How do I know if I am receiving value for money with my dental treatment?
How do we value the price of dental treatment?
When we have nothing else to compare the value and quality of our dental treatment apart from comparing fees, it is natural for us to presume that the cheaper the fees the better value we receive.
We naturally assume a commodity should be the same price wherever we buy it.
Until we know otherwise, it is just as natural to assume that a filling, a crown, an implant, a denture or just plain tooth whitening should all cost the same no matter where we go.
A filling, a crown or any dental work can be compared to buying a new car in many ways.
No-one doubts why a BMW or Mercedes Benz car costs more than a similar sized car of different makes.
We naturally assume that they are going to perform better, last longer and be more reliable and have lower maintenance.
Yet did we ever consider that quality dentistry is just the same?
We expect to have the problem solved, to have no pain, to have minimal discomfort having the treatment.
Most of the time, we have forgotten about where or when a particular dental treatment was even done…..until it either falls out, breaks or causes pain.
If we look at the average life of a crown (a cap), the Australian national average is only 8 years.
In this office, we have the unique experience of having observed our patients continuously for forty years or more since the mid ‘70s.
Is a crown that was done 30 or 40 years ago that is still functioning well the same as a 10-15% cheaper crown that has to be re-done after 8 years or less? Then you have to pay for it all over again, usually with other complications thrown in that add to the cost and inconvenience.
Was that cheaper crown really better value over the life of your teeth….which should be your whole natural life?
When all the dentistry that is done just keeps serving reliably year in year out, suddenly you get to realise the value of very high quality dentistry and that a slightly higher fee from the outset is actually the cheapest dentistry you can ever have done.
