juni asked: How is your health system in Canada?
When it comes to dentistry, it's just as bad as in the States. There was a huge article two weeks ago in the Toronto Star, front page about the fact that hundreds of thousands of people here in Ontario have absolutely no dental coverage. Dental care was not included in the Canada Health Act when OHIP came into existence in 1958; and unlike the doctors, who have a cap on how much they can charge from everything from your office visit to brain surgery, a dentist can charge whatever they like. Our dentists make a hell of a lot more per year than our doctors do. My dentist probably makes about $1,000,000 a year, if not more.
It's not just the dentists, it's the lab costs too that are outrageous. For example, I need to get two dental implants. I've got teeth like my father: they look nice, but they're not strong. I brush 3 times a day, floss, go for cleanings twice a year, don't smoke, try to eat healthy----I've still got shit teeth. It's hereditary, and there's nothing I can do about it.
So, dental implants run anywhere from $3,000 - $5,000 per tooth. This is absolutely outrageous. It's a frigging titanium screw with the porcelain cap that probably costs about ten dollars to make. My benefits officially don't cover dental implants. However, I'm going to the School of Dentistry where they run $1,950 per tooth. Even if I can talk my benefits into covering the 50% that they allow for a bridge, I'm still stuck paying $2,000.
I think that in both the States and Canada, dental coverage of some sort needs to be provided and a cap on how much the dentists can charge. I have no problem with them making a very good living, but I have a major problem with gouging the public like they're doing. People don't realize that you can die from a tooth infection today, just like you could 5,000 years ago. Oral hygiene is not 'cosmetic'---it's a medical necessity and something definitely needs to be done.
With that said, I'm glad we have a publically funded health care system here in Canada. Yes, we pay a lot more in taxes, but believe me---if you, or your child or your parent suddenly needs to be in the hospital for an emergency surgery, the last thing you need to worry about is "how am I going to pay for this?" When my father almost died, we called the ambulance, they took him to the hospital, and he was in there for over a month. OHIP paid for everything from the doctors fees, the drugs, rehabilitation, all the meals, everything. I think the only thing we paid for was the $45.00 ambulance fee. It's not a perfect system and is now grossly underfunded compared to years ago, but I'd still rather have our system than the way it works in the States.