked you previously to post your profession, I am happy to research the average wage someone like yourself earns here in Ireland and the wage earned by someone doing a similar job in Turkey, Poland and Hungary. I will post all links to my results so you can view them. But if you are paid way more than them, will you accept that you are overpaid and that it would be right that your wages/benefits should be cut accordingly (50% was mentioned by mackon) ?. Fair is fair, you can go around accusing others of being overpaid or overcharging but only if you are not part of the same high wages/high costs problem.

flahavaj

makon_mc wrote: »

I understand, that you are trying to keep business in Ireland, but i'm sure you can drop price by half easily and still earn good money.

A friend of mine works in a dental clinic and her boss recently bought new aston martin for 150k

I think that doctors and dentists earn too much, so if you have choice look around. Google your alternatives, I heard many good stories, and there are some clinics in cheaper countries that are good.

So you're not so much concerned that the general public are being over charged as just a little jealous of people who earn a high salary? Cool. At least your honest about your pettiness.

paddyh117

I find these threads amazing! I have no vested interest whatsoever in dentistry in Ireland - apart from the fact that I’m currently in the process of getting some work done (implant and crown)

How anyone can begrudge what a dentist or doctor earns, considering the mount of training and knowledge that is required to do either profession is amazing - I always think of Dr. Nick from the Simpsons - is that what people want??

I rang around and got several prices (including from Belfast) and by far the best price was from an exceptionally professional clinic in Dublin. The work isn't complete yet, but I’m expecting it to be great – and the level of pre and post procedure care has been exceptional. Most importantly (to me) is I know if I’ve any issues they will be there, I can ring and get seen straight away. I personally would not dream of travelling to Eastern Europe to let someone put in an implant - each to their own I’m sure there's stories aplenty for and against, so I won’t rehash those arguments.

In summary, to say that Irish Dentists are overpaid, and should be as cheap as Poland or Turkey is delusional!! Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to earn what they do! but I didn’t study nearly hard enough, nor am I driven enough. Such is life! I’m just glad to be getting a great service, for what I perceive to be a fair price, and at the end of the day that’s what matters!

BlackBlade

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

That proves absolutely nothing.... I know a farmer with an Aston, I even know a fast food guy in London with 2 Lamborghinis...

Your ignorance of turnover vs take home pay is crazy, watch a few episodes of Dragons Den and you might learn a few things

Maybe you should be watching it you seem to need to learn!
ye the poor farmers hu!
as for a fast food guy with 2 lambos, well why wouldnt he have after all McDonalds is one of the biggest companies in the world so if anybody needs an economy lesson its you! I think you will find the food sector is one of the largest, besides he is earning on volume probably selling thousands of burgers per day at a decent rate not making it all on one crown.

apart from proving nothing it goes to show you are making enough money to be hanging round with farmers and Ronald McDonald does it!

davo10 wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/doctor-guilty-of-botched-care-insists-he-did-nothing-wrong-2914684.html


Blackblade, this guy was arranging for people to travel to Budapest for dental treatment. If you contact another well known "agent" about treatment in Budapest he talks in depth about dental treatments on the phone yet does not inform the patients that he is not actually a dentist, this surprises a lot of people when they find out later.

Blackblade, you say that dentists here are paid to much and should lower their prices to be more competitive with clinics abroad, I asked you previously to post your profession, I am happy to research the average wage someone like yourself earns here in Ireland and the wage earned by someone doing a similar job in Turkey, Poland and Hungary. I will post all links to my results so you can view them. But if you are paid way more than them, will you accept that you are overpaid and that it would be right that your wages/benefits should be cut accordingly (50% was mentioned by mackon) ?. Fair is fair, you can go around accusing others of being overpaid or overcharging but only if you are not part of the same high wages/high costs problem.

why should I post my profession in public forum for you still to be wrong!
I have been working my life away and still cant afford to have dental work here so you can spout all the figures you want at me it means nothing.
I will not accept that I am overpaid, overworked maybe!
fair as fair as you say can the dentists on here not just out and say they are over charging then?
Ive been working in THIS economy 20 years and still need my teeth done so fair as fair where is the high wages high cost problem here? oh ye with the over charging dentists

ballsymchugh

BlackBlade wrote: »

Maybe you should be watching it you seem to need to learn!
ye the poor farmers hu!
as for a fast food guy with 2 lambos, well why wouldnt he have after all McDonalds is one of the biggest companies in the world so if anybody needs an economy lesson its you! I think you will find the food sector is one of the largest, besides he is earning on volume probably selling thousands of burgers per day at a decent rate not making it all on one crown.

