Spain's Rip-Off Dentists!

 Well Mike, the only "offensive" post here is yours!! Yes, i find it offensive that you have made such a baseless comment with no evidence based probably on your own experiences. Have you statistics and hard evidence to back up your claim that dentists are a rip off here in Spain?  Do you really know the Latvian dentist industry to such an extent you can make this claim. Of course Scandinavians head into Latvia for dental treatment, everyone knows the cost of living in Scandinavia is one of the highest in the world so they will seek cheaper alternatives like Americans do in Mexico, doesnt mean its better.

Yes, i find it offensive that for years i suffered in the UK with poor and very expensive dentists yet here in Spain a German dentist has rectified everything and at a much lower cost than in the UK. As if i would go and find some cheap dentist in India as you suggest.

Although im sure they too have good dentists in India, i like many want someone close by incase of complications. Unless you live in extreme remoteness most people can compare a few dentists and costs to find one they're happy with. Remember "sale mas barato, sale mas caro" if you speak Spanish.

Your Post title deserved every response you have received and from the evidence, most people seem happy with dentists here, proof if any you are totally wrong. Uz redzēšanos

 Interesting that Mike should be so defensive and waxing lyrical about how things used to be!!  I always hesitate to get involved in discussions with him, since his threads have had, in the past, outrageous titles!!!    Then he goes onto another thread and complains about how he gets a hammering for his opinions, when it is a simple matter of not everyone agreeing with him.   Nothing changed Mike, it must just be that you are not so thick skinned!!!!

 My brother in England has his dental work done when he is in China, as he travels there fairly frequently, as it is much cheaper there than in England and good quality.

As everyone on here is posting personal remarks, I'd just like to say that I wonder why ojosazul is not ojosazules.  The name as it is makes no sense.

We have lived in Spain for almost two years and our dentist is very good and the treatment we have had has been reasonably priced when compared to the UK, that said we live in a very Spanish town with a very very small % of ex-pat residents.

My husband worked in Latvia several years ago and had root canal work done there, it was very very cheap when compared to the UK and the standard of treatment and results were very good. At the time we found everything in Latvia very cheap but wages were very low indeed, and standards of living were not the same as the UK or Spain.

We also have a Spanish friend who is a dentist and she is very professional and ethical, so our experience in Spain is different to Mike's.  There will always be rip - off merchants in any profession or service provison (whatever your personal definition of rip- off might be)  the solution is simple, keep your wits about you and shop elsewhere if you don't like the price or the terms and conditions.

 Hello all,

my experience in India with dentist is excellent, their prices are very good, their work excellent, most dentists are European or USA trained and their clinics are impecable and very modern, so are their hospitals, I am of course talking about private clinics, frecuented by well to do Indians and foreigners, not the regular clinics which sometimes do dentistry in the streets.

As there are good deals and bad deals everywhere, the responsibility of making a choice is on the individual. 

ojosazul88, the right expresion is " lo barato sale caro" 

1.  I imagine most Latvians would get their dentistry work in Latvia.  The same as most Spaniards would get their dental work done in Spain.

2. Can't see how cost of living is similar to Spain when Wiki gives the average net wage of about £450 a month.

3.  UK is fine if you can get an NHS dentist willing to take you on.  Private dentists cost more in UK than Spain.  A very large number of dentists in UK are Eastern European.  

4.  Comments about expats paying more are ridiculous.  There is a price list in our local dentist and it is the same in Spanish, English, German and about 3 other languages.

5.  Much as I hate going to the dentist, I doubt I would fly to Latvia or India just to get a bit of dental work done.  In fact, I can't see any reason to visit Latvia at all.  India might be interesting but the money on flights and hotels would seem a bit extreme nor can I see me enjoying a holiday there if I've just had root canal work done especially as the flight alone from Madrid would be a minimum of €520.  That's about 6 tooth extractions and 4 fillings!  Even flying to Riga is around €225.   Add on hotels etc and not that cost effective.  Unless, of course, I was a Latvian.

6.  SWMBO has a couple of dental procedures done recently, check up free, one extraction £52 and one filling £47.  Didn't find that a rip-off at all considering the care she received (numbing gel prior to the injection and x-rays etc).  

