€60 (Spain) vs €100 (Ireland) for White Dental Filling

subway

I had a filling a few weeks back.
Local dentist.

Nerve has since become inflamed so filling removed and dressed, possible root canal later this week. Dentist saw me on a days notice and has told me to call anytime if the pain doesn't subside. I can walk to the surgery and back in 10 mins.

I'll happily pay an extra 40 for access to that level of service. Would not like to be calling my Spanish dentist for an appointment while getting a few days off work and booking flights and hotels

MistyCheese

subway wrote: »

Would not like to be calling my Spanish dentist for an appointment while getting a few days off work and booking flights and hotels

Especially if there is a language barrier.

"Me tooth is bleedin' killin' me! I mean, Mi diente es, eh, esta(?), me muerte. Es muy, eh, ouchie. Mucho ouchie."
"¿Cómo?"
"Me tooth! Necesito un filling! Por favor! Pronto! Arriba!"

sandin

wife says she paid €70 at <please read the charter about naming dentists> a few weeks ago for filling.

Skopzz - have you shopped around at all??? or even haggled a little?

We warned you about this 2 years ago when you published your asda receipt showing 6 x 2l of pepsi + 4 pizzas as your weekly shopping in NI!! That musch pepsi can rot your teeth - so it noiw seems it wasn't the bargain you thoight at the time

Nanazolie

MistyCheese wrote: »

Especially if there is a language barrier.

"Me tooth is bleedin' killin' me! I mean, Mi diente es, eh, esta(?), me muerte. Es muy, eh, ouchie. Mucho ouchie."
"¿Cómo?"
"Me tooth! Necesito un filling! Por favor! Pronto! Arriba!"

Se dice "esta": el diente está muerto.

Phrasebook for dental tourists in Spain:

me duele el diente: my tooth is aching
un dentista: a dentist
al morder / cuando muerdo : when I bite
sensible al frío, al calor: sensitive to cold / heat
sensible al dulce: sensitive to sweet

I do agree with what people have said before: dental work is more expensive in Ireland but at least you can avail of emergency repair / treatment.
I sometimes go to my parents dentist in France when I have some routine treatments to be done, like scale and polish because it costs me less than 30 euros and nothing really can go wrong. But I wouldn't go for veneers / crowns (they can be as expensive as here, anyway) because if one fell off I'd have to go to my Irish dentist or face days with a missing tooth and a larger bill in the end when taking flights into account.

I also find it incredible that people think Spain is cheap: yes, it is for Irish people, even those on the minimum wage. I lived in Spain for a while, and believe me, some people are way below the poverty threshold, they might have 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet. And as someone quite rightly pointed out, Spain is one of the most expensive countries to get sick or attend the hospital.

Misticles

I get mine done in Newry - was 120 pounds for 2 silver and 1 white.

Whatever is in the white feeling though is different from the silver as people can reject white fillings after a while afaik.

subway

Nanazolie wrote: »

Se dice "esta": el diente está muerto.

Phrasebook for dental tourists in Spain:

me duele el diente: my tooth is aching
un dentista: a dentist
al morder / cuando muerdo : when I bite
sensible al frío, al calor: sensitive to cold / heat
sensible al dulce: sensitive to sweet

hehe, good luck with that! personally, as a layman, i have enough difficulty articulating dental issues in english and expect that my dentist should have the experince to find the issue based on the info i can provide or can extract the extra info needed for the diagnosis, and then explain it to me, along with the corrective action, before proceeding with treatment.

I'm not a major fan of medical procedures, and have had more than enough in my time to be cautious of having anything done without a good conversatioin regarding whats being done and why. you dont need a medical degree for a doctor/dentist to explain their plan to you, but you do need a complete ability to understand them.

whatever about dental tourism, if you are not asking your doctor or dentist about what they are doing, why they are doing it and so on, you are being careless IMO. simple questions:

what do you think is the cause of the issue
how are you going to approach fixing it
how long will the procedure take
how will recovery take
any possible complications
precautions to take to assist recovery
likelihood of success
what happens next if this doesnt work

if you walk into a surgery shouting "OUCHY, FIXY ME TOOTHY SENOR" and have no idea of any of the above, you are asking for trouble

:pac:

parsi

My wife brought the kids (and herself) to our local dentist (Cork) recently. €135 for 4 exams and cleans, 1 fissure seal and 1 filling.

Not bad.

SavvyConsumer

davo10 wrote: »

Welcome back Skopzz, we missed you.

You were not quoted for white porcelain fillings, you were quoted for composite fillings, it's important to know what you are trying to buy when comparing prices.

Yes most of student fees are paid by the Government/taxpayer but a lot of us were educated before third level fees were lowered and we qualified with enormous loans. I'm pretty sure most dentists have repaid the Taxpayer's investment in their education many times over in taxes paid.

You cannot structurally reform private sector professions, they are private and subject to market dynamics, the Government cannot dictate what is charged any more than they can dictate what a manufacturing company charges for its produce.

The Troika has more pressing problems than what Irish dentists are charging.

Though the EU is a common market, economic conditions are different in all.

Did you know Spain is the most expensive country in Europe to visit a Doctor?.

I am not Skopzz. I read his/her previous threads and agree with the underlying sentiment. I share his/her words and phrases in this thread because the poster came across as very convincing to me.

I received a quote for white fillings and the Dentist is asking €60 for each filling. I will show you a modified copy of the quote:


Hi ---- Porcelain (white) fillings' prices range between 45€ to 60€ (the most expensive). This price does not include any additional pins or posts (if needed) to ensure proper dental restoration. Thank you for contacting us . Please feel free to contact us if additional information is needed.