apart from proving nothing it goes to show you are making enough money to be hanging round with farmers and Ronald McDonald does it!



why should I post my profession in public forum for you still to be wrong!
I have been working my life away and still cant afford to have dental work here so you can spout all the figures you want at me it means nothing.
I will not accept that I am overpaid, overworked maybe!
fair as fair as you say can the dentists on here not just out and say they are over charging then?
Ive been working in THIS economy 20 years and still need my teeth done so fair as fair where is the high wages high cost problem here? oh ye with the over charging dentists

what??

davo10

BlackBlade wrote: »

Why should I post my profession in public forum for you still to be wrong!
I have been working my life away and still cant afford to have dental work here so you can spout all the figures you want at me it means nothing.
I will not accept that I am overpaid, overworked maybe!
fair as fair as you say can the dentists on here not just out and say they are over charging then?
Ive been working in THIS economy 20 years and still need my teeth done so fair as fair where is the high wages high cost problem here? oh ye with the over charging dentists

What? +1.

Blackblade, my point is this and this is the reason why you should post your profession as it may or may not validate your point. You say that we charge to much and that we should charge similar prices to clinics abroad so that dental treatment is available to all, I say fair enough but it is a double edged sword. Whatever you earn, I gaurantee you that your peer in Hungary/Poland/Turkey is earning a lot less for the same job so surely what applies to us should also apply to you without complaint. If you feel you are overworked and underpaid, why criticise other people who may feel the same. I do not mind people who say you should lower your prices and get paid less but it is hypocritical when they then say, as you did, that they will not take a comparable percentage pay cut.

We are small businesses who employ people and pay the highest rate of tax. Our clinics are in urban areas where rates, rents, property costs are high etc, etc,etc, you know the story, its been discussed here oftern enough.

It is not my fault nor anybody elses if you cannot afford certain goods and services. We all cannot get what we want all the time, that is life. You should be directing your ire towards the FF government for scrapping the PRSI dental scheme which would have given you subsidized prices, and the medical card dental scheme where you would have got it for free. The FG government has done nothing to re-instate the schemes dispite all the promises.

Oral Surgeon

BlackBlade wrote: »

Maybe you should be watching it you seem to need to learn!
ye the poor farmers hu!
as for a fast food guy with 2 lambos, well why wouldnt he have after all McDonalds is one of the biggest companies in the world so if anybody needs an economy lesson its you! I think you will find the food sector is one of the largest, besides he is earning on volume probably selling thousands of burgers per day at a decent rate not making it all on one crown.

apart from proving nothing it goes to show you are making enough money to be hanging round with farmers and Ronald McDonald does it!

Eh, ok....
I'm simply making the point that not all farmers drive corollas and not all dentists drive astons!!! The guy I know of (and never met) does not own McDonalds as you presume....

Just because I know them (distantly) does not mean that I make tons of money!!! Some non-dentist friends of mine make more than me, some less....

BlackBlade wrote: »

Ive been working in THIS economy 20 years and still need my teeth done so fair as fair where is the high wages high cost problem here? oh ye with the over charging dentists

So dentists are the cause of all our problems... Just so you know, I and a lot of the dentists on Boards were either in undergrad or post grad training
during the boomtime so didn't really benefit from that bubble... Now that I am out in practice again these past few years and have manages costs more than the established clinicians (cheaper rent etc), I can pass this saving on to patients but there is only so low you can go...

Dianthus

Nothing stopping BlackBlade from returning to college as a mature student to study Dentistry/Medicine& make a mint.....?
Pal of mine works an average 122 hours a week in hospital, net take home pay for last 2 weeks- €700. She's also studying for a masters in her "spare" time. Easy hours easy money alright.

BlackBlade

davo10 wrote: »

What? +1.

Blackblade, my point is this and this is the reason why you should post your profession as it may or may not validate your point. You say that we charge to much and that we should charge similar prices to clinics abroad so that dental treatment is available to all, I say fair enough but it is a double edged sword. Whatever you earn, I gaurantee you that your peer in Hungary/Poland/Turkey is earning a lot less for the same job so surely what applies to us should also apply to you without complaint. If you feel you are overworked and underpaid, why criticise other people who may feel the same. I do not mind people who say you should lower your prices and get paid less but it is hypocritical when they then say, as you did, that they will not take a comparable percentage pay cut.

