Dentists!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2002
Dentists!!
5
Mon, 10-27-2003 - 1:14pm
Mel and others talking about their adventures with the dentist!!

Seriously, in Australia, going to the dentist is the same, unbelievably expensive. Everyone complains about the cost of visiting a doctor but we do have a system that ensures that EVERYONE can visit a doctor here at any time and even for free if the need is there. Not perfect, but, while everyone is looking for answers to the medical side of health the dentists are quietly going about their business putting up their fees etc. and making it a "luxury" to visit them. My dentist actually has NO patients between the ages of 24 and early thirties!! Ds is on our health insurance until age 24 so I make sure he goes regularly, and yes, I pay for any work he needs done.

These days kids don't have cavities - my 25 year old ds has none and Matt I think has never had one either. The cost of just getting their teeth cleaned etc has risen to $130, ridiculous, every six months!! Today Matt sees the dentist about his wisdom teeth. I am lucky I can afford this but most cannot these days. Dental bills are an enormous burden and I have one friend who actually had to work mainly to cover the orthodontist bills. Worse there are kids out there not going to the dentist, except in emergencies.

Once again, I don't really care what a doctor or dentist is "worth" regardless of the insurance they have to pay. I just feel that when they price themselves out of the reach of everyone to afford their services, that there is something "morally" wrong here. I also know that some families don't make health insurance a no. 1 priority and this I also cannot understand. Just because.....Hilary







iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2002
In reply to: peskygirl1
Mon, 10-27-2003 - 1:33pm
Another side of this, and I have got to go, running sooo late, is that, even though we have insurance the "gap" between the cost of the dentist and the actual rebate is enormous. Hilary
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: peskygirl1
Mon, 10-27-2003 - 1:34pm

YES! that is not fair.Thankfully we DO have ok dental insurance.The cleanings are free 2x a year w/ a $5.00 co-pay is all!Also the x-rays are free..fillings tho can range from 40$ and upand a crown is $350.00.Not so bad compared to what we were paying b-4 the insurance.It WAS very expensive.I would never go w/ out health insurance tho here in the states-one hospital visit will BANKRUPT you w/ no insurance!The whole medical system is such a scam..but if ever one of my children needed an operation that would save their life--and a doctor did perform such a "miracle"..I would kiss the ground they walked on for going thru med school!!

"Mel on Wheels"    

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: peskygirl1
Mon, 10-27-2003 - 1:47pm
dentists are quietly going about their business putting up their fees etc. and making it a "luxury" to visit them. My dentist actually has NO patients between the ages of 24 and early thirties!!
Wow that is interesting ..
Not like that here at all .. thank goodness.
Thanks for the share Hilary :)
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: peskygirl1
Mon, 10-27-2003 - 5:27pm
Well Hil,

things arent much better here. I work 40hrs a week @7.50 per hr. My kids have state medical insurance. I have none. There is only one dentist that will accept the kids insurance. But they dont have any appts open. That is what I have been told for almost one year. I do call every month. So my kids dont get to go due to no appts open. I have about 5 teeth that need major repair but at 150.00 to pull a tooth and about 300.00 to 800.00 to save one times five means that mom dont get to go either. My employer does not offer medical insurance. To insure myself it is about 85.00 to 100.00 per week. I have little income and fall through all the holes in the help system. So what to do? Just wake up every day and do it again and again and again!!! And pray for a better system.~Mary~
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: peskygirl1
Mon, 10-27-2003 - 8:04pm
Ohh Mary.that is so bad.Even here in fla.we have a program called "healthy kids" that is thru the state-run by medi-caid.It seems to work ok from what ive been told by friends who are on it.It seems to me that YOU would be eligible for medicaid being that you have 2 kids and a not so great income.heck , do your kids get free-lunch at school?They do that here-as well as breakfast.How about food-stamps.I would check into that ,also.You pay your taxes.You should get it all!!Its just not right to make the kids wait like that.Poor guys.heaven forbid anything really bad happen to their teeth.xoxoxoxoxo

"Mel on Wheels"