Bernieboy

Of course,we 'extracted ' loads of stuff,became men into the bargain,no putting wee square things on bog wall's for us

koalakim

Hi

There should be a permanent thread about dentistry in Oz!

I had a tooth out a couple of weeks ago and it cost me over $250 with the x-ray then he asked me back for a check up, clean and filling which came to $320 - ouch! Equates to over 200 squid at the moment, same thing at my Mum's private UK dentist 50 squid.

Old story but had to have root canal, crown and 4 fillings quoted when I first arrived here over $3k and that's with Noble Dentist which is one of those pay a fee and then get x amount off at certain practices.

I had the root canal done here for $1200 and then went to Singapore for the crown which was half the price. (dentist recommended by Seasider), worked out well as we were going through there on a trip back to the UK. So now I usually try to see him when we are going through.

I think next time we go back to the UK I'll definitely get a check up and work done there or in Singapore whilst I have the opportunity!

Bigaitch

I'm still in Jakarta. The dentist I see charges about IRP6 000 000 that about A$650 for root canal and crown. This inclued all the x-rays. He trained in the USA and his kit is state of the art. He has never made any mistakes during my treatment and I'd say he's the best dentist I have ever used. Just a thought. Cheers, H.

koalakim

Watch out for a bunch of BE visitors whilst you are still there

Wendy

I had a (back) tooth out last month and it cost me $125 in South Aus. You really do get ripped off up there don't you!

Root canal was quoted at $900 but I'm too tight to pay that much

kips

I had had to have a painful wisdom tooth taken out last Monday after suffering horrible toothache for 2 days.

I chose the dental practice closest to where I live because I was in pain. Big mistake I was charged $404 which included an X-ray and a check-up. Then I had to pay a further $19 for antibiotics.

The dentist said I needed to come back three days later for a further $500 worth of work including removal of another tooth, 2 X-rays and a scale and clean.

I can't afford $920 for 2 dental visits so I cancelled the second appointment and will go elsewhere.

I thought the first dental bill was excessive - especially as I am living off my savings until I get a job - and phoned up three dental practices in the suburbs nearby to ask them what they charge for the same dental item numbers used.

They were all considerably cheaper. In fact one would have charged just $276. I was fuming.

I complained to the dental surgery I visited about their high charges and asked why they were so much dearer than the 3 other dental surgeries. I was told to write to their dental board who set the fees.

I sent them a scathing e-mail and have received a letter saying they will investigate my complaint. Not holding my breath for a positive outcome.

It's ridiculous you have to shop around to get affordable dental care.

anatolie

I know what you mean.. I was referred by a friend to a good and cheap (root canal= $400-450) Asian dentist somewhere in the west of Sydney about 5 years ago and I would go there by train in about an hour from Bondi Junction. A couple of Aussie friends were looking at me funny: 'what the hell are you doing there for dentist?' Pay more in the east, get quality treatment.. yeah right, quality my ***!

bra_boy

If you can save the tooth with treatment, you should do it. No question about it. Give up beer/chocolate biscuits/holidays for a year if you have to.

The root canal should always be followed by a crown, after settling down, or the stump will fall apart. Don't leave it too long, or you may lose the tooth anyway if the root canal becomes infected.

The cost together is going to start at $2500 I guess. Molars are more expensive than pre-molars (and require greater skill).

middi

tking,
I called the Uni dentist & the tooth was sorted the next day by a professional dentist as many of the students had finished for the holidays. The treatment was to rebuild the back tooth with a new filling as the tooth was still alive and healthy, costing $175. This is such a relief for my OH, now it's sorted. Thank you for your help!!

Thank you to everyone for all the info, tips, advice etc.
middi

luvwelly

Telling people they need a crown immediately after a root canal is no way to encourage them to get the root canal rather than an extraction as for many people it is too big a financial hit at once. I agree with you though that you should try to save teeth if possible.
The endodontist or dentist that does the root canal can finish it off with a permanent restoration(filling) (so no bugs get back in) and then you can wait 6 months or longer to ensure it has truly settled before getting a crown/onlay of some kind if it's a molar.
This approach is ethical(what a dentist would do if their own tooth) and also gives people much more time to find the $$$ for the last bit of treatment. In USA there is a trend to do the root canal and crown at the same or close together appts (I think this is just motivated by $$$$ on dentist's part)

The most important factor in keeping the tooth is the quality of the root canal itself, the cheapest will not usually be the best. If all the canals are not found, it will fail one day (maybe years hence) the only way to find all the canals is to use magnification of some kind. This is why a root canal by a specialist has a better success rate in general than one done by a General dentist but some general dentists have the right equipment and experience to do a good job also.
Given that a well-done root canal can involve 3 hours of chairtime over 2 appts, it is easy to see why a UK NHS quickie root canal will likely be substandard. Cheap tax-payer subsidised but still substandard.

luvwelly

Save it don't extract it...you might need your teeth for chewing in old-age:
http://www.savingteeth.co.uk/


http://www.britishendodonticsociety.org.uk/#

http://www.aae.org/

http://www.nzse.org.nz/nz-endodontic...nformation.cfm

http://www.ada.org.au/about/affiliates/ase.aspx

koalakim

My first instinct was just to have the bad tooth out but someone on a forum said that the upper tooth needed something to bite down on otherwise that would slowly come out, or something like that.

A friend in the UK had root and crown done too close together and yep, the infection came back and apparently trying to drill into a crown isn't much fun.

The dentist I went to in Mel did the canal in stages over 4 appointments, each time taking out a bit more, packing it with medicine until she was happy it was all out. She then put a filler into the hole and I waited 2/3 months before getting the crown done in Singapore. He double checked the tooth was okay to be crowned. It was a long process and cost me heaps but having the crown done in Singapore was half the price to here so that helped.

I have to say it was pretty amazing trying to work in the roots which are pretty small! They had all this high tech equipment and she showed me the images.

It's just a shame that dentistry here is just soooooo expensive as it puts people off going. I know I've heard that Aussie dentists managed to find needed fillings more than other places but then they are running a business so need to do them??????? I really do think there should be a national dentistry programme, if we can have a free eye test on Medicare once a year why can't we at least have one free check-up?

Shenni

My son was told by brissy dentist that he would have to have all his teeth removed and dentures at 31 at a HUGH cost but went to the Philipines instead and they removed 3 teeth, crowns on all his top teeth and a bridge over the 3 they removed. Flight, accomodation and dental work spread over 2 weeks so included a holiday as well did not come to anywhere near what the Brissy dentist quoted. One happy son

Brisbane bound

[QUOTE=middi;9782882]tking,
I called the Uni dentist & the tooth was sorted the next day by a professional dentist as many of the students had finished for the holidays. The treatment was to rebuild the back tooth with a new filling as the tooth was still alive and healthy, costing $175. This is such a relief for my OH, now it's sorted. Thank you for your help!!

Thank you to everyone for all the info, tips, advice etc.
midd

Did you have a concession card? Just that our dentist once told us that you had to have a concession card to be able to attend the dentists at the uni.

moneypenny20

You don't need a concession card. http://www.griffith.edu.au/health/cl...-health-clinic Your dentist probably didn't want to lose a customer

When I went to ask about costs a couple of weeks ago they couldn't tell me exact but generally if you have a student do it you save roughly 20%.