I have a problem to understand why dental service is so expensive in the US. I don’t find any reasonable arguments why one has to pay $115 for seeing a dentist just for a few minutes or even seconds. Or to pay about $2000 for one dental crown. Maybe some people understand this but I don’t. Will be happy if someone could explain this to me.
It is hard to understand the cost of dental care
Alisher Faizullaev 
Recently, my friend, uzbek guy, had surgery for his appendicitis in Miami, FL. All bills including emergency room fees, surgeon’s charges, medicines, etc made up 48 000$. The same procedure would cost 200$ at max in Uzbekistan. The reasoning behind these pumped-up prices is simple, insurance industry! As medical insurance corporations make billions out of insurees throughout the country, hospitals and doctors also try to get their stake of this business as much as possible coming up with mind-blowing charges from patients. As patients in quite rare case pay directly from pocket, you don’t see much antagonistic opposition from consumer groups.
In my friends case, hospital immediately waived 40K out of total fees as they learned the absence of medical insurance of the patient, which will prove that fact that they are aware of their own ridiculously high prices.
Of course, the same idea is relevant to Dental Industry. Overflowing high dental insurance income of insurance corporations stimulates the huge increase in the prices of dental equipments and tuition fees for education programs, licensing procedures, etc and eventually high prices in dental services.
I think it’s the result of unfairly constructed system and the public is paying the price for it..
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No other choices, when you have problem with tooth, you are ready to pay! And they now it!
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No answer to your question, but wanted to share with my experience. I always had problems with my teeth in Uzbekistan; stupid dentists could not do their job well, and there was no difference between expensive and cheap dentists.
When I went to Japan, I had to visit dentist when the pain was awful. I was amazed by the quality of the service. I got pain stopped immediately and they said that I have to cure all the other teeth too. They spent half a year (!) on curing my 4 mostly damaged teeth and my health insurance covered most part of the cost and from my pocket I ended up paying around $200 overall… The last two years in my life have been the period when I had not thought about my teeth pains… Quality is not always expensive.
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Good for you, congratulations! Thank you for sharing your experience.
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Alisher aka, I either heard from my friends that dental service charges you a lot in the States but oddly enough never asked why. Here, in Germany one sights the same thing. However, I guess with insurance you win that what you can not win in the USA without insurance. As a student it’s pleasing if something like accidental tooth loss doesn’t come in yet don’t know how it works once one has a job. The system is very complicated to grasp, especially for one, whose country didn’t/doesn’t have the similar one.
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Dear Dildora, thank you for sharing this. In the US one can find the best medical service in the world but for the very best price. But in the US, if I am not mistaken, about 30 million people do not have a health insurance. The Obama administration tries to enlarge the pie, but this is very difficult and complicated process. Perhaps the insurance companies play some role in this complication since they have their own interests.
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It can be explained by law of supply and demand. Dentists want to charge more for their service and thus maximize profit, while patients want to pay less and minimize costs. Apparently there is a shortage of dentists in the US that patients are ready to pay that much.
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Well, I guess, that doesn’t work in this area. Demand for the dentists and other medical doctors is great but shortage too. Why? According to the law of supply and demand that should’t be like that. At least in a large time scale. So it is a mystery for me.
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I guess prices for dental care in the US reflect income levels of people there. Per capita GDP for the US is over $48 000, which is 14 times more than in Uzbekistan.
It won’t be surprising if an american visiting Uzbekistan would be similarly surprised by prices for dental care in Uzbekistan.
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I am sure, he or she would be surprised. And not only in Uzbekistan but anywhere else – in the UK, Germany, Japan, etc.
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Well done. Yes, doctor’s they’re somehow shameless regarding to money too.
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but what if to look from the other side? personally, I would be really happy if those costs would be applied in Uzb as well. Reason? Its simple. People would think about their teeth more carefully. Teach their children from the beginning to wash (using teeth for what they are intended to do: not for breaking nuts etc) them regularly right after the meal. just my opinion.
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I this case dental service stay without patients, and patients stay without dental service – USA prices are unrealistic for us.
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Your opinion just fraustrating me. It’s also just my opinion. Thanx.
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Specialyzed medicine is very expensive in general by two reasons. First one is objective and related with need to pay for superspecialists more payment in one working hour. Second reason is subjective and related with opinion of many specialists that they are superspecialist. They want to be super, but in our life only little part of working doctors are really super. In my opinion, first reason have about 20% in the trhe of life (life-true), second have about 80%.
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Well, it is still difficult to understand how the cost of a dental crown can be similar to the cost of a nice used car or several new laptops.
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No one can understand this, as well I cannot. However, I think it is expensive because of expensive equipment, sterilized and disposed products they use. But anyways, the quality, dentists offer, is not high as expected (not better than in Uzbekistan).
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