My Wife's First Dentist Appointment in the U.S.

[PeeWee]

Oh yeah?  Maybe want to start a poll?

What? No dental plan? This is America! I suppose for those who don't have one then Ukraine could be an option. But after airfare and dentist fees what do you save? I have heard about all of the people who are now going to Thailand for medical treatment. Good hospitals, good doctors..argueable some of the best in the world, low prices...why not go there for your dental work?

peewee

[Muj]

[-same as a plastic surgery which I would do only in usa,not here(if I would need ). Our plastic surgery is on the lower lewel still.
[/quote]

Not as far as I can tell ........................Ангел мой

[Wayne]

Does anyone here have experience with "INVISALIGN" clear plastic braces? 

Oksana needs braces--but I do not like the ugly metal bands and wires!

With invisalign, you get a series of clear, plastic retainers that are computer designed and generated.  About every two weeks, you use a slightly modified unit.  They are removed when eating and brushing teeth.  You know, with the metal braces it can be very difficult to keep the teeth and gums clean.  The invisalign system takes an average of one year to complete the treatment, verses several years with the metal braces.  The cost starts at about $4000.  I know, with my Son, Ryan, and the traditional metal braces, the cost was about $6000 and took more than three years.  Of course, his teeth were extremely crooked! 

There are several dentists in my area that offer the invisalign.  Also, you do not have to be an Orthodontic to provide invisalign--but you need to have special training.  You know, the specialist usually changes more per visit. 

Oksana wanted to get the metal braces put on in Russia to save money--but all the Orthodontics that I called said that the first thing they would do is remove the Russian braces and start over from the beginning. 

Does anyone have experience with Russian braces?

Oksana's friend, Liana, who is married and living in Texas, and also her Son,  had braces installed in Krasnoyarsk.

[KenC]

Wayne,
My wife had braces in Russia and her teeth are very straight now. However, braces require frequent adjustments, so how would you ever get her Russian braces tended to here?
KenC

[BC]

Straightening out teeth is a very complex process that actually starts with your feet.. believe it or not.  We had braces done for our daughter and the orthodontist first took a lot of body measurements and photos including pressure zones in feet, spine/posture etc etc.. practically every biometric aspect.

He explained that posture, differing leg lengths, spine curvature etc can contribute to crooked teeth so it was important to exclude or compensate for body conditions that can make straightened teeth crooked again.  Each orthodontist has his own methods and plans correction in many phases..  something like 'before this tooth can be pulled back into place these other three have to be pushed back to make space first *but* we have to watch out because the new alignment of top teeth has to coincide with the re-alignment of the bottom teeth otherwise another problem is created..'

We also asked about the 'invisible' type and he told us a bit about corrective retainers and that they do have limitations (can't correct every possible condition) and that standard metal braces were needed to do the job right for us..  at least we didn't need the UHF antenna type attached to the neck LOL

So I guess your orthodontist was right.. anything done before would just have to be redone again unless the two orthodontists planned the correction together and can agree on their preferred method.  Maybe your ortho also wants to find a RW and wouldn't mind going to RU for a consult?   

Oksana needs braces--but I do not like the ugly metal bands and wires!

The fact that she is willing to wear whatever is necessary to be beautiful for you makes your statement seem a wee bit egoistic.

I wouldn't get your hopes up too high.. you might have to love Ms. Metal Mouth for a while anyway!

[Zhena]

We also asked about the 'invisible' type and he told us a bit about corrective retainers and that they do have limitations (can't correct every possible condition) and that standard metal braces were needed to do the job right for us..  at least we didn't need the UHF antenna type attached to the neck LOL

Yeah the invisible are most aestethic but not so good for correction.

I wouldn't get your hopes up too high.. you might have to love Ms. Metal Mouth for a while anyway!

Just imagine a result! She will have a perfect smile after that.

[jb]

In the mean time, you'll just have to hang noodles from her ears and tell her you love her the way she is.

Gawd~! I love it.....

[David1963]

My wife went to the dentist in Russia on a regular basis and even had braces to straighten her teeth, but I still might have $7-$8K invested in those pearly whites. Be thankful.
KenC

We passed the $8K mark and heading for $20K and above.  She has not yet been here a year yet.

Actually I was trying to kepe with in the $3K insurance cap for each year so we hit last year and this year, then she broke her bridge.  So we are now at $9K.

I found that the root canals she had over there can't be re-done because of the material they used, unlike here.  Her problem was mostly from lack of going to the dentist.  A lot people can't afford it.  The dentist she did go to was a guy who worked out of his apartment because he was cheaper.

[catzenmouse]

In the mean time, you'll just have to hang noodles from her ears and tell her you love her the way she is.

Gawd~! I love it.....

LOL jb! Timing is everything isn't it...

I actually just got out of braces this past Thanksgiving. Had them for 5 years. Now I have an invisilign type retainer. They could not use the invisilign on me as there was too much correction to be done but they do have different colored brackets which (with the white one anyway) make them less noticable. So, it will depend on what she needs done as to if she can wear them or not. I would also advise checking with a couple of different dentists/orthhodontists so you will have a second and third opinion.

Ken

[Captmonk1]

  My wife got her 4 wisdom teeth taken out this past Friday. So far, she has only taken 4 pain pills and was back at work on Monday.

1. This leaves more pain pills for me.
2. I would still be in bed right now probably still crying.
3. Either dentist have gotten better, or she has a really high tolerance for pain. I was pretty amazed that the whole surgery took 20 minutes only!!

[David1963]

My wifes daughter had 3 wisdom teeth cut out on a Friday and was back to normal by Sunday and went to school Monday.  She only took 1 of the pain pills that was prescribed.  I was very proud of her how she didn't complain and delt with the whole ordeal.