---

Av. ---- Local ----
---- Alicante


I believe that setting a cap on private profession prices would be a good move in Ireland. It would face resistance but would force the profession into a game changer. Free market capitalism destroyed this country economically since 2008.

SavvyConsumer

subway wrote: »

I had a filling a few weeks back.
Local dentist.

Nerve has since become inflamed so filling removed and dressed, possible root canal later this week. Dentist saw me on a days notice and has told me to call anytime if the pain doesn't subside. I can walk to the surgery and back in 10 mins.

I'll happily pay an extra 40 for access to that level of service. Would not like to be calling my Spanish dentist for an appointment while getting a few days off work and booking flights and hotels

I remember getting a filling in Ireland and it wasn't properly done. I ended up getting no aftercare unless I paid for a new filling. Yes, a new filling. Rude Dentist and always in a rush to cut corners.

I am self-employed and have a flexible schedule. But I am not booking flights and hotels just for Dental fillings. I am going on vacation anyway so decided to slot-in a Dental appointment while there. It's not rocket science.

SavvyConsumer

Nanazolie wrote: »

Se dice "esta": el diente está muerto.

Phrasebook for dental tourists in Spain:

me duele el diente: my tooth is aching
un dentista: a dentist
al morder / cuando muerdo : when I bite
sensible al frío, al calor: sensitive to cold / heat
sensible al dulce: sensitive to sweet

I do agree with what people have said before: dental work is more expensive in Ireland but at least you can avail of emergency repair / treatment.
I sometimes go to my parents dentist in France when I have some routine treatments to be done, like scale and polish because it costs me less than 30 euros and nothing really can go wrong. But I wouldn't go for veneers / crowns (they can be as expensive as here, anyway) because if one fell off I'd have to go to my Irish dentist or face days with a missing tooth and a larger bill in the end when taking flights into account.

I also find it incredible that people think Spain is cheap: yes, it is for Irish people, even those on the minimum wage. I lived in Spain for a while, and believe me, some people are way below the poverty threshold, they might have 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet. And as someone quite rightly pointed out, Spain is one of the most expensive countries to get sick or attend the hospital.

I could avail of emergency treatment without having to book flights by one other option: the North. There are dentists in Tyrone, Fermanagh, Derry, Down, Armagh or Antrim. that can perform any emergency treatment. Most would also be cheaper than here. This thread is about Spain. So I will leave it there.

dudara

Posters - please leave the Skopzz comments out of it.

dudara

davo10

SavvyConsumer wrote: »

I believe that setting a cap on private profession prices would be a good move in Ireland. It would face resistance but would force the profession into a game changer. Free market capitalism destroyed this country economically since 2008.

It is important for future posts that you understand this commercial fact. The Government cannot cap the fees charged by any private industry, because they are not in any way under state control, the last time I checked Ireland does not have a Communist type economy where the state controls prices. There is no point saying they should,could or would, they can't. Neither can the troika nor anyone else.

Porcelain fillings are very different from composite fillings. A porcelain filling involves a cavity preparation, impressions, a lab casting or milling a porcelain filling to fit your tooth, try-in and then cementation in position. Is this what you were quoted for?.

As pointed out by a previous poster, you can get a white filling as cheap closer to home and still have the peace of mind that you do not have to travel if there is a problem.

Sorry I assumed you were someone else because of your viewpoint and the way they were written. I suggest you make your own points and not align yourself to the poorly researched, thoughtout and articulated views of the other person you referred to.

Pawwed Rig

Ok hands up, I will admit to not having the first idea of what it is like to be a dentist but as a service provider you can surely understand that alot of their costs would be well in excess of that what is in Spain?
Council rates, water charges, Electricity etc.
To hire a receptionist is more expensive here than in Spain (ie higher min wage).
We are also an island with a dispersed population so cannot get the economies of scale that a country like Spain can with a much larger population and connected to the biggest landmass on Earth.
Adding to this the mismanagement of our economy for a generation pushing wages and costs up and up I think you will realise that there should be no surprise that most things are so expensive here.

The biggest issue with dentistry is that all of the products are bespoke by neccessity. This means the manufacturing costs of, say a crown, are huge. Nevermind the record prices that gold has reached on commodity markets.

I think it is very easy to say the cost here is x whereas the cost in Ireland is y. But it is extremely simplistic.

I don't think anyone would try to claim that irish dentists are better than non Irish dentist. I have used dentists in three countries and all were a similar quality

Maybe if we had taken elections more seriously in the past we would have got a government capable of running an economy.

narddog

davo10 wrote: »

What percentage of patients do you think a dentist loses to dental tourism? Think tiny. Whereas if prices are lowered to entice this tiny percentage to stay put, the dentist loses a huge amount of money which other patients are satisfied to pay. Dream on.

Or maybe if the prices they charge were closer to what people could afford, they would have more patients?

davo10

narddog wrote: »

Or maybe if the prices they charge were closer to what people could afford, they would have more patients?

Read post #36. If it was as simple as lowering prices = larger client numbers = acceptable profits, no business of any type would ever close. All you do in the dentists case is charge the majority of patients who attend and consider the price reasonable, less, in the hope that you would would get more patients paying the lower rate. All the while core costs remain constant and materials and laboratory bills rise. Not a great business model.

It costs a dentist twice as much in terms of clinical time and materials to provide 20 patients with a €50 filling than 10 patients with a €100 filling. So he/she ends up with the same gross but a much smaller nett.

We live in an era of easy and quick information via physically standing in the place where you wish to buy something, telephone and easiest of all, the Internet, there is no excuse for being ripped off for anything anymore a d if you are, you have to take responsibility for overpaying. The Op's first post is an example of this, he thought he had to go to Spain for a good deal, turns out he could get a better one closer to home.