Australia’s problem with dentists

Teeth! For years we’ve been told to take care of them. But as far as Medicare is concerned, they’re not even part of our body. And that leaves us struggling to pick up the tab.
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[@NewMessage]

Getting good dental care in Australia is like pulling teeth, I guess.

[@pamholloway5962]

Odd. Here in the UK there seems to be a lot of Aussie dentists working for the NHS. And the ones who have treated my teeth over the years seemed to all be pretty good. Maybe that's why you have a shortage? We've got them! Of course, they seem to have competition here from Eastern Europe at present, but who knows what will happen after the dreaded Brexit....

[@Coolsomeone234]

And Australia has a lot of British Doctors...

[@fab3laundry]

@@Coolsomeone234 yeah but they don’t work in the public system.

[@brendonrookes1151]

its not a shortage of dentist is how much they cost mine charges 300 bucks for a basic cleann whiten

[@KaiseaWings]

When going to an appointment costs you $90 to be told that your receding gums and wisdom teeth need surgery that will cost thousands of dollars, well, ignorance is bliss. At least if I'm hospitalised treatment will be free. I have recurring nightmares of teeth falling out of my head, of pulling half a dozen bloody molars out with my fingers and knowing they'll never grow back. I wake up in relief but fear it'll be real one day and there's nothing I can do about it.

[@dianakircher4565]

Save up or go overseas for dental work or get a loan

[@Wutangaz]

I just want to be able to smile again and be able to smile for my wedding

[@johannbrandstatter7419]

It's still illegal to show a dentists face on TV in Australia !

[@SP-pp3vg]

😲🏁😏📈😡🖤😜😭🥴🙄‼️‼️‼️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️😶🔰🔰🔰🔰💀☠️💀😭😘🥰

[@fab3laundry]

They don’t want you to see one coz you can’t afford to go to one.

[@goinggaga4ladygaga]

I had a cesarean that burst open due to infection and I will leave the gory details out, but i would rather that than tooth pain. I have considered pulling some of mine out but too scared of make it worse We make 80 ish a year, don't smoke, gamble or waste money and we can't afford dental. Had we had access to basic dental when we were earning a lot less we wouldn't have such extensive work needed on our teeth now. I waiting till my son leaves school and I'm going to go to Bali and get it done.

[@apophisjones4361]

Yep done the self teeth pulling , its not fun and doesnt work on all teeth .Infection comes quick .Not helping with teeth is evil .The pain is great !!!!!!!!

[@CoraBezemer]

I have two crowns that were fitted and are too small. Now the food is compacting between the teeth. I can now not eat on the left side of my mouth. I have been to two dentists & one specialist endodontist trying to get this fixed. The dentist I am currently with now has been putting medicine in my top molar to try and clear the infection in and under the tooth. The top and bottom teeth hurt. I've had a new crown fitted to the bottom and that is still getting food inbetween it. I tried to eat on the left side the other night and the food compacted and started hurting again. I have given up eating on that side now hoping the infections will heal up. It is costing me a lot of money :( I've been on four courses of antibiotics too. This has been going on for over six months now. Do you know anyone that can help?

[@huzjezbuzrezbazraznphez2379]

How are you now?

[@BronO46]

I got a filling a few weeks ago at the public dentist. The other 3 fillings have to be done later...I'm on a waiting list....

[@thjeokthjeok443]

Bron , I am an old age pensioner , it used to be that every 8 years i could apply for new dentures - its been over 8 years and i have been told i have to wait for another 2 years if not more , They claim the list is long and it would take all that time to catch up ?? Looks like I have to remortgage to fix my teeth . Yes most old Australians are now on Waiting lists . Our government is not looking after its own people anymore , Sucks !

[@irisalan3018]

Yes true That’s why I don’t go!

[@apophisjones4361]

Yep they take them out but dont put them back . Thats shit , it should be part of the cost of fixing it . the look of teeth is more important then if they real now . If your missing teeth people treat you like a bum .

[@Wutangaz]

To true joel and im on good money but have a family to support and bills to pay but my teeth are f#cked confidence dropped and dont smile because when i do the first thing people look at is my teeth

[@DanielDavis730]

They buy them in asian countries for nothing and sell them in Australia for

[@TheAazah]

dentist in private should be the same as a GP. i been in pain for 5 weeks now i been to a private and public... no one seems to know what the problem is.. it sucks... my gums are fine and my teeth are fine.... but they dont seem to look at the cause... if they dont know what is wrong with you they will just send you home and you have to deal with it yourself.

[@conn1e]

Have you been to the GP? Pain can show up strangely and it might be your jaw causing the pain. Maybe need jaw xray? I used to get sore teeth but realised I was just clenching a lot too. So make sure you're not stressed or anxious!

[@TheAazah]

@@conn1e My doctor has done more to help me than the dentist all these months later. I'm still in pain. So there's that my original dentist found a crack but don't want to give me a root canal im trying to save my tooth because he removed my wisdom tooth but not my already cracked tooth so if i remove this tooth it will become unbalance and i seen videos on that its not pretty. Hes right dentist want you to be missing teeth.

