jasper123

Hi Fish, yes I do have a dental check-up every 6 months, and an eye test every year, I just wondered how other people handled this in America,

Perthhomeschool,
What I have found here in the UK is you have to shop around for a really good dentist who is also a dental surgeon and then you will always get excellent treatment at a fraction of the costs in America, I was very lucky, when I came home over 4 years ago now ----- I was able to get on my Mums dentist books,
he is a dental surgeon who runs a private practice, and most of his patients these days are private payers, but he still has around 20% of his patients that are NHS patients that have been on his books for years, so my Mum was one of them, and so she was able to stay NHS and pay the NHS reduced fees, so I was very lucky to have this dentist, I have had two root canals, one crown, and a filling so far, and never any pain, and he never hurries, just does an excellent job every time, and at a very small fraction of what in America would have cost me a fortune --- here everything for under £200

Fish n Chips 56

One Crown here cost me $895, Thats cash out of my pocket. I must admit I like American dentists they have always treated me Great, the ones in the UK used to scare me so then I wouldnt go, I hear the NHS dentists are much better today.

michali

I only returned to the UK eight months ago and signed on to an NHS dentist. But I should have read the reviews online more carefully because she tries to make you get everything done privately, with her of course! There are so many dentists so I am going to shop around before having any further treatment.

islandwoman120

Jumping in here re dentists and the NHS. Since returning nearly 5 years ago, I have had two dentists, both female, both Eastern European. The first was Hungarian and in Somerset, the current one is Polish here in Dawlish. I usually hate dentists, but have actually been very attached to both of these ladies. Their practices are good, efficient, clean and though cost effective and part of the NHS, both have not advocated private dentistry, nor unnecessary treatment. I may be lucky, but so far I am impressed with the state of the dentistry I have received.

morayeel

Great news to find dental care has improved. For me here in the U.S I have no dental insurance! I have to decide what to do. I am in a dilemma. Should I stay in the U.S work mimimum wage with NO benefits. No vacation , health etc or go back to Scotland. I would feel so guilty leaving my daughter and her kids. I am very attached to my grandchildren. My husband works minimum wage also and is not very supportive..

black swan

Here in Australia a crown costs about $1,300 Oz dollars. I get $850 back from my private insurance & have to pay the remainder myself. I can claim one crown a year.
There are three levels of insurance. I have the Budget Saver one at $17mth so is well worth it.
Goverment help for seniors here but on the whole dentistry is expensive & taking out private dentistry insurance is a necessity.

dunroving

Seems an odd restriction. That's a bit like a medical plan saying you can only have two colds a year.

Never mind, if you last another 31 years you can have a mouthful!

jasper123

Hello morayeel,
Yes it is very hard to leave when you have family & grandkids, and it sounds like you are like many on here who are torn between two countries,
I lived in US for 36 years, and made good money with good companies with good health insurance, then 2008 came and the big crash, I was laid off with lots of others, unemployment benefits for a while, then a $10 per hour Job for a couple of years which is I think like minimum wage, no health insurance, no vacation, no benefits period, (but I worked in Nevada a work to right State) Ha what a laugh that is, work to right only means that the employee has no rights whatsoever!!!
Then at the end of 2010 I came home, now Im here for good, and loving it, My Mum is still going strong at almost 96 years old.

Perth

We have no dental insurance either and the OH is heading for complete extraction with dentures at the rate he is going! I work a $10/25 hour job on the side while he single-highhandedly runs our small business. He is on Medicare, but I pay private health insurance. And even after a little subsidy, half my monthly pay check goes to pay that!

