Why is dentistry not part of healthcare services?

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#1298312 5-May-2015 12:51

Athlonite: I asked my dentist why he charges so much and this is what he told me: by the time he'd done 5 years dentistry school and set up his practice he owed a whopping 1 million bucks. well really that's alot of money so how come you can go to Queenstown every year for a ski trip then and to Hawaii for two weeks a year with the whole family

Do you have a mortgage?

Why do you take time off work/buy anything/go on holidays rather than pay off your debt?

deadlyllama

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#1298333 5-May-2015 13:10

wasabi2k:
Athlonite: I asked my dentist why he charges so much and this is what he told me: by the time he'd done 5 years dentistry school and set up his practice he owed a whopping 1 million bucks. well really that's alot of money so how come you can go to Queenstown every year for a ski trip then and to Hawaii for two weeks a year with the whole family

Do you have a mortgage?

Why do you take time off work/buy anything/go on holidays rather than pay off your debt?

So the dentist charges a lot "to pay off this massive debt" but it conveniently also funds a rather expensive lifestyle?

tdgeek

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#1298340 5-May-2015 13:20

deadlyllama:
wasabi2k:
Athlonite: I asked my dentist why he charges so much and this is what he told me: by the time he'd done 5 years dentistry school and set up his practice he owed a whopping 1 million bucks. well really that's alot of money so how come you can go to Queenstown every year for a ski trip then and to Hawaii for two weeks a year with the whole family

Do you have a mortgage?

Why do you take time off work/buy anything/go on holidays rather than pay off your debt?

So the dentist charges a lot "to pay off this massive debt" but it conveniently also funds a rather expensive lifestyle?

Not really fair, who's right is it to tell others how to live their life?

Some like to live life, do stuff, buy stuff and gradually wind away debt naturally, priority being "them" Others like to suspend life, pay all debt, go back to life
And if the dentist in question ran up a million, then some holidays won't be that material $ wise.

mattwnz

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#1298344 5-May-2015 13:24

Athlonite: I asked my dentist why he charges so much and this is what he told me: by the time he'd done 5 years dentistry school and set up his practice he owed a whopping 1 million bucks. well really that's alot of money so how come you can go to Queenstown every year for a ski trip then and to Hawaii for two weeks a year with the whole family

Also try using your Community services card at the dentist and get told it doesn't make it cheaper I thought dentist were a community service

Setting up any business could cost 1 million though. But the education fees for dentists are quite high, but after graduating, they can work for any practice at no extra cost to themselves.

wasabi2k

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#1298349 5-May-2015 13:26

deadlyllama:
wasabi2k:
Athlonite: I asked my dentist why he charges so much and this is what he told me: by the time he'd done 5 years dentistry school and set up his practice he owed a whopping 1 million bucks. well really that's alot of money so how come you can go to Queenstown every year for a ski trip then and to Hawaii for two weeks a year with the whole family

Do you have a mortgage?

Why do you take time off work/buy anything/go on holidays rather than pay off your debt?

So the dentist charges a lot "to pay off this massive debt" but it conveniently also funds a rather expensive lifestyle?

No, he should clearly charge the minimum and feel rewarded for being a service to his community. /s

You go to school for a long time, it's a job. You charge what people are willing to pay and use that to fund your lifestyle as you choose to live it. Have a good look at what medical specialists like surgeons and anesthetists charge - it is a lot. We don't see that because the public system pays for it.

I could do what I do for less than half what I charge, but I don't - I like money. Why should a dentist be any different?

BlueShift

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#1298351 5-May-2015 13:29

There's only three reasons I can think of to become a dentist:
1) Because you like to help people and dentistry allows you to assist many needy people
2) For the money
3) You're a sadist and can get paid to cause people pain.

Given the shortage of the first kind of dentist, I think I prefer to fund the Hawaiian holidays of the second type...
If you feel otherwise, look up Dr Orin Scrivello D.D.S. for all your dental needs.

sidefx

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#1298354 5-May-2015 13:33

tdgeek:

Not really fair, who's right is it to tell others how to live their life?

