HPJOS

I went to the dentist today to have a couple of "minor" fillings done. The whole process was (almost) completely relaxing apart from the drilling. I was highly impressed with the patient care and the actual photographs taken of the teeth to see the beginning, middle and end were very interesting and much easier for the untrained x-ray reader like me to understand what they were actually doing.

The damage - $888!!

Luckily my work health plan covers just about all of this but I almost fell over, I though she said $8.88 to start with thinking she had put the claim through my insurance already. And this was with the new dentist I have not the old one...

So a snap shot of potential minor work costs for you if heading to the Calgary area.

So keep brushing, flossing and avoid sweetened & fizzy drinks

Helen

budcolin

I had root canal done last week for $900
Next time I go I'm going to ask the dentist to put a bigger mask on while he's robbing me

snowshoveller

all that fancy stuff and a root canal for 60 quid in the west midlands recently!

huddm

I had a check up and 2 fillings for £45 in Dover a few months ago.

I had a shock with my first dental check up in 1997 in Calgary. Bill was $750 for check up and chipped tooth repair- no medical insurance then.

I happy to keep the NHS funded with my taxes.

hudd

budcolin

I'd be cheaper flying back to the UK for treatment.........and stock up on wine gums and sports mixture while i'm at it

fledermaus

For two fillings??

Simon Legree

Nah. Go to Mexico and have a dental holiday. A root canal is $350. A crown $180. The savings pay for the trip and the work is top notch.

budcolin

Luckily my dental plan is still in effect from my old job but i do like the sound of a dental holiday

huddm

Hi

I new a Scottish family in Calgary would get their major dental work done when they went back to Scotland on holiday.

hudd

Cdnshaz

don't you ever wonder why brits take alot of bad teeth jokes???
cos your dentist are shite thats why!! I paid for private dentist in UK and it was amazing how a cleaning went from a 10 minute job to a proper 45 mins job...cleanings are not done in 10 mns...!!!
We also have white fillings here, not in UK unless you pay for them....and to be honest dentists in UK are tired of making nothing for their work that's why so many are going private.

You complain about the price of dentist in Canada but face facts, they do better work here!!

fledermaus

I don't think British dentists are inherently shite any more than Canadian ones are all wonderful. I had a private dentist in the UK and had white fillings done at the front. Cleaning took 30 mins the same as here, though I do think the hygenists have a wider scope of practise here and some of the work they do is done by the dentist in England. My Canadian dentist hasn't sneered at my dental work either. Though some Canadians have volunteered the information that a) my teeth aren't bad for a Brit, and b) I could pay to get my yellow British teeth whitened. This last was said by a stranger.

I've seen more people in their 40s and 50s here with dentures here than I ever saw when I was in the UK. I have to ask people to remove their dentures for some x-rays so that's how I know this. Plenty of others have gaping great holes and rotten teeth. I've seen people with teeth worn down to stubs. Never saw that in the UK.

NHS dentistry may have it's faults but at least pretty much everyone had access to a dentist. 10 minutes cleaning is better than none.

Cdnshaz

That's just it in some areas they don't, have you not seen the news when a new dentist comes to an area, the line up is a mile long....and why not do the job right the first time.

I always thought the Dentistry should be means tested....my boss was loaded but still used NHS dentist, making it impossible for someone who couldn't afford much to get in....he was also a stingy old fart until he wanted new toy!!!

stepnek

Well exactly. I know there might be difficulties with getting an NHS Dentist these days but I kept regular dentist appointments until I moved to Canada when I found that due to a lack of benefits in my first jobs here I couldn't really afford to go to the Dentist. It's only just recently that I've started going again.

I see plenty of people here with bad teeth who presumably are unable to afford the dentist or don't have the appropriate benefits.

The4BellsLondon

I am sorry, but why do people need to have their teeth cleaned by the hygienist - can you not clean and maintain them yourself??

I have never had to have mine cleaned or scaled and polished!

HPJOS

Even with these two fillings that brings the total number of fillings in my mouth to 4. I am 33, have no wisdom teeth (might explain a few things) and never needed any other treatment. Apparently that puts me in the top percentile for overall oral health and the dentists here are amazed since I come from the UK.

I used to receive excellent and reasonable dental care (private) in the UK. The last filling I had done cost 60GBP more than 6 years ago, my dentist used to clean my teeth himself, no dental hygenist and he used ultra sonic equipment and charges 35GBP for clean, check-up & polish. The time in cleaning here is taken up by the laborious manual scraper, but insurance companies pay it so they charge for it. I think a 10 minute "unit" costs about $67. It's more expensive than the actual consultation with the dentist!

Discussing with my new dentist yesterday he said the people with the best teeth are usually from China and other far eastern countries, not due to their dental treatment (which has been pretty much non-existent until very recently) but to their diet being low in refined sugar. On the flip side of that they usually have terrible gum disease because of no routine brushing & flossing. The average Canadian might look like their teeth are great but the amount of work they have had done is insane and it all boils down to diet, well fizzy drinks. That and popcorn apparently!

Helen