NZ Dentists - how do they work please?

[TFR]

I'm trying to understand how NZ dentists work and how they differ from the UK. I've scanned the forum and the NZIS site but they don't go into detail (apart from for children under 18 which I'm not!), so, can anyone help please:

1. Do you all register with a local dentist? Do they invite you for a checkup every 6 months or do you just pop into your local one when you have a problem?

2. Do they all have set fees for services? Roughly how much for a 6 monthly checkup please? I've heard lots of quotes.

3. Do you all pay an equivalent of UK national insurance contributions? Or do can you pay into a dentist insurance policy which covers the cost of trips to the dentists? Any web links for this service so I can get a quote if so please?

4. any other related info would be appreciated.

Cheers in advance...

[wiki]

In my experience, I only had a dental check-up once a year in NZ. If you wanted them more frequently, you could book in but unless your teeth are a mess, the dentist will tend to stick to a yearly schedule. You will have to pay around $100 a time for a basic check, but that will usually include a clean. any extra work - fillings etc - will be more, but you should be able to get a pay scale in advance.

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...DentalCare.htm

that link may be of help.

Most health insurance policies will have an add-on for dental care, but it will up your premiums.

ETA: There are no national insurance payments in NZ, but there are ACC levies which are paid by employers. This will entitle you to free care if you get your teeth smashed out by a cricket ball etc... anything which can be labeled an "accident"

[TFR]

thanks for that, that's really useful. Cheers.

In your experience do you think that's the norm? ie do "most" people do dentist this way or is it common for kiwis to buy a dental insurance policy (if you can help on than I'd be grateful). Am just trying to get a general feel on monthly health $'s outgoings.

Re the ACC - I understand that that payment comes straight out of an employees salary as PAYE? Is it a set fee or a set percentage of the employees wage please?

[khhill]

My experience with dentists has been identical to Wiki's.

One yearly checkup for me is $125 includes cleaning, polish, x-rays. I don't know of anyone personally who has dental insurance-just budget in the cleaning and keep a slush fund for any work that may be needed. Basic fillings at my dentist are $85.

[wiki]

Not a lot of people I know have dental or optical on their medical insurance either - the dental premiums can be quite a bit more, and even if you just put aside $5 a week you'd have $260 by the end of the year which would happily cover your check-up and possibly more work besides.

You'd have to look at policy options and considering the state of your teeth, decide if the economics added up for you.

As for ACC - Inland Revenue takes an "earners levy" which is a flat rate. For 2007 I think it's going up to $1.30 in every $100 you earn (it was $1.20 for quite a few years)

The employer rate varies depending on the type of work. Office work results in a smaller ACC levy that say forestry or fishing where you are more at risk of serious accidents. And the level of levy changes every year depending on how many claims their were for each industry the year before (ie if there are no construction ACC claims then that levy will be cheaper the next year for employers).

If you are self-employed you have to pay a weekly rate + a percentage, I think but that should be explained on the NZ Inland Revenue website.

[Marco]

Since the dentist is relatively very expensive for the huge amount of people who earn the average NZ salary or below - this group of people do not regularly go to the dentists. They just wait until a problem comes up and deal with it then. I realised this when I had a problem here and had to have a root canal treatment. The dentist offered me the choice of extraction first, which I did not do of course, but later I realised the people often choose this because it is far cheaper.

Asking around with Kiwi colleagues I checked what they would have done when they had a lot of tooth pain and one answered : "Just ignore the pain". A really Kiwi-attitude!!

Cheers,
Anita

[TFR]

excellent stuff, thank you all.
Just one last thing before I leave this. Wiki mentioned health insurance...as far as I understand it, if I end up in hospital for an accident, an ACC claim will cover the cost (the trip to the A&E is free) and this is all paid for by my levy contributions (as above thank you) but what about if it's not an accident - is that where a private health insurance policy comes in to play? What happens in this event? Does everyone have these as, although I applaud the grin and bear toothache attitude , I'm going to struggle with that with , say, a broken femur!
I'm struggling for this info, thanks in advance, then I'll leave you all alone

[Marco]

In this case again - only the people with hire incomes can afford to take an insurance policy. We took a basic insurance policy mainly to avoid waiting times in the public system as soon as you need surgery. But we did not take any dentist insurance because it was so expensive (after the root canal treatment I think differently, because the total will cost me about $ 2,000).

Cheers
Anita

[TFR]

Anita & Marco: thank you...could you send a link over as to where you buy your health insurance from please? I'm trying to get hold if some quotes for us. Many thanks in advance.

[Marco]

not a prob, we have insurence with Southern Cross, but that is not the only insurance company - it might be worth while to do a search on the internet.

Cheers,
Anita