I've just had the paperwork to enrol my kids in the school dentist scheme, if wanted.
I understand about the free check-up, but if any treatment is required, what happens then? Do they send home a note outlining their recommendations, will there be some estimate of the cost in advance and, most importantly, they wouldn't just do it without me knowing or being there? My kids are currently non-French speaking 8 and 4 yr olds, so there's a lot of potential for lifelong dentist trauma if it gets mismanaged.
Would I be better off just having the free check-ups and finding my own dentist for any work required (not really expecting any as no fillings so far, but still...)
Look forward to hearing from anyone with experience of the system.
Both my children are with a school dentist, and no they would not do any work on your childs teeth without you being there, we have taken out insurance for our children`s teeth , just 1 thing we have to pay a full year insurance before the insurance kicks in , i am hoping not to have to use the insurance, but i think my daughter will need a brace when she is older, and i was talking to someone who has 2 children, and both needed braces she had no insurance, and she had to take a bank loan out to pay for them . You could ask how much the treatment will cost, i am sure they could give you a rough idea how much it would cost
They certainly don't have time to repair cavities on the spot during controls! Been there, done that: On the bright side, I got a toy after the cavity was repaired. On the other hand, it's still a dentist so I decided to not have any more cavities from then on!
At least in Zurich, the school service is limited to cavities and dental hygiene matters. You have to search your own orthodontist if you want to check the regularity of the teeth.
Oh, that's great, thanks guys. I think I'll go with the school scheme then.
Just a couple more little questions, if that's ok - if the kids did need treatment, where would that be? Presumably not at school, but in a local surgery..? (I know, I know, probably stoopid question.)
And would the costs typically be the same as privately-arranged dentists, or is there some sort of economy of scale thing here? (I'm assuming we wouldn't get any sort of income rebate - then if we do, it's a happy bonus!).
Again, speaking for Zurich city - there are five school dental clinics (Schulzahnklinik in German) with dentists who drill holes in their little patients all day long.
We had our children with our dentist, but he was not very child friendly , so we all left him, and now the kids are with the school dentist which are brilliant. No you do not get any money back, my advice would be to check out with your current insurance, if they will insure your childs teeth they will have to have a check up from the dentist to send a report to the insurance before they will agree to insure them, but i think insurance for teeth is a really good idea, and it does not cost that much
Sutter - no, we don't have dental insurance at the moment. The kids have always passed their check-ups with no problems, so I thought we'd wait a couple of years, then add it on if they looked like they might need braces in their teen years!
And I don't think we'd get a discount, so we'd pay whatever the going 'school dentist' rate was. Oh well, cross fingers for continuing good check-ups, then.
If my memory serves me correct you have to insure them early on, or they will not insure them later i can ask my husband later how much we pay a year and let you know if you like.
My dentist could tell my daughter would need a brace so that is why we insured them both now
It is nice to read that your children have good teeth
Thanks, that would be really helpful. I was assuming I'd have to get them enrolled a year or two before they're likely to need any orthodontics - do you think that would be long enough? To my untrained eye, their teeth look pretty straight at the moment.
Maybe if it's only a small premium, I should at least get my 8 yr old signed up for insurance, since he at least has 'real' teeth! (And for any dentists reading, don't worry, I know it's still very important to protect the milk teeth too.)
I don't know about Lausanne, but I in Zürich I would never ever let my kids get a treatment at Schulzahnklink again.
Some dentists are specialized in kids dentistry. Maybe you could ask the parents of class mates of your kids to recommend you a dentist if your kids needed a treatment.
The advantage of the school dentist is that the prices are cheaper (they are very slightly subsidised by the canton). The place where we go is only for children so I guess the dentists do specialise in children's dentistry
It seems to be the “in thing” at the moment to have braces and some kind of realignment treatment, our youngest went on a routine trip to the school orthodontist (I think they all go at one time or another) and we were told that his bottom teeth were 1.2mm out of line! and that he would need a course of treatment lasting 3-4 years with a total cost of about CHF 7,000 . It is entirely optional whether you go for it ,in our case we agreed to the treatment and now our youngest has multi coloured braces along with about half of his class it seems!
well, first of all, they are generally unfriendly at. .. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention the Schulzahnklinik I went to). My daughter had two cavities in 1st grade and the way they told me about these cavities made it pretty clear what they think of me as a mother. Unfortunately, this didn't prevent me from having the treatment there. Three months later, pus came through the roots of both teeth visible as zits on her gums. Of course, the dentist made a remark as if it was my fault again. One of the teeth had to be extracted, the other one needed a root canal treatment. In the end, we were not only treated badly, but also had to pay for additional treatments...
First thanks for posting, amd second bloody hell that sounds terrible for your daughter i would of also moved her to a different dentist if i was you, hence the reason i moved our kiddies from our normal unfriendly dentist to a more friendly childrens dentist.
Yes, obviously it'll be very much down to the individual dentist, which we'll have to wait and see. I like to think that anyone who chooses to be a school dentist would mostly like children...
Look forward to receiving your insurance prices, Sutter, when you have a moment - absolutely no hurry, it's not something we're making a decision about for months!
My husband will be home later so i can ask him, and let you know, he his very good with all that stuff i.e. insurances which, and what is the best e.t.c
On costs we are with Swica and they will take kids up to the age of 7 without a prior check up. IE we knew that there was work to be done with one of my sons teeth, so we took the insurance after we knew there was problems. They have three of four different band options for cover and will cover up to CHF2000 of treatment per year or if below CHF2000 75% of that treatment. The operation our son in the hospital had cost around CHF2500 of which I paid about CHF600-
If you are getting work done get a quote before hand. Cost of this insurance is CHF 19.40 per month for children under 18 years of age.
Normal Health Ins pay 50% of correction work all you have to do is get a estimate of what its going to cost, send the bill to them when it arrives. My Daughter had about 3 years of correction work costing about CHF8,000 we paid half.
we can pick out of 5 dentists, the checkup is free, then we have to pay any work he recomends below 200 chf, if its above we can say no, The children went with others out of there class on the same day for the checkup and brought home a estimate, we then had to arrange the next step