[dfb]

My wife’s first dental estimate was 19K.  The estimate was based on doing all of the work now; however, stretching the work out over a few years would cost more by not adequately addressing troubled areas (a problem can escalate into a more severe problem).  We chose to stretch out the work for insurance reasons, and try to address a one to two problems a year, potentially costing an additional 6K.

The first problem area was to fix a hole in her jaw.  My wife recalled how it happened.  The Belarusian dentist was a little too drunk to work on her teeth that day, he slipped with the drill and the drill went into her bottom jaw.  Our dentist was very suppressed to notice the hole in the x-ray; this was the first time he ever saw anything like that.  The first step was to repair the damaged tissue via surgery (took 3 trys with the proceedure); the next step was to redo caps and crowns, and also some new route canals. 

It has been five years now, and several route canals later.  She will be going into surgery again soon (hopefully within a few weeks) as prep work for 3 proceedures on her lower jaw.

It was FSU dental work that got us to this point, now it will take American Dentist and Surgeons to correct all of the prior FSU work.  By the way, my wife would pay the Belarusian dentist a bottle of vodka for dental work and procedures.

Moral of the story: try to be the first customer of the day, which may be when the dentist is the least drunk.

[Leslie]

There are good and bad dentists in every country.  Good dentistry is usually more expensive...

Dental treatment in Ukraine is not state funded to any significant degree now.  Dental insurance is rare.  Most people are poor so they cannot afford high quality dentistry.  A 5000 Hrivna dental estimate will be met with derision (more than the monthly income of most family's).  Yet that amount would not pay for a single crown in the UK.  The reason many people have bad teeth is they cannot afford dental care.  Much of the dental work is shoddy because it has to be cheap!

There are very high quality dentists in Ukraine.  The charges are around 50% to 70% cheaper than a similar standard dentist in the UK.  This is way beyond the means of most Ukrainians but it is cheap for us. We have all our dental work done in Ukraine (apart from Hygienist)  The money saved helps pay for the trip.  I am thinking seriously about having some implants done.  At around 3000 Hrivna each a full Hollywood smile can be yours for $20,000....

If your lady has bad teeth then find a good dentist and have them fixed in FSU. It is cheaper.

[dfb]

My wife had 10 teeth removed Monday, 07/17/06, including 4 wisdom teeth.  She had 3 molars on each side of her bottom jaw removed for implants – there is a 3 month wait between extraction and installing the implants.  The extractions cost $4,500.

On Friday, 07/21/06, I drove her to the dental surgeon again for another operation.  Her gum split open (approx. 1.5 cm x 1 cm hole) near where the FSU dentist drilled through her jaw.  The surgeon immediately took her in for an appointment to grind the jaw bone to reshape it (make it smoother) and re-stitched her gum.  We are fortunate to live close to a surgeon and dentist, who are willing and capable of following through any kind of problem/complication that could occur during this difficult procedure.

The next procedure will cost 8K or 10K (2 implant vs. 3 implants for each side of the jaw).  The third step of the procedure, the dentist will make teeth for the implants (cost unknown at this time) – again, a 3 month wait between the implants and the new teeth.

Traveling international to FSU for medical procedures is a form of high stakes gambling.  There maybe an upfront monetary advantage (on paper anyways) including all costs for the medical procedure, airfare, lodging, meals & expenses, and transportation; however, any complication may result in a loss of the potential monetary advantage.  Sometimes, the cheapest way to do something is to doing it right the first time.

[Vaughn]

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 30 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

I felt it prudent to continue this very worthwhile thread after having reviewed all three pages' worth of posts, rather than begin it all over again. As OneWeekWonder stated on May 30, today was my wife's first American dental appointment. When this thread began, I sat back and refrained from posting - as we were about to embark on our summer trip to the FSU, and my wife had planned to have some major re-work done while there. She underwent root canals, some crowns, porcelain veneer, etc. It was all about the savings, and I could not convince her otherwise. The dentist there in Yoshkar-Ola, after all, had a good local reputation. Elvira spent
many mornings in the chair while I shopped and tooled around town with my brother in law. With her time limited, this was a rather intensive schedule that cut into her vacation, but alas - it was to be. Upon her return, her smile had improved dramatically, even though she always had a good-to-very good set of choppers.

The first sharp pain began a few days ago - she was in agony at the contact of anything hot or cold. I ran out to get a small bottle
of Anbesol for numbing, and she made it through the night. I suggested a dental visit, American-style, and sweetened the kitty
with a Russian-speaking dentist (retrained at UNC-Chapel Hill and board certified) named Bruno, of Estonian descent. She could then explain in detail the regimen she'd undergone. She arrived home this evening exclaiming "I will never ever patronize a dentist in Russia again, this clinic seemed like paradise".

Now, admittedly, Y-Ola's no Moscow nor Kyiv, and I'm certain there are many good dentists in the FSU - but the problem is finding one, and in smaller cities, the selection is far more limited. She was impressed with the cleanliness and friendliness of this office, whose desk is staffed by a Galina, also bi-lingual. Now get this: the same checkup and x-rays would have cost most people
$171. But, as a Russian, she gets the скидка (discount)
from Dr. Bruno, a cool $80 total damage. He prescribed her an antibiotic and pain killer - and deemed the summer work "inferior".
During the coming week, we'll plan a course of action to repair things.

This entire thread is worth a good read if your lady has dental work impending. The FSU / Europe / USA preference will always remain a topic involving personal preference - and for my wife, today's visit
was an eye opener. USA standards positively blew her away!

Vaughn