Our DD (who is single with no kids) lives here but wants to move to Europe, so we don't have anything keeping us back. Fortunately my DH, who is American, wants to go to the UK as much as I do. I sympathise with you. It must be so hard to make such a gut wrenching decision

However, you need to think of your future. Unless you have substantial savings, growing older in the US can be a precarious situation. Talk it over with your OH and your daughter. Good luck

jasper123

Well your statement above is very true indeed!!!
All us Brits have there own personal reasons for wanting to come back home to UK, ------ my number 0ne reason was My old Mum, I wanted to spend as many years with her as is possible, and look after her,
but also it was for me too, my own selfish reasons also came into consideration, I left the States when I was 65, ----- I had lived there since I was a young man of 29 and I wouldn't have changed my life in America for all the tea in china, I loved the life very much, and the Americans, love em!!! no regrets at all, but it was the result of over a year and a half of real deep thinking ----- weighing up all the pros and cons ---- even making a list, I still have the list, I keep it as a souvenir one sheet of paper, about a dozen pros of coming home, and only two cons is all I could think of no matter how much I thought about it!!! so eventually after all that thinking it was --- for me in my situation an absolute no brainer,

But basically ----- there I was in a minimum wage Job with no health insurance and no holidays and no benefits period!!! and a job I hated, but at least I had a Job I suppose,
So suddenly like most of us, in the blink of an eye I was 65 and faced with the prospect of living my life in America, getting older and older, going from one low paid job to another, knowing full well that I would never be able to survive on my S.S. hence would always have to work till I dropped!!! so there I was thinking how it would be ---- getting sicker and sicker the older I got, with no health insurance, never a chance for a holiday, not being able to even go to a dentist,
To me the future looked so dim, I felt like I was slipping into this terrifying black hole, and I knew I had to get out while I could before I fell to the bottom of this big black pit with no hope of ever getting out!!!
the U.S. was a great country to live in while I was younger, ----- BUT -----
Oh yes indeed just like you say above!!! growing older in the U.S. can be a very precarious situation, and as I see it ---- it is, even if you do have substantial savings.

morayeel

Thank You so much for your replies.. I did not mean to Hijack the thread.. Jasper you have made my decision easier. I feel selfish returning but my husband has basically lived life for himself and throughout the years of our marriage I always suggested to go back to the U.K but he would have none of it.. He told me I was along for the ride!! He hasn't even worked for over a year, but hey that's' another story!! so I am saving up as much as I can to prepare to move back to Scotland. I want to have enough to rent a room for 6 months. I feel I can find a job. I have always worked the past 27 years in the U.S but since I can't find employment and my teeth are getting worse, my eyes are too LOL Heck I am getting old and its up to me to to pay these bills. My daughter has given me her blessing and encourages to to go back to Scotland. My main heartbreak will be my grandson as he is very close to me but we can Skype and hopefully when I am settled he can visit. My dogs, they are my heart too but my husband will take good care of them as he loves them also. I do so appreciate people taking the time to give their views and support as it is such a heart wrenching decision but coming to the point where its actually a matter of survival

trottytrue

Morayeel...you need to go home before it's too late, your daughter has given you her blessing and that's all you need. Just make sure to save as much as you can before you go home, most of those on here who were successful returning home managed to have some money saved those who didn't have money struggled and it was much harder for them. Do you have things you can sell every little helps. Once you have a job could you put your name down for a council flat. Who knows once you get settled you could send for the dog.
I wish you luck which part of Scotland are you going to do you have any relatives or friends in the area.......you can also look at newspapers for the area you are moving to and see what the employment situation is like.....

Jerseygirl

I'm another expat who would like to return home but ties keep me on the other side of "the pond". My daughter is married to a Canadian...just had a little girl and is happily settled in Toronto. Husband retired early...so we moved from the US to Canada just over a year ago. Hubby would go back to the UK at the drop of a hat but I don't want to be that far away from my daughter. I feel more settled here in Toronto than I ever did in New Jersey (18 years)...but hubby yearns to go home.

We only have temp residency in Canada...if we can't get PR then we will go home.

Oh what a complicated web expats weave.

Fish n Chips 56

Just curous why your hubby would want to stay here, if you are broke what good is there staying, not that being poor in the UK is a picnic either.

Hi jacked the thread, not at all, I remember you posting here before.

Jerseygirl

Maybe it's because the US is his home but M's home is in the UK. I can understand that.

Hello fellow Yorkie...it's been awhile...how are you?