Worried about the cost of dental work in Germany

[ilovespinach]

Hi,

I have a big dental phobia and have negelected my teeth

I want to get everything sorted now as I want to stopworrying about it and I don't want to pass my fear onto my kids.

I have an appointment at the end of the week and I'm really worried about the cost as I'm currently on parental leave and aren't earning anything.

I know I need a large number of fillings - am I right in thinking the krankenkasse will cover these? I know I also need a crown which I think I will have to pay for? I also need to have a tooth removed will I have to pay for this as well?

I have public health insurance on BKK.

Would appreciate any words from anyone who has been in a similar situation. Does anyone know if there's any provision to pay in instalments as I wouldn't be able to come up with a large sum upfront.

God I'm in a real mess about this and could almost cry I hope I have chosen a symphathetic dentist

Hi ilovespinach. Although we're not in Germany we do live abroad (Gran Canaria) and my DH had a huge phobia about dentists and hadn't been to one for 15 or so years. Anyway to cut a long story short he's had most of his top set replaced with implants and crowns and the total cost is 11,000 euros. We don't have private health care so had to get a loan over 5 years. It is something we are glad he did though as our DS1 was starting to ask questions about why Daddy didn't look after his teeth! He also feels and looks even more gorgeous now that he can smile properly instead of keeping his mouth closed so no-one could see what a state they were.

It is expensive but well worth it. Also in regard to your health. If there is a cyst (DH had 2 that he didn't know about) anywhere under your teeth it can leak and every time you swallow the "poison" is going into your system.

Also DH's dentist was an absolute star and appreciated that DH was terrified.

Please go asap and hopefully it won't be as bad as you think. Good luck.

11,000!!!! Hope it doesn't come to that as there's no way we could afford that - tbh we will struggle to find any money. I think it's mostly just fillings and a crown.

Glad your DH got everything sorted Soph73.

I know, I nearly fell through the floor as well. We are struggling financially at the moment to keep going but you just have to grin and bear it (no pun intended!)

If it's just fillings and a crown then you should be OK. My DH's dentist charges 150 euros for a basic crown (I think), don't know how much for a filling - probably less I would have thought.

For DH they literally had to rebuild his top jaw so that's what really cost the money.

I think you can get most work done and the BKK will pay. Although I think a filling can cost about 50 to 70 Euro if you want a white one, Krankenkasse only pay for the silver ones (can't remember the names sorry!), I'm with AOK which is similar to BKK. Also depends on the dentist. In south Germany I had one who could practically do anything and get the Kasse to pay - but in Berlin I really had to look around to get one who wasn't trying to earn a fortune on each patient.

I never hadto contribute towards any dental work. I did have fillings but nothing else really, so that may not be much help. Your regular fillings will be covered, ditto scrape and polish.

I don't know about crowns etc though. You could ask them to give you an estimate and then choose what exactly you want to get done for now. It doesn't have to be all at once.

thanks a lot for all the advice Lets hope the dentist won't try to rip me off - she is also a kinder dentist so I hope she will be kind

where are you spinach? Why don't you come over to the Streupflicht (chat) thread in Living Overseas?

I'm in Stuttgart....I will pop over

shada

I'm in the West close to O'Reilly's Irish pub...

Not in the English Playgroup at the moment - we stick closer to home and go to Ekiz a lot.

I might do Califrau....most people I've spoken to about the CEL have said it's a nightmare to get to on public transport. Is this true?

PMSL at having a German in my mouth!

PMSL at having a German in my mouth!

well it wasn't that funny that I needed to post it twice.. dunno what happened.

We have the best dentist here - she's about my age and has 2 children and is brilliant with my 3, esp d who's 6, has the world's softest teeth, loads of fillings and sealed teeth and a massssssssive phobia.

I've had crowns etc (d has my tooth genes sadly) - most I've ever paid was 450 euros.

They will tell you the cost before the work though.
You'll feel better when you've done it! Can vouch for that...

"German in my mouth" should be Quote of the Week. Has made my day, shall remember that at the next dull parents' evening and snurk a lot

Snort at 'German in my mouth'

So far since moving here I've had a filling replaced which cost 45 euros - for a white one.

Also had a really thorough hour long session with the hygienist for 90 euros. Well worth it imo.