Dental health care

[Captain Caveman]

In the UK, you can get subsidized dental care if the dentist is NHS registered. But I've always paid privately.

So why dental health care? Well, in 2013, I went to my dentist for a routine check-up but they had cancelled it, but omitted to tell me. So they rearranged but I couldn't be bothered to attend. So I did my usual routine of dental hygiene of cleaning my teeth and flossing. Everything was grand until COVID, a filling broke. Only recently, it started to hurt. So a month ago, I rang a dentists and enlisted as a private patient. They told me that while I wait for my appointment, if I pop into a chemists, you can buy temporary filling stuff for £3.99.

So after 10 years, I paid £3.99 for a temporary filling, £49 for a new patient check which included 3 x-rays, and a white filling the next day £160. Total cost £212.99 for 10 years of dental work.

I'm booked in in 8 months time for a routine check up.

How much would have that cost in the States?

 

[Polishprince]

In the UK, you can get subsidized dental care if the dentist is NHS registered. But I've always paid privately.

So why dental health care? Well, in 2013, I went to my dentist for a routine check-up but they had cancelled it, but omitted to tell me. So they rearranged but I couldn't be bothered to attend. So I did my usual routine of dental hygiene of cleaning my teeth and flossing. Everything was grand until COVID, a filling broke. Only recently, it started to hurt. So a month ago, I rang a dentists and enlisted as a private patient. They told me that while I wait for my appointment, if I pop into a chemists, you can buy temporary filling stuff for £3.99.

So after 10 years, I paid £3.99 for a temporary filling, £49 for a new patient check which included 3 x-rays, and a white filling the next day £160. Total cost £212.99 for 10 years of dental work.

I'm booked in in 8 months time for a routine check up.

How much would have that cost in the States?

Here in America, every dental office sets their own fees, based upon the area that they are in as well as the skill an reputation of the dentist.

"white filing" is really not enough to say how much it would cost anywhere, the number of surfaces and location of the tooth add to the complexity and fee for the service. In dental work, the value isn't in the materials you are buying, but if the effort and skill that the doctor uses in performing the work. The wee amount of silicon, plastic or whatever in the filling you bought only costs a few farthings. Even in a filling made from precious metal, it is only a small amount and not very valuable.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Here in America, every dental office sets their own fees, based upon the area that they are in as well as the skill an reputation of the dentist.

"white filing" is really not enough to say how much it would cost anywhere, the number of surfaces and location of the tooth add to the complexity and fee for the service. In dental work, the value isn't in the materials you are buying, but if the effort and skill that the doctor uses in performing the work. The wee amount of silicon, plastic or whatever in the filling you bought only costs a few farthings. Even in a filling made from precious metal, it is only a small amount and not very valuable.

Same here, you will pay per each dental practice rates. Bottom molar, second in from the left.

When you get a temp filling, it's white but sets hard, the chemists in the UK sell it over the counter so you can administer a temp filling while waiting for an appointment. I've normally had the usual grey fillings, this was my first white permanent filling.

 

[Dekster]

In the UK, you can get subsidized dental care if the dentist is NHS registered. But I've always paid privately.

So why dental health care? Well, in 2013, I went to my dentist for a routine check-up but they had cancelled it, but omitted to tell me. So they rearranged but I couldn't be bothered to attend. So I did my usual routine of dental hygiene of cleaning my teeth and flossing. Everything was grand until COVID, a filling broke. Only recently, it started to hurt. So a month ago, I rang a dentists and enlisted as a private patient. They told me that while I wait for my appointment, if I pop into a chemists, you can buy temporary filling stuff for £3.99.

So after 10 years, I paid £3.99 for a temporary filling, £49 for a new patient check which included 3 x-rays, and a white filling the next day £160. Total cost £212.99 for 10 years of dental work.

I'm booked in in 8 months time for a routine check up.

How much would have that cost in the States?