Some like to live life, do stuff, buy stuff and gradually wind away debt naturally, priority being "them" Others like to suspend life, pay all debt, go back to life
And if the dentist in question ran up a million, then some holidays won't be that material $ wise.

My question would be how much of that massive debt is in the form of an interest free loan from studying though?

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

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mattwnz

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#1298376 5-May-2015 13:47

sidefx:
tdgeek:

Not really fair, who's right is it to tell others how to live their life?

Some like to live life, do stuff, buy stuff and gradually wind away debt naturally, priority being "them" Others like to suspend life, pay all debt, go back to life
And if the dentist in question ran up a million, then some holidays won't be that material $ wise.

My question would be how much of that massive debt is in the form of an interest free loan from studying though?

Depends on the age of the dentist, as the older ones probably had much of the course expense taxpayer funded. Even now they would get big subsidies, as I believe people studying only pay around 20% of the true course costs although probably depends on the course.

BlueShift

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#1298408 5-May-2015 14:01

sidefx:
My question would be how much of that massive debt is in the form of an interest free loan from studying though?

Five years of med school will run up a pretty decent debt, but have you looked at all the equipment it takes to practice dentistry? Fancy chairs, x-ray machines, laser drill things, tvs on the ceiling, hi tech spittoons, receptionists, dental assistants. If think getting your car serviced is dear, imagine what the tech who services an x-ray machine charges...

mattwnz

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#1298415 5-May-2015 14:09

I also don't think dentistry is all that healthy a job to do. You are dealing with xrays, and all the chemicals in the fillings, such as amalgam etc. Personally I wouldn't want to do it. I did think of doing dentistry but thought better of it.

mattwnz

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#1298417 5-May-2015 14:12

BlueShift:tvs on the ceiling,.

My dentist must be behind the times, because they only have posters on the ceiling . Also some of their equipment looks a bit on the old side.

BlueShift

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#1298428 5-May-2015 14:36

mattwnz:
BlueShift:tvs on the ceiling,.

My dentist must be behind the times, because they only have posters on the ceiling . Also some of their equipment looks a bit on the old side.

Check the carpark for a shiny new Audi...

Geektastic

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#1298445 5-May-2015 14:53

deadlyllama:
wasabi2k:
Athlonite: I asked my dentist why he charges so much and this is what he told me: by the time he'd done 5 years dentistry school and set up his practice he owed a whopping 1 million bucks. well really that's alot of money so how come you can go to Queenstown every year for a ski trip then and to Hawaii for two weeks a year with the whole family

Do you have a mortgage?

Why do you take time off work/buy anything/go on holidays rather than pay off your debt?

So the dentist charges a lot "to pay off this massive debt" but it conveniently also funds a rather expensive lifestyle?

It's not just dentists. One of the specialist surgeons at Wakefield Hospital drives a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG...I dread to think what the NZ price of that was but the Australia price was just under AUD 500,000!

Jaxson

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#1298535 5-May-2015 17:29

Jaxson: It's just so expensive that we should probably be looking at why.

Removing the emotion and politics etc, why can we get the same procedures done in Thailand for around 20% of the local cost, if not less?

This is with locally or US trained dentists using state of the art equipment.

I would like to know a real reason a filling costs $300 and the likes of root canals and crowns are in the $1200 - $2000 each category.

sidefx

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#1298541 5-May-2015 17:46

Jaxson:

Removing the emotion and politics etc, why can we get the same procedures done in Thailand for around 20% of the local cost, if not less?

This is with locally or US trained dentists using state of the art equipment.

I would like to know a real reason a filling costs $300 and the likes of root canals and crowns are in the $1200 - $2000 each category.

Average Thai income seems to be around 6400 NZD per annum, so probably not a very fair comparison.

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

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