I come from the US where 6 month dental checkups are the norm and there is quite the emphasis on maintaining good dental health, to avoid serious issues later in life. Call me brainwashed but I'm a subscriber to this notion. Anyway, what is a popular route to take for dental coverage?
I am sorting through the health insurance info on the web and this forum in order to get set up when I arrive in CH in 2 weeks. I will be a student and thinK I have found some good options with Swisscare and Tradiconsult. I noticed that dental is not covered under basic health insurance. Nor, have I found where to buy dental insurance. And I've heard the premiums are very high. Do the Swiss care about dental health?
I suggest you contact Jenny who will no doubt advise you.
We have just taken dental insurance out for our kids, but we have to pay a year before it starts to take effect, they also had to have check up with the dentist before the insurance would agree to insure them.
the swiss take dental health VERY seriously to the extend that in my dept at work they have tooth brushes in the bathroom and religiously clean their teeth after meals! even at my son's day care the children brush teeth 'communally' after every meal. i found this very strange but also very concientious, maybe my teeth would have looked better if the values and habits of dental care were so well entrenched!
but dental care is EXTREMELY expensive and so is the insurance thereof. when i tentatively asked about this i was told that your teeth are your own responsibility and you should take care of it!
we decided to skip the insurance and do it on our annual granny visits for cash. then the usual murphy fell through the front door with my better half loosing a crown and in the process a tooth and had to pay almost SFR1000 for the procedure...and a quote for another SFR2000 to complete the procedure=we'll be having an extended visit to the home country for dental work in the near future...
can't wait to see my mom!!!
good luck with your decision...
I've had a conversation on this topic in the office... the general Swiss view seemed to be that dental insurance is too expensive (except its worth it for kids). One woman on my team has her own personal 'dental savings fund' where she puts aside some money each month for when something major needs doing.
I'm just going home to the UK to see the dentist... I was quoted 250 CHF just to see the dentist for the first time, never mind then having any work done!
I have had a false tooth (it was capped back in the Uk) done 3 times here, and each time my normal insurance had to pay 20.000frcs, but i would of had to pay myself if it was not for an accident i had, that caused me to break half my tooth off
I don't think the attitude is much different here. Even in the US, I always found that dental insurance was highly restrictive and not worth the cost either. We always saved pre-tax dollars in a flexible reimbursement account and paid the dentist out of that.
So for those of you who think preventative dental care is important, do you visit the dentist for check-ups 2x/yr? And how much does it cost?
In the U.S. preventative care is covered and will cover most if not all of say, a root canal, filling a cavity, etc (depeding of course on your plan and premiums). In that case I definitely think paying 8 USD a month (my company pays some as well) is absolutely worth it.
We go twice a year, and have a cleaning twice a year we pay a good few 100frcs each time we go
Yes i/we think it is very important
I think you had a particularly generous plan in the US. Many plans are far more restrictive/expensive. Could you see any dentist or were you restricted to a particular group.
The plans I had only covered 50% the cost of a crown, had waiting periods or only paid up to a dollar amount - never enough for a decent dentist. Worst of all, the last place I lived - CHapel Hill, NC - I had some of the worst dental care I'd ever experienced, until I went to the dental school. The first year I lived there, I went to no less than 3 different dentists, never had experienced anything like that before. I now understand why people don't like to go to the dentist. Before that I never minded going.
At least once a year, preferably twice is best. I've got to find one here, so I'm a little late on that one.
If you are looking for a cheep insurance that is good, try something like Progres, or Avanex (Avanex was cheepest in the poll last year). Those are two of the cheaper companies that work through Helsana (a big and good health insurance). As far as dental goes, You can go to the student clinics to have your teeth done, and its a lot cheeper then just going to a regular dentist. I would only think about getting dental if you had serious problems with your bite, or needed braces or what not. But for cleanings and fillings, you can get it done at the student clinic for about 1/4 the price, i think. So far im paying 400CHF for 2 cleanings, and 3 fillings (but they also had to change the filling on one tooth so it was more work) not to mention more x-rays because they had to pull a milk tooth that wouldnt come out. Its hard to give exact costs because I need special work done and its not the students that can do that. btw, i think when you reach a certain age, you dont qualify to start getting dental. You have to start it before a certain age.
Only $8 per month? The math does not make sense. Here, each routine visit can cost $250 and major treatment $20'000! So how does the insurance work? They collect $100 premium in a year and pay out $1'000 average? So who pays the difference?
I dont know why you are paying 20K, I had to pay about 400 for a tooth extraction, a little under 400 for a cyst to be annalysed, and about 400 for a clip on tooth, or i could pay 4K for a bridge or implant. Then the student clinic cost me about 400 for 2 cleanings, xrays, and fillings for 3 teeth. Of course the downside with the clinic is it does take a while because they have to have a supervisor check up on them before they can progress to the next step. Perhaps it just matters where you go.
I see advertisements in the back of the local Bern paper promoting bus trips to dental centers in Hungary.
I'll second that suggestion.
Jenny sorted me out with my basic and dental insurance. I am paying less than previously and I previously had no dental insurance. If I am not mistaken the dental costs about 15 chf a month and gives cover up to 15000 chf.
Saw a dental advertisement in Germany on a local tram in Zurich.
You are not alone. Funny thing is that some dentists (or their assistants) do not even ask if you are paying by insurance like in a typical doctor visit.
There was this bad experience where the dentist did not finish his job during the appointment (must be made weeks in advance) and the patient had to pay another separate visit. Needless to say, that means additional charges, let alone the horrendous rate of few thousand CHF quoted for some rather simple follow-up dental care.
Like you, it may just make perfect sense to time your home visits with a trip to the dentist for annual check-ups (and any essential fixes while there).
Good luck.