Major Dental work 5/6 year old

dekbhoy

So our 5 year old little lad had a pain in his tooth about 6 months ago. Got him to HSE clinic who told us it needed major work if the tooth was to be saved but that we would need to go private as HSE didnt provide that service and were only for emergency cases . Got a dentist we new to have a look as found it quite difficult to get a pediatric dentist at short notice. Turns out she reckoned it would be nearly 2k to save it or just get it removed. As it was a baby tooth we decided to have it removed . Our dentist looked at rest of teeth and told us we needed to get him in with paediatric dentist as there where a lot of issues with a other teeth. Turns out his teeth are very weak and get damaged very easy.

So today we had him at Hermitage dental clinic. The dentist did proper analysis turns out he needs a lot of work including extractions fillings and caps, the total cost of the work is close to 5 thousand euro. We do not have private health insurance and both have normal jobs, we were told if he was in second class in school they get free dental care. We were completely knocked back with the cost. The work cannot begin until you pay up front, saying that He is not in any pain at the moment so the work is not needed immediately. Are there any other ways i can get this a cheaper or even on a payment plan , should i seek a second opinion can i claim back tax on cost . We really want this sorted with as little stress as possible for our son but also a good outcome for his future smile
A bit long winded but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ax530

maybe try a dentist who is not a pediatric dentist see what they quote ?
I know of people who have paid a lot of money to pediatric dentists even for check up

GreeBo

Dentistry is usually significantly cheaper if you get it done up North, might be an option if the work has to be done.

TheBoyConor

How could a 5 year old child have such badly decayed teeth!

Anyway, maybe ye could check out a pediatric dentist in Poland and get the teeth done over there. Ye could make a week of it and get a holiday out of it.

My friend, who is from Katowice anyway, had a good bit of dental work done there for a mere fraction of the cost the same treatment would cost in Ireland.

zapper55

A bit judgey there TheBoyConor. Some kids are born with weak teeth.

Not sure I'd recommend going abroad for dental treatment for a child, up north might be more feasible but it depends on how much travel would be involved.

You can get 20% back in tax the year after you pay it which might be of some help.

Do you have a family dentist you can go to to ask their advice or get a recommendation off family friends? All of my family went to the same dentist for any work and he wasnt a specific paediatric dentist.

Hopefully you can get it cheaper OP.

Princess Calla

TheBoyConor wrote: »

How could a 5 year old child have such badly decayed teeth!

.

Some people are born with none or very weak enamel on their teeth.

Then eating fruit the acid destroys the little bit of enamel there is.

work

Sorry to hear of your dilemma. I am a dentist but do not treat kids.
There are many reasons why such issues can happen. You need to go to a good dentist, this does not require a specialist and certainly I advise against travelling abroad.
A good dentist may be able to save some baby teeth with simpler treatements but this is not for all kids.
Ifc you PM me your area if I know of any dentists especially good with kids I'll send you the name.

dekbhoy

Thank you guys for replies , yes he is an otherwise very healthy child that is very good at looking after his teeth , his older sister way finder of the treats yet has fantastic teeth. He suffered protein allergy as a baby so diet wasn’t the same as other kids so dentist thinks that maybe what caused it he also was in medication as a baby which may contributed. Thank you for advice guys I will keep my options open, although travelling won’t be considered as follow up may be troublesome , I’ll look into the north option as not too far from Dublin. The 20% back is a bonus also.
Thank you guys again

tnegun

My little guy had very similar last year teeth were perfect on the outside but had been destroyed by antibiotics when they were forming. We got extremely lucky in that my employer extended VHI dental cover to my whole family about the same time as his problems were first realized. VHI Dental have no waiting period for some procedures and covered about 50% of the cost so its worth looking into.