Gozit

If it isn't going to shorten your life or otherwise drastically lower your quality of life, firmly refuse, don't bother.

JonboyE

I have around 60 corporate clients. They are all small businesses in the 1 - 30 employee range. 10% of them offer their employees extended health benefits. These 10% are the most profitable companies. It may be that:

a) they offer extended health benefits because they are the most profitable, or
b) they are the most profitable because they offer extended health benefits.

I would like to think it is b).

adele

I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed in my dentist's office with just freezing a year ago. The cost was $805 and as I have 100% coverage through my work plan, that was a lot of free reward points on my credit card! I've since had a gum graft by a periodontist ($1500, zero coverage), and will soon start Invisalign ($5900, 50% coverage). All my regular dental checkups and cleanings are fully covered and cost approx $170 (twice a year).

ann m

Daughter has just been referred to another dentist to look at pulling a wisdom tooth. I wasn't the one who took her this time, so I don't know of any reason for a potential extraction. I do think they just like to do it here as a default.

I still have all my wisdom teeth. No issues but I think cleaning around them offends the hygienist! They always comment about how snug my teeth are at the back. But they don't bother me.

Surely there should be a very legitimate reason for extracting, and shouldn't they let them all come through first to see what is going to happen?

Dashie

I find on the whole that they seem to prefer expensive root canals and crowns over extraction wherever possible once it's gone, there can be no future profit from it.

A friend of mine's son had his upper jaw broken and reset today because there was some issue with his bite that may have caused a problem one day.

beckiwoo

It was my bottom two wisdom teeth that were impacted and both were removed at different times. First time was horrendous as I was referred to The maxi facial unit in hospital and the surgeon kept telling me to keep my mouth open in an abrupt manner as he was literally drilling into my mouth - I swear the scratch marks and from my fingers nails from where I was holding on to the chair for dear life are still there!

The second time was better as it was in another clinic and he didn't have to drill but both times, despite keeping my mouth clean, I has to go back to get an antiseptic dressing out into the wound as it wasn't healing properly.

I am seeing my dentist before I go and I will ask him what he thinks about my top wisdom teeth but as far as I'm concerned they are through and not causing any pain.

iaink

Be careful what you wish for

Government health care is always under the microscope to cut costs.

I had government funded dental in the UK, and although the Canadian system is expensive (either for the individual or the employer paying the premiums), the standard of care and treatment is very hard to fault.

Dashie

Out of the 3 I've seen here, 2 were pretty shite in the standard of care and treatment.

beckiwoo

My NHS dentist had been fantastic in the nearly 10 years I have been going. As I have said before it depends on where you go.

Gozit

This is true

iaink

But cleanings take half the time and are far less thorough, and the tendency is to extract rather then preserve. Cant see the NHS ever stumping up for dental implants over dentures for example.


Not that benefits here tend to cover that either, which sucks for me as my crowns in the front tend to come loose on their posts now and then as a result of playing clarinet and although my dentist has fixed them a number of times hes worried the root is slowly splitting and that I should plan on implants at some point Probably best for all concerns if I just left the clarinet alone. Anyone who has heard me would probably agree

SchnookoLoly

Definitely Canada tends to do more preventative and preserving as far as general medicine/care goes, and with teeth especially. But I find they are less gung-ho about it than they used to be. Husband was concerned about going into the dentist as his bottom teeth are not straight, but his top ones are fine... the dentist didn't even say anything. And even with the wisdom teeth, the dentist said that right now it's not causing a problem, but that sort of half-growth can generally be more prone to infection in the future. As a result they usually suggest having them removed - they aren't doing anything anyway - since then you can dictate the timing of when you have them out and you can do iton your own terms. If you wait until an infection sets in then you have a bunch of time that you'rein pain because of the infection, and then you have to wait for the infection to clear since they won't operate while the infection is there, then the operation is way more painful since the area has just been through the infection... and this might all happen when you have something else going on in your life. So the dentist left it completely up to my husband, and referred him to an oral surgeon for a second opinion. The oral surgeon agreed with the dentist, so Husband is having his two wisdom teeth out in 6 weeks, as I said. Purely a preventative decision, but our insurance covers (or mostly covers) it, and there's a certain attractiveness to taking care of the problem on our own terms instead of it coming out of left field and being super inconvenient.

Dashie

Last time I looked, they are covered, Even private though, they're a fraction of the cost there.

beckiwoo

FFS am I allowed to say good things about NHS dentistry on here or because everyone here was rich when they lived in the UK, they could pay for private!

How do you even know how long my dentist spends on my scale and polish?

I disagree about extraction over preservation - seriously where are you getting your facts from - 1972?

iaink

I read what other people wrote in this thread... My last experience in the NHS was in the 90s.