Cost of dentists??

[Kiwi Mac]

It certainly is VERY expensive here - and I am terrified of dentists too, so now I have to get ripped off into the bargain..! ;-)

I have never really grasped the disconnect between health service and dentistry. They seem to be a part of the same process but both here and in the UK, they are not covered by free healthcare although almost everything else is.

They can also be connected - for example, if you have heart valve surgery, dental care is regarded as critically important in order to avoid bacterial infection of the remaining natural valves - yet the valve surgery will be paid for, as well as any ongoing "maintenance" like CT scans etc - but any dental work is down to whether you can afford it.

I have American friends with perfect teeth - their dentists seem to be so much better than anyone elses! Don't know how much they charge though.

[thewoodies]

I spoke to a kiwi friend today who said they all vary in price

Hibiscus coast

- a good one is the Dental clinic ,off tamaraki(spelt?)drive new building opposite council offices - tell them you need something done and its all really expensive and they should be alot cheaper!

Oh and apparently the white cross i went to would be more expensive because its emergency and private ????!!!

Just hoping toothache goes away !

[thewoodies]

waiting to go to dentist! 4 hours to go !!!!

[JandM]

Not - decide you're going to think how the dentist will be repairing things, so you won't have any problems for a good while.

Now, and once you're in there, keep your breathing slow and deep. Think about something good that will be happening later, after the appointment is all over - make that your focus, and really SEE yourself there, instead of thinking about the here-and-now.

[Sam'n'Kelv]

Not only are dentists extremely expensive in NZ, I have also found it very difficult to get insurance. Back in the UK my family had a Denplan policy and it was great. I have not been able to find anything like it in NZ.

Does anyone have a dental insurance policy?

[thewoodies]

went to dentist will have to go back tomorrow as i will need to be sedated because they will cut round root and then pull!!!
because if they dont .......it looks like it might crumble!!!

this is what they did to my tooth in the UK 2 years ago i had to wait 8 hours (NHS hospital just had to wait turn !!) and then the drill broke in my mouth

At least tomorrow i will go there take the medication half an hour before surgery

dentist seemed nice and kind and he took time to explain options in detail - when its all over i will let you know if i recommend him or not

have been quoted $450 as complicated extraction - we haggled him down from $500

[Kiwi Mac]

went to dentist will have to go back tomorrow as i will need to be sedated because they will cut round root and then pull!!!
because if they dont .......it looks like it might crumble!!!

this is what they did to my tooth in the UK 2 years ago i had to wait 8 hours (NHS hospital just had to wait turn !!) and then the drill broke in my mouth

At least tomorrow i will go there take the medication half an hour before surgery

dentist seemed nice and kind and he took time to explain options in detail - when its all over i will let you know if i recommend him or not

have been quoted $450 as complicated extraction - we haggled him down from $500

Oh - awful!

Good luck - if I wasn't in agony, I'd just chicken out!!

[Duncan74]

That's about the same as UK private. Wife's had a couple of root canals done and they came out around £300 a peice.

We had denplan, and it was basically a way of spreading the payments accross the months. We still had to pay and then reclaim, although they did pay up within a week normally.

[JandM]

Oh, poor thing. I had something similar (the case I told about on Arwen's thread) when the dentist had to cut round and cut the wisdom tooth to pieces to get it out, as the root had curved into the jawbone. I had this done under local anaesthetic, and it was tiring, but didn't hurt as such. The dentist and the dental nurse were very kind and supportive. Just to tell you, it can be done and you survive thinking well of them.

All the best for your procedure.

[teamplayer2003]

There is a dental plan for private insurance available. It isnt cheep but having said that it depends on how often you go to the dentist. PM me if you can some more info about it and ill see if I can help you out.

Tim