About $150 to $350 in the US depending on the type of fillings and where on the tooth the filling is going. That said, my dentist despises when people use that temporary filling stuff from the drug store. He said he charges extra if he has to deal with that. I've never used it personally. It can take months to get a normal appointment, but most dentists have an emergency appointment list they will go through if you are experiencing pain or have had a tooth injury. Some set aside a day for those, or certain hours, and will pull those people in if they have a cancellation. My dentist uses 7 to 8:30 am M-TH and half of every Friday (when they are officially closed) for emergency appointments or procedures that make take a little more time to avoid them creating a traffic jam the other days)

 

[Captain Caveman]

About $150 to $350 in the US depending on the type of fillings and where on the tooth the filling is going. That said, my dentist despises when people use that temporary filling stuff from the drug store. He said he charges extra if he has to deal with that. I've never used it personally. It can take months to get a normal appointment, but most dentists have an emergency appointment list they will go through if you are experiencing pain or have had a tooth injury. Some set aside a day for those, or certain hours, and will pull those people in if they have a cancellation. My dentist uses 7 to 8:30 am M-TH and half of every Friday (when they are officially closed) for emergency appointments or procedures that make take a little more time to avoid them creating a traffic jam the other days)

In the past, a little salt helped, but this time, I would hit the ceiling any drink touched that tooth.

 

[Dekster]

In the past, a little salt helped, but this time, I would hit the ceiling any drink touched that tooth.

I am a dental outlier so I can't really get something like that. I have a neanderthal mouth apparently. Something genetic has lead to most of the members of my family having atypical nerve patterns in our mouths. We have like 5 times the number of nerve endings as most people but they are also small and feathery compared to most people's according to the dentist. It makes us extra gaggy and hard to numb, but we don't feel pain as intensely as other people either. It is why I often end up with a pallet block or just have to tough out a filling only half numbed. A pallet block involves sticking a needle through the roof of the mouth and numbing the nerves at the stems instead of at the endings. It will numb you from your forehead down to your neck sometimes and can last hours.

 

[odanny]

Most dental insurance in the U.S. limits your coverage to $1500.00 per calendar year. I screwed up once when I was getting a crown done I *thought* that work done in December would not be charged until January, and I was wrong, and paid slightly more than $2000.00 for my mistake.

I fixed all my teeth a few years back, I got all my old fillings replaced, had a tooth pulled and a couple root canals, and that crown, and with insurance, my cost over 2.5 years was somewhere between 5 or 6 thousand.

 

[jotathought]

[removed for brevity]

How much would have that cost in the States?

It all depends on the dentist, the type of dentist (e.g. general dentist, endodontist, etc.), the tooth that is impacted and the amount of destruction / decay the tooth has. In the United States, dental plans have "in-network" and "out-of-network" providers, and this drives the cost as well.

From my experience, with the private dental coverage I have, costs me anywhere from $80 - $200 for a filling. This varies based on the filling type (e.g. Composite resin that matches tooth color vs. dental amalgam that is silver in color). Routine checkups and cleaning are no cost and maintenance x-rays are provided on a bi-annual or tri-annual basis (full 180 views).

My question .. why didn't you use the NHS provided government subsidized dental care?

 

[Captain Caveman]

It all depends on the dentist, the type of dentist (e.g. general dentist, endodontist, etc.), the tooth that is impacted and the amount of destruction / decay the tooth has. In the United States, dental plans have "in-network" and "out-of-network" providers, and this drives the cost as well.

From my experience, with the private dental coverage I have, costs me anywhere from $80 - $200 for a filling. This varies based on the filling type (e.g. Composite resin that matches tooth color vs. dental amalgam that is silver in color). Routine checkups and cleaning are no cost and maintenance x-rays are provided on a bi-annual or tri-annual basis (full 180 views).

My question .. why didn't you use the NHS provided government subsidized dental care?

Similar cost to UK then.

The NHS changed the dental contracts, so many dental practices quit offering NHS treatment and just do private. So people would have to go on a waiting list for NHS subsidized care. I've just always been private, never bothered with NHS with dentistry.

Where I live, I tapped my postcode (zip code) into a dental site and the closet practices taking private patients on was 35 miles away, next was 45 miles. I know they're short distances in American, but we have many towns and villages within that distance, each one full up with patients.

On the radio, one person said they travel 200 miles to their dentist, now that's quite a hike in the UK.

 

[Dekster]

Similar cost to UK then.

The NHS changed the dental contracts, so many dental practices quit offering NHS treatment and just do private. So people would have to go on a waiting list for NHS subsidized care. I've just always been private, never bothered with NHS with dentistry.

Where I live, I tapped my postcode (zip code) into a dental site and the closet practices taking private patients on was 35 miles away, next was 45 miles. I know they're short distances in American, but we have many towns and villages within that distance, each one full up with patients.

On the radio, one person said they travel 200 miles to their dentist, now that's quite a hike in the UK.