[@harrypoter8707]

You've said "they do not know what is the wrong" then you added " there is a crack" ! 🤔

[@TheAazah]

@@harrypoter8707 2 years later hence back re watching this. I'm still in pain. And the reason why dentist didn't think the cracks tooth was the problem is because they didn't think the crack was deep enough to cause an issue.

[@harrypoter8707]

@@TheAazah Go for a second opinion, you don't need to stay home with pain.

[@robertbarclay4881]

A gran who pulled her own tooth out with a pair of pliers, uneasy? What about Tom Hanks on Cast away? Where he uses an ice skate to remove a tooth.

[@Walperion_Music]

Yeah Tom Hanks really has it hard. Poor guy. Doesn't even have the money to fix it. Is there some donation jar for him?

[@beccablueeyes99]

I need to have my wisdom teeth removed. They are growing sideways and can damage my jaw and the soft tissue inside my cheek. I can't afford the thousands needed to remove them.

[@creevey82]

If you're willing to risk it, find out where your nearest dental school is, and ask them if they could use you. I think they still charge, but it should be pretty cheap. Secondarily, save cash, insurance covers fuck all when it comes to major dental. Get minimum extras if you want a regular checkups, etc. But don't bother paying for the platinum bulshit if it's just for teeth, it's like a bank account that empties itself once a year. Useless.

[@yguc9342]

wtf braaa ? need thousands to remove the wisdom teeth ? Save $1000 and buy a ticket to Turkey. Book a 5 stars hotel for 1 week. Go to dentist and remove them. So you will have a vacation in a beautiful foreign country while removing your teeth with the same price. The doctors of Turkey are pretty professional.

[@thjeokthjeok443]

Rebecca , its the same for one of my sons , his health deteriorating due to his teeth . And i am an old pensioner and i cant get any help now as well - it seems there is a waiting list of years and years .

[@mansikoerala6329]

Come to India in aiims Delhi It would be done by specialist and it would be cheap too It's done in 100-200$

[@mansikoerala6329]

@@thjeokthjeok443 If you could afford to come to India Treatments like these are extremely affordable and are performed by specialist

[@kennethchemwok9776]

Very informative Charlie!!! That Grandma though... SSSSSH.... She's mean to her teeth

[@krystine49]

Teeth are precious and nothing equally replaces what you have, Problem is public system has a waiting list making problems worse. Greed is the problem form some practitioners.

[@thjeokthjeok443]

Krystine , i dont think its just greed its more with who they want to give help to , and its not the middle class or poor Australians .

[@coconutvirus2225]

Dr Habel

[@allaboutstupid2228]

Collingwood supporters do not have teeth.

[@craigjones8558]

Hey yes we do...! They're called dentures, geez..

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

Aussies were mostly traumatized by dental students as kids, now we're phobic... :(

[@brendonrookes1151]

nah we just cant freaking aford it 300 bucks to get my teeth cleaned

[@ahmedelmogi5113]

I am a dentist if you can give me a citizenship I will accept to work for your government health care system or you can ask your dentist society to work for one day for free as community service

[@justinm2697]

There's more to citizenship than qualifications. Also, you cant ask/demand people work for free.

[@paulorocky]

If there's a position available in the government dental service...

[@harrypoter8707]

Do you accept to work for free once a week in your home country?! I don't think so.

[@ahmedelmogi5113]

@k2 man that was from two years ago but thankx , and I would love to see Australia +I don't need your permission but as a nice dentist I will respond politely, No thanks I would do what I want.

[@gettothepoint2707]

@@ahmedelmogi5113 hey bro. There no use giving free treatments. There this supply and demand thingy in here. No one wants to go to the Dentist. I never did. And just last week there was a Dentist giving free dental checkup in a camp. Yeah. That's right free!

[@madhavyu]

Charlie is a rabid anti-dentite! It always starts with a few jokes and then some slurs. "Hey, denty!" Next thing you know he will be saying they should have their own schools.

[@haveyoulostyourcircusmitch248]

No teeth for you!!!

[@fab3laundry]

Dentists do not want to lose money. They are already privileged people because you can’t become a dentist without a rich family to pay upfront mandatory costs of becoming a dentist. There is no chance a poor but extremely smart student in Australia can apply to dental school. The only exception is for diversity as far as I can tell eg. It would be obvious racism if they were only rich white or Asian dentists but no Sudanese dentist. I assume they get funding unless they too come from rich families who can pay the costs upfront. Now being rich does not mean your family did not work hard for that money. It does mean that often their offspring have little empathy for non- wealthy people living in daily pain, destroying their kidneys, and other organs because they can’t afford rent on a single room in a house let alone a dental visit. The public system encourages people to have teeth pulled because they can only get an appointment once it’s an emergency or wait 7 years for general dental like fillings etc. But sadly teeth do not wait 7 years. In that time it goes from needing a filling to living in extreme pain, eating on one side of the mouth (if you don’t have a decaying tooth on both sides) and eating things softer than toast. Yes toast is too hard and breaks teeth when you haven’t been able to see a dentist in over 5 years. Some smart ass out there will say “well suck on the bread til it dissolves or just eat a liquid diet” coz they have no empathy and think that people who aren’t as lucky as them deserve to live in pain.