We are small businesses who employ people and pay the highest rate of tax. Our clinics are in urban areas where rates, rents, property costs are high etc, etc,etc, you know the story, its been discussed here oftern enough.

It is not my fault nor anybody elses if you cannot afford certain goods and services. We all cannot get what we want all the time, that is life. You should be directing your ire towards the FF government for scrapping the PRSI dental scheme which would have given you subsidized prices, and the medical card dental scheme where you would have got it for free. The FG government has done nothing to re-instate the schemes dispite all the promises.

Well we all know why you are paying high rates but thats simply because the people you are renting, buying from are getting paid too much and robbing us..
Dont get me started on mortgage brokers and banks etc..

Oral Surgeon wrote: »

Eh, ok....
I'm simply making the point that not all farmers drive corollas and not all dentists drive astons!!! The guy I know of (and never met) does not own McDonalds as you presume....(as an ie.)

Just because I know them (distantly) does not mean that I make tons of money!!! Some non-dentist friends of mine make more than me, some less....



So dentists are the cause of all our problems... Just so you know, I and a lot of the dentists on Boards were either in undergrad or post grad training
during the boomtime so didn't really benefit from that bubble... Now that I am out in practice again these past few years and have manages costs more than the established clinicians (cheaper rent etc), I can pass this saving on to patients but there is only so low you can go...

I appreciate you put the time in and invested money etc..
how do we compair in prices to say the USA then???
apart from more expensive flights over how are prices over there?
Are we more expensive than the people that made a white smile a must?

Dianthus wrote: »

Nothing stopping BlackBlade from returning to college as a mature student to study Dentistry/Medicine& make a mint.....?
Pal of mine works an average 122 hours a week in hospital, net take home pay for last 2 weeks- €700. She's also studying for a masters in her "spare" time. Easy hours easy money alright.

Bit like me telling you to do a mechanics course in Bolton street to service your own car once really isnt it! :rolleyes:

ballsymchugh

BlackBlade wrote: »

Well we all know why you are paying high rates but thats simply because the people you are renting, buying from are getting paid too much and robbing us..
Dont get me started on mortgage brokers and banks etc..

rates =/= rent.
rates are paid to a town/county council and are calculated on the area of your premises and where it is. so unless you want to visit a dentist in a single room in the back end of beyond, their rates will be high.

I appreciate you put the time in and invested money etc..
how do we compair in prices to say the USA then???
apart from more expensive flights over how are prices over there?
Are we more expensive than the people that made a white smile a must?

no. USA is more expensive, but they also have dental plans with most health insurance. people with no insurance just don't get the work done if they can't afford it.

Bit like me telling you to do a mechanics course in Bolton street to service your own car once really isnt it! :rolleyes:

this line makes zero sense. you're not an english teacher anyway.
can we guess??

davo10

BlackBlade wrote: »

Well we all know why you are paying high rates but thats simply because the people you are renting, buying from are getting paid too much and robbing us..
Dont get me started on mortgage brokers and banks etc..



I appreciate you put the time in and invested money etc..
how do we compair in prices to say the USA then???
apart from more expensive flights over how are prices over there?
Are we more expensive than the people that made a white smile a must?
:

Lord save us, rates are set by the Co.Co's not the landlords. Landlords may be robbing us but they are not robbing you and clinics are all about location, we cannot move to the countryside and rent a house, people have to be able to access us easily by walking, driving, bus, train etc so we have to be in urban areas, hence higher rents or purchase prices. Simple economics.

I attend conferences/training courses in the US every year and dental treatment/all healthcare is more expensive there. I treat american people who visit/live here and they always say how expensive dental treatment is at home except if you have health insurance which is also very expensive and fewer employers there are providing it.

Come on Blackblade, prove your point by posting your profession, I'll even compare it with the US, wouldn't that be something if you were paid more than an American, remember minimum wage in US is LOWER than here.

As a previous poster said, there is nothing stopping you going back to secondary school for two years, getting leaving cert grades in the top 1% (only approx 60 places per year for dentistry in Irish Universities), studying hard for 5 years to get a dental degree, working for another 5-10 years to save the money to buy/set up a practice and then after 12-15years you can charge what the market will pay for the dental treatment you provide. Simples.

Dianthus

Absolutely nothing like doing a mechanics course to service your own car...no dentist on earth is physically capable of treating their own teeth?!
I was referring to the fact that if dentistry is so very lucrative, and you feel that you're overworked and underpaid the last 20 years, then the logical step would be to train become a dentist. There are plenty of mature students out there who have done the same.