FWIW, our universal health coverage here will cover medical dental care, but not cosmetic. They’ll patch up or remove your bad tooth, but I think it’d be harder to get an implant or a crown without paying for it. Weirdly, dentists are still one of the two or three basic services where people here are still willing to pay for uncovered medical attention, the others being eyecare and pediatrics.
When I needed surgery my private dentist still sent me over to the public system, though. Took a look at my X-rays, told me she wasn’t gonna touch any of that without an MRI and an OR on standby and told me to go to my public doctor with a note and tell them to get me booked with a maxillofacial surgeon, which I did. It wasn’t that big of a deal in the end, but the reaction was… revealing.
FWIW, our universal health coverage here will cover medical dental care, but not cosmetic. They’ll patch up or remove your bad tooth, but I think it’d be harder to get an implant or a crown without paying for it. Weirdly, dentists are still one of the two or three basic services where people here are still willing to pay for uncovered medical attention, the others being eyecare and pediatrics.
When I needed surgery my private dentist still sent me over to the public system, though. Took a look at my X-rays, told me she wasn’t gonna touch any of that without an MRI and an OR on standby and told me to go to my public doctor with a note and tell them to get me booked with a maxillofacial surgeon, which I did. It wasn’t that big of a deal in the end, but the reaction was… revealing.