annaerb

General Dental treatment in NZ is free from the age of two years until the age of 18 providing your child is still at School. If other Treatment is required then this at your own cost.

Just had the final quote from the Orthodontist for Braces for my daughter and thought I would let you know.

Study Models & Exrays $160.00
The actual Braces cost $5,500 .this can be paid off in installments (thank goodness) , this is for active orthodontic treatment,plates,one set of retainers and two yrs post treatment.

There are cheaper Orthodontists around so it pays to shop around for prices.

carol

Herm

Should add that only I visit per year is free, If, like us, you want your children to have 6 monthly checks which is what we did in the UK then you have to pay.

Cheers

livewire

I'd heard that 4 grand was the going rate so it may pay to shop around. Maybe outside of Auckland?

xpat19

Maybe that price is for outside Auckland.

We got son's for $4600 after shopping around. The 1st quote we got was $6200 :scared:
And he STILL expects a Chritsmas present !

Gill and Rob

Our daughter needs braces in two stages. The first which we are currently on with costs $1930, the second stage will cost $5500, however I think we get a discount of $500 for having the first work one, but I'm not sure if this has already been taken off making it $5500. Have to say we are MOST impressed with the quality of service and the results. Didn't get this much attention when our son had orthodontic work in the UK.

For the expense we do however expect her to end up with teeth like an OSMOND !!!

Cheers
Gill

livewire

E-Ouch!!!

Get him a toothbrush

Andrew Cross

God thats SOooo expensive. I have two that will need braces...
I better get my short skirt out and high heels and stand under a red light to
pay for it....

Might take awhile though ???

Sue :scared:

CWEMM02

Do not most NZ employers offer medical and health benefits including dental? We have had one son in braces so far. We received a good deal from the orthodontist and my company plan pays 50% for the first 2,000.

And just a little update on our progress. We hope to package our PR application and documents off in the next 10 days or so. We hope to have one more Canadian winter and that is it. However, at least our house is very warm in winter here and so it is hard to imagine being cold inside during a NZ winter, however I expect we will learn all about it.

Michael

xpat19

Hi. You got a good deal with that.
I've got the highest Southern cross cover through work, but dental is only $400 a year max. We would have been better off if he'd needed all his teeth taken out as that would have been covered under surgical !!
I haven't heard of a specific dental cover insurance.

CWEMM02

Good Grief. Here, my work plan also covers all of our dental visits twice per year. Major work though is on a 50% co-pay up to a maximum. All this talk should help convince me not to go down to NZ from here. However, I seem to be unable to change my mind even though I have read so many reasons from the cost point of view not to go.

Vicki will have to find a nice little job. If she can do $1,000 a month into the bank account and I earn what I think I will, we should do fine. I am not super wealthy now, but get by nicely and hope to do the same there with a few adjustments. Now, I the kids can only get excited about seeing the dentist every nine months instead of six!

Michael

livewire

Yes i used to have excellent dental and health cover through work in the UK. However dental cover here has become is effectively non-existent in recent years. What little there is isn't worth having.

To give you an example of costs: I've heard of people being quoted well over $1000 for a root canal and filling for on a molar, crowns $3000. Silly money really isn't it.

For the price of braces you could buy yourself a nice set of wrought iron gates for the drive.

xpat19

Or a nice holiday on the Gold Coast
Mutter Mutter

CWEMM02

From a personal tax perspective, in Canada the amount in excess of 3% of your taxable income is deductible against your taxes. In New Zealand there is no such deduction as near as I can tell from what I saw on the tax form.

livewire

As far as I'm aware there are no such tax breaks here.

CWEMM02

Yes,

From a personal tax perspective, New Zealand has some way to go in making some improvements that can have some positive social outcomes. For example, the charitable donations credit should be revamped to encourage more contributions. Taxed deferred savings accounts comparable to 401k's in the USA and RRSP's in Canada provide more savings incentive for individuals and at the same time ensure greater independence in retirement.

I see that the NZ government is running an obscene level of surplus this quarter. The current labour government continues to spend rather than address the tax structures to make the country more competitive and productive. However, change requires leadership and the current group of politicians seem to be a self serving lot. Clearly people with vision and a interest in public office should be added to the OSL.