I haven't seen a dentist in a couple of years because I haven't had insurance, and I have at least one tooth with a cavity that needs filling. I've been trying to decide whether to wait another 6 months until I can travel to Mexico or to just suck it up and see a dentist while in Switzerland.
Are dental services generally part of Swiss health insurance or do people buy it separately? Also, how much should I expect seeing a dentist to cost if I don't have insurance?
Most people here don't have dental insurance, the cost/benefit ratio is poor.
Tom
Dental services are normally not part of the Swiss health insurance and people buy it separately.
I had some relatively minor work done on two teeth and spent about CHF 1,500. To have your teeth cleaned by the hygienist (not the dentist) you can spend CHF 150. An examination with the dentist would cost you another CHF 150. In my experience, dentists would not work on your teeth unless you have first been to their hygienist.
Dentists are definitely not cheap here but the service is generally good.
Not my experience at all.
Tom
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My health insurer gives CHF1000 per two years for dentistry (same for eyes) .... not a fortune, but normally covers the routinely mundane (check-ups, cleaning and a couple of fillings).
Nor mine.
bottles,
As others commented, dental insurance is not part of the mandatory health insurance policies. You can purchase dental insurance separately, but it won't likely be a compelling value.
Cost of service depends on several factors. First is location, which typically determines the multiplier (tax punkt). In Zurich, many dentists will be at a multiplier of 4.2 or higher (the max is 5.8). Second, will be the 'added services' (gotchas) that are added in at some practices - typically gels, that are allegedly beneficial to your teeth (we have heard complaints from some patients that they were charged CHF 80 for 'natural (bio) protective gels' at some practices). Third, will be who performs the cleaning - an untrained dental assistant, hygienist or dentist. Dental assistants will be the cheapest, but the cleaning likely won't be much better than what you do with an electric brush. Hygienists in Switzerland can also do some deep cleaning (part of periodontal therapy), but if you have paro problems you are better off doing the cleaning with the dentist. In some cases the cleaning by the dentist and the hygienist can cost the same - the treatment by the dentist is shorter, as the dentist will have an assistant doing the suction, which eliminates the need to stop, raise the chair and allow the patient to rinse. This is certainly the case in our practice in Cham, so the typical cleaning by the dentist costs about CHF 120. Fourth important determinant, is the condition of your oral health - the better you brush, use floss and mouth wash regularly, and go for cleaning regularly (once in 6 months), the less work there is to do each time, so it will cost less (not to mention, it will help you avoid a host of other issues). One big difference you will see in a dental cleaning here verses the US (and I would imagine Mexico is more like the US) is that ultrasonic dental cleaning is fairly prevalent in Switzerland; it leads to better results.
It is difficult to tell you how much a filling will be. If it is a simple, one surface cavity, it will be about CHF 140. The dental examination is about CHF 60; with x-rays it will be about CHF 120-150.
Mama G has had 2 dental "experiences" here, both awful and both more financially painful that the dental problem. Now we just schedule private appointments with our old UK dentists when we go home as it's a much better service, much cheaper and more comfortable.
One filling in Zurich will cost between 400 and 500 chf.
If you have two fillings done at one sitting it will cost between
600 to 700 chf.So cheaper to do more work at once but they
will generally resist this idea as they know it's cheaper.
Brush,floss and mouthwash. Wait for Mexico if you can.
I wonder where you are taking these figures from. Definitely not from the SSO tariff.
Wow I'm sure glad I don't live in Zurich.
Never paid more than 150chf for a filling at our dentist in Neuchatel and that was a complicated one after part of OH's tooth and an old filling broke.
Simple clean and polish is around 80chf and with an x ray it's 120chf.
The swiss dentist charged me 294 CH for a small filling, including the examinations. There was no X-ray. Also I didn't have to see a dental hygienist as suggested here. I called him and could see him the next day. I had to make quite some phonecalls to several dentists before I found someone who wanted to help me, as I was a new patient.
We do the same. Last Christmas in the UK, check up and scale and polish for two of us (private, not NHS) cost £52.
I live in Basel and pay the same as Belgianmum for myself. For a basic cleaning and check up with no problems, it's 43chf for the kids.
I get these prices from actual dentist bills received and paid
by yours truly.
They did charge me 300 chf once to repair a very small
chip in a molar.
All composite fillings. Not even porcelain.
Should be gold at these prices.
Please quote the tariff numbers for those fillings (4-digit numbers beginning with 45--).
HONORARRECHNUNG
Behandlungszeitraum: 07.01.2015
1500028 08766 8006 Zürich, 19.01.2015
Wir erlauben uns, für die erbrachten Leistungen wie f o l g t Rechnung zu
s t e l l e n:
Anz Pos. Bezeichnung Punkte
1 4000 Befundaufnahme beim neuen Patienten 21.0
2 4050 Zahnröntgenaufnahme 11.0
1 4065 Infiltrationsanästhesie 11.0
1 4091 Vitalitätstest 1-6 Zähne .. 2.5
1 4094 Anlegen Kofferdam b i s 3 Zähne 6.5
Anz Pos. Bezeichnung Punkte
1 4543 Kompositfüllung. 2-flächig. Molar 52.0
1 4544 Weiteres Komposit. 2-flächig. Molar 39.0
2 4580 Schraelzätzung i n k l . H a f t v e r m i t t l e r 11.0
2 4581 Dentinvorbehandlung i n k l . Haftverm. 9.0
T o t a l Taxpunkte: 163.0 * 4.10 668 .30
TOTAL 668.30
Thanks Mark.
So actually, those two relatively big fillings cost CHF 455.10; the rest was a check-up and some stuff that may be necessary in certain cases. The tariff point value of CHF 4.10 is pretty steep, but that's Zurich for you.
Anyway, what I mean to say is, you can't just state two fillings costs CHF X.XX. Depending on the case, it could have been less than half, even at the same tariff point value.
My OH and me have done the "Mexico move", with varying levels of success.
Many times the work performed there was honestly crappy (a crown that fell off after a couple of months, unfinished root canal treatments that got infected after flying back, cheap supplies used), and we ended up paying there and here for the treatment.
She finally found a dentist that she relies on. I only trust myself now, so religiously brush my teeth every day and have then cleaned and checked in CH once a year by a recommended hygienist.