I went to grad school with a retired NHS oral surgeon from England. He wasn't especially thrilled back then with some of the changes going on so I can't imagine it has improved any since given how strained the funding for the NHS has become.

 

[krichton]

It really depends. Fillings are generally not very expensive if you elect to get a silver filling. I'm guessing that's what yours is due to the price, but porcelain could range from $1500 to $4000 here. Pretty sure 99% of people just goes with tooth colored composite which doesn't last as long, but is like 1/10th the cost. Many dentists will steer you to get porcelain though.

 

[Captain Caveman]

I went to grad school with a retired NHS oral surgeon from England. He wasn't especially thrilled back then with some of the changes going on so I can't imagine it has improved any since given how strained the funding for the NHS has become.

The only trouble is, the NHS is not underfunded. The media and Lefties over here keep harping on on how cash strapped it is. It's wilfully inefficient because there's too many chiefs than Indians. At my local hospital a number of years ago, two front line staff were made redundant, and they employed one person that took up those two salaries, and that person's job was to collect data and stats.

The equipment for an operation is supplied in sterilised kit form, and many operations get cancelled because these equipment packs get stolen.

I know people who work in the NHS and the rail, both sectors are not underfunded.

And Brits are lazy, there are thousands of jobs out there, they just don't want to do nursing.

When Blair and Brown (Labour) were in for 13 years plus, ask a Lefty how many thousands of extra doctors got trained up, then listen to the crickets in the background. In fact, it was Blair that brought in PFI (private money) into the NHS, thus mortgaging our kids medical future. Basically use private money to build a new hospital, then rent it off the owners to the tune of millions per year.

Ask a Lefty how much money do they need to find to allegedly make the NHS fully funded, and where is this money is coming from, you get twice as many crickets in the background.

 

[SweetSue92]

In the UK, you can get subsidized dental care if the dentist is NHS registered. But I've always paid privately.

So why dental health care? Well, in 2013, I went to my dentist for a routine check-up but they had cancelled it, but omitted to tell me. So they rearranged but I couldn't be bothered to attend. So I did my usual routine of dental hygiene of cleaning my teeth and flossing. Everything was grand until COVID, a filling broke. Only recently, it started to hurt. So a month ago, I rang a dentists and enlisted as a private patient. They told me that while I wait for my appointment, if I pop into a chemists, you can buy temporary filling stuff for £3.99.

So after 10 years, I paid £3.99 for a temporary filling, £49 for a new patient check which included 3 x-rays, and a white filling the next day £160. Total cost £212.99 for 10 years of dental work.

I'm booked in in 8 months time for a routine check up.

How much would have that cost in the States?

Honestly...you just got lucky. With a broken filling left exposed for that long, you're lucky you didn't have a raging infection followed by a root canal and all the other unpleasantness, up to and including an abscess. That is how you got out on the cheap: you escaped an infection even though the tooth was vulnerable for so long.

 

[Dekster]

The only trouble is, the NHS is not underfunded. The media and Lefties over here keep harping on on how cash strapped it is. It's wilfully inefficient because there's too many chiefs than Indians. At my local hospital a number of years ago, two front line staff were made redundant, and they employed one person that took up those two salaries, and that person's job was to collect data and stats.

The equipment for an operation is supplied in sterilised kit form, and many operations get cancelled because these equipment packs get stolen.

I know people who work in the NHS and the rail, both sectors are not underfunded.

And Brits are lazy, there are thousands of jobs out there, they just don't want to do nursing.

When Blair and Brown (Labour) were in for 13 years plus, ask a Lefty how many thousands of extra doctors got trained up, then listen to the crickets in the background. In fact, it was Blair that brought in PFI (private money) into the NHS, thus mortgaging our kids medical future. Basically use private money to build a new hospital, then rent it off the owners to the tune of millions per year.

Ask a Lefty how much money do they need to find to allegedly make the NHS fully funded, and where is this money is coming from, you get twice as many crickets in the background.

From an American perspective they are underfunded when you have surgeons making what nurses in the US make.

 

[Captain Caveman]

From an American perspective they are underfunded when you have surgeons making what nurses in the US make.

Irrelevant comparison, income and cost levels are totally different in the UK an US.

 

[Dekster]

Irrelevant comparison, income and cost levels are totally different in the UK an US.

You haven't seen a lot of American doctors and nurses on strike for better wages and working conditions lately have you? There is a reason for that no matter how irrelevant you think it is. Doctors here 15 years in aren't getting paid your overly generous $66K a year