Why you SHOULDN'T GO in Germany if you need a dentist.

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Hi All,

I'm not an active user of this forum but it helped me a lot with this matter, so I've decided to share my experience here. Hopefully it will be a good advice for others too.

I regularly go (once a year) to my lifetime dentist (which is not in Switzerland nor in Germany). Last here he saw a very tiny caries (from an XRay) but he said that was nothing to worry about, and by just by keeping the same dental cleaning standards it wouldn't have given me any issue. Fine.

As this year I couldn't manage to 'visit' him, I decided to find a dentist nearby Zürich. I've always heard that Swiss dentists are charging scary fees, therefore I decided straightaway to find a dentist in Germany (Konstanz). I saw an advertisement on a tram and I fixed an appointment.

After he visits me, he tells me that from the XRay there is a caries and he explains me that I'll be required to go back twice, to complete its removal, and that he will fill the hole with ceramic (which is the only material that he would use for this case). He tells me that the bill will be around 600 euros.

As I trust my dentist back home, I decided that it was worth to go somewhere (this time in Zürich) to hear a second opinion.

I got an appointment for the same day in which I called (I love Zürich!!!). The whole process starts again, but this time with a different outcome.

After the check up and the XRays the Züri dentist tells me that he sees a tiny caries (always between the same teeth) which he starts removing immediately, just to see if there are other cavities in the tooth next to it. There is nothig else, he fills the hole, and he asks me to go back in 1 year. The whole process lasted around one hour and the bill (including the XRays) will be between 150-200 CHF.

Obviously this is totally in line with what my dentist told me last year, but what about the German dentist? Is he just trying to rip off clients (especially those coming from Switzerland)?

I hope my experience will be enlightening, and just to remember people that what is on the other side of the border is not always the cheapest option.

2
Thank you for reminding us of the need to get a second opinion or quote before engaging on large expenses or health decisions or both.

THis rule is valid in every country, and for one cross-border example you can find a contrary one.

For instance, although I am not blaring it on the forum, I actually got better and cheaper diagnostic for a VW defect at the VW Dealership in Klusplatz than anywhere else. I still got repairs done in Germany after that same dealership quoted twice the price of the Tingen's one. I am not drawing conclusions about one or the other professionalism though.

Best regards

3
I think you probably could have visited yet another dentist in Zürich and he would have given you the same story as the German dentist. Different dentists probably have different ways of managing cases, so it's not necessarily a CH vs DE debate.

4
My German dentist definitely saves me money over the Swiss one I had. I now have my teeth cleaned professionally once per year, and my gums don't bleed. With my Swiss dentist, I had bleeding gums which never resolved, and cleaning twice a year.

I think it's the individual rather than the place of practice...

5
This is why I always ask someone to refer me to someone they trust. It is not because the dentist was in Germany, but because this dentist was not trustable.

I wouldn't pick a name on a tram.

6
And every story where you suggest the germans rip you off there is an equal on the Swiss dentists doing that and more.

We have been using a dentist in Konstanz for the daughters teeth correction and the bill is about 1/3 of what the Swiss suggested it would be. Switzerland 16,000 v Germany 5,000 plus the health supports both options.

We did however use a personal recommendation rather then blindly relying on a poster in a tram to source the dentist which is what the OP really got wrong since the work you had done for 200CHF in Zurich should have cost about 60Euro in Germany although if you found a dentist that does work plus X-Rays in CH for under 200CHF this is way below the normal rate. Usually you will get above 500CHF for the dentist looking at you in Zurich.

7
Agreed, My dentist is in germany, and is by far the most professional one i have used! I have used many in australia and germany, even in prague, and not expensive at all. A crown for 400eu is damn cheap. I can recommend Dorow Clinic in Waldshut-tiengen. (not the cheapest in germany, but cheaper than switzerlnd and top notch quality)

8
Please bear in mind that if you're originally English, that you'll have a worse set of fangs from the get go as you always thought that Mars Bars were vegetables when you were growing up ....

9

And we were taught to clean our teeth before breakfast rather than after.

Actually my dentist in the U.K. was German and he was much better than any of the English ones.

10
I don't know whether the fact that in Germany dentist bills are paid by the mandatory health insurance, wheras in Switzerland many (most?) people do not have dental insurance, could have some influence. A dentist in Germany could be tempted to do treatments that are bigger than necessary, as the patient won't pay themselves anyway and thus will not care. Of course the general price level in Germany is lower than in Switzerland, thus the prices for the same treatment are cheaper in Germany. If you have a good dentist he won't do unnecessary treatments anyway, regardless where they are located.

11
Zey haff vays of making you floss

12
i don't think that the DE dentist tried to rip you off. He might have diff perspective. I was in DE for 4 years before i come to CH. And i was quite happy with dentist in both country.

I was told diff type of filling has different life span. There was time when my dentist in DE also offered me the 600€ filling for one teeth. He told me that he can offered me a filling that is cover from insurance, but it will last only 1-2 years, i could also take the composite for 60€ which will last for 4 years and the 600€ will last for a life time. This type of filling required him to make filling layer by layer. I was tempted to take the last offer, because whenever i see a dentist, it will be because of this particular teeth. But in the end i took the 60€ one.

I think that might be the case for you. Please keep in mind that some dr or dentist have diff type of approach.

I will go to see a dentist abroad only if i am sure there is no big problem or one day treatment only. If i need to pay a visit more than once than i will see my CH dentist.

13
You mean they're not??? Damn, and I thought I was being good and getting my 5 a day...

14
Off to my dentist in France, for the final crown fitting - is that OK. He is a lot closer than any Swiss dentists anyway.

15
The ceramic ones are the most expensive.

The normal "public" health insurance in Germany doesn't pay for those, AFAIK.

As a person from Switzerland, you get the private-patient treatment in Germany. As such (and because in contrast to the public health insurance customers, you basically pay cash), a Swiss patient is the best thing that can happen to any German doctor next to owning a money printing press...

My coworker here went to a dentist in Konstanz that only has private patients from the get-go. No plebs and peasants, so to speak.

Apparently the guy is a specialist for removing amalgam fillings and replacing them with ultra-precise CNC-cut ceramics, modeled after the xray.

I haven't asked him what he paid, but he's not the type to throw away money - so I assume he got some value for the fortune he probably paid.

16
I would like to follow your advice, what dentist are you seeing and would you recommend it?

Also if any other posters have a dentist in Zurich, France or Germany to recommend I would be very grateful

17
I too am in need of a recommendation for a German cosmetic dentist for my wife, Konstanz would be an ideal location.

Any help much appreciated

18
Well here is a story the other way round. My Swiss dentist told me last year that all my old fillings need to be replaced and sent me a quotation for 3000 Francs for the whole process. She also did 2 (allegedly) broken ones, resulting in me having pain in the treated tooth which I did not have before and a very ccomplicated tooth and root infection in the other tooth which, as a consequence, had to be extracted.

Needless to say that after the quotation I never went back to her but to a dentist in Germany, who, by the way, told me all my other fillings were fine.....

19
Always get a quote first and compare like with like. If you dont understand your dentists estimate, then ask. I offer second opinions.

20
I have had my inlays for 30 years and they ́re fine. Value is how long your inlays last. Cheaper fillings last less time, like anything