You must have gaped when you first time heard your dentist's fee for a single appointment if you live in North America, Europe or Australia. Although, dentistry is much cheaper in South Asia and other parts of the world not mentioned above, dentists make a good income and their earning rises over years as they gain more clinical experience. But, you may be thinking it is not justified that some dentists charge thousands of dollars for the work of an hour or two. Let's see some of the possible causes why dental treatment is so expensive.
A. Dentistry is not only about knowledge
Dentists gain their expertise in dentistry after long years of study, clinical practice and experience which really has no shortcuts. Knowing the thing is not enough, dentists have to visualise and do the procedures in the same ideal way everytime they do something. Precision and manual dexterity is something that develops after years of practice and an inquisitive mind. If you don't regard your teeth precious and would not bother if they have to be extracted after some slipshod work by a careless dentist, then you can google search for "cheapest dentist in the town", "cheapest dental clinic", "Dental treatment at minimum price" or something similar. But, if you would like to have quality treatment and value your teeth as much as your life, you must seek references from someone who has had a good dental experience and not to choose your dentist solely based upon your financial condition.
B. Dentistry is a one-to-one patient care
The most experienced dentist in the world and the best dentist in the world also can treat only one patient at a time. Dentistry is not only based on medications and counseling, it involves some procedures which take time that nobody can predict accurately. A seemingly easy tooth extraction may take hours following crown fracture and a patient appearing healthy may go into syncope after injecting the local anesthetic. Some weeping canals take more than five or six visits to become asymptomatic and ready for obturation. Even after the dentist becomes very experienced, things take time, healing takes time. It is said that time is the most precious thing in the world which nobody can buy. But, we are selling our time everyday for some price. Some for very low price, some for reasonable prices and some are getting highly paid for their time. And, it is quite understandable that a good dentist must charge higher.
C. A dentist is as good as his instruments and materials
Dental materials have evolved over years and require a lot of research for their improvement. Their advances in the properties of materials and quality of dental treatment they provide gest reflected on the charge the patient has to pay for some procedure. Owning a clinic requires a lot of capital which would have made a lot of profit were it invested elsewhere. We must not neglect the opportunity cost of the capital as well as the dentist working on your mouth.
D. People have got dental problems, quite a lot, and a single dentist cannot solve them all
Imagine that one day all the people in the world with dental caries decided to have their cavity restored. Dental clinics will get overcrowded. Nobody could get quality treatment. Hasty works done result in more dire circumstances in the future. To prevent this, some dentists gradually increase their fees over the years just to that extent that they are not overburdened by the patients. However experienced a dentist may be, he or she cannot examine and treat more than 20 patients in the long run every single day. After few years of clinical practice, dentists develop back pain and may have to retire professionally due to physical difficulties. Keeping all these things in mind, they charge higher to compensate for that loss.
E. People are ready to pay anything for pain and fear
Dental pain is one of the most severe types of pain. Periodontal and other painless problems in oral cavity are neglected until the carious process reaches the pulp and the patient goes to the dental clinic jumping with pain. They want immediate relief and are ready to pay any price for it. But, they cannot wait for the appointment date. Because pain and fear are the largest industries in the world exploited by the multinational corporations. The cost of dental treatments could be reduced if preventive, rather than curative approach is done towards oral health.
F. Dentistry can always be done better
There are a lot of ways a dentist can improve. However good the dental work may be there is always some room for improvement. As they have reached certain level of confidence in their work and whenever they feel that they could charge higher without hurting the patients' sentiments and mutual benefits, dentists mark - up their charges.
These all could be the reasons some dentists make a lot of money and some struggle to get a job. What are the reasons do you think that some dentists charge higher and make a lot of money? Do comment below.