So, another non-story then.  Never mind, how about starting a thread on expats being ripped off in restaurants because they leave bigger tips than the Spaniards?

 Good post bobaol, all very valid points. This was a non post from the start, started i guess to seek attention and create a stir.

Some interesting posts - as Dalmata & Herbalist36 say there are lots of "rip-offs" everywhere these days and you have to keep focussed - I don't suppose Latvia is immune to these either.

Mike - you complain that EOS members should be respectful to each other, even with opposing views - I totally agree.  But may I remind you that you used the phrase "shows a level of ignorance" - this sounds to me a bit of "do what I say, not what I do".

Presumably you had a bad experience, but the thread title is a bit OTT and certainly wildly different to my experience. 

I feel really sorry for the Spanish people who are clearly having a really rough time currently.  I've just returned to the UK after a short trip but was stunned by the number of business closures in the local town.  Businesses just disappearing overnight which will involve personal trauma for so many.  I'm probably going off topic here, but I just think we should get things in perspective.

I was on Lanzarote for a dental treatment (implants) at the Dental+ Clinic in Costa Teguise and I am very happy with the work done and the price was also good.

Regards, Silvia.

Wife had a tooth out in Spain, cant remember the cost, you have an ache does it matter, the dentist and his staff were superb, 100%, gave my wife a prescription for antibiotics to clear up any infection, chemist charged 2.50€ and gave back the prescription in case we wanted more.

The dentist came from Manchester.

All we get in the UK for private treatment is to sit in nice leather chairs reading country life, with a receptionist to busy talking on her mobile to give us the overpriced invoice for what seems to be next to no treatment except tooth ache an hour later because he has picked and probed looking for money,  while the hygienist tells us we are using the wrong brush, but as it happens if i hand over a pocket full of gold i can buy the correct one from her, and after all these years brushing them she tells me i have been doing it wrong, but cross her palm with silver and she will tell me how to do it correctly.

I have never been happier to go to a dentist, her in Spain. The treatments have been wonderful, pain free and at least 15% less than NHS. Was diffiicult to find an NHS dentist so had to go private in UK. Try using a Dental Plan here if you need a lot of treatment.  I am getting the "new smile treatment" for only 212 euros per crown. Only extra is killing one root nerve at 78 euros. I am also near La Zenia, but in Murcia where we don't seem to get ripped off as Expats. We are welcomed here, so far, especially if we try to speak Spanish!!

I am irritated when someone compares prices here with those in UK.

15% less than NHS- surely you mean 15% less than Private in UK? There is no NHS in dental treatment in Spain.

I also live in Murcia, ( don't get ripped off?) have visited several dentists, varying quite a bit in price. Eg 50 euros for check clean and polish,in one, same in another, 25 euros.

I think the price goes up when they hear an English voice.

You cannot compare price of fillings in Spain with NHS UK. NHS only do front white fillings, back ones are ugly amalgam.If you want white ones you go private.When you have NHS check clean and polish inUk, any fillings needed at the   time are included for a set price. not so in Spain.

My husband had a tooth removed here, -70 euros, no complications, Money for old rope!

new tooth put on existing denture 200 euros!

I have had some good treatment, and a crown or bridge I or implants definitely cheaper here than PRIVATELY in the UK, but you can only compare private treatment in Spain with private treatment in UK.

I read recently that 50% of Spaniards cannot afford to go to the dentist now. That is sad.

NHS is a different thing altogether.

When is a rip of a rip of? One dentist charges 50€ to fix a tooth, another charges 100€, how about asking the dentist what the overheads are, and does this effect the prices of treatment.

And thats the same for any type of business, and a dentist is just that.

Why talk of the NHS dental service in UK as if it's free? It certainly isn't. A crown in UK cost me £213 (tier 3 treatment) after I'd paid for £19 for a check up so £232 in all. A crown in Spain cost me €220 including rebuilding the tooth (the 70 euro charge was waived if I had a porcelain crown fitted). Check ups at our dentist here are free and they only charge if any treatment is necessary. Extractions and fillings (tier 2) in UK NHS dentists cost £50.50 (tier 2 treatment) usually on top of the £19 check up cost as well.

Bridges in UK are cheaper (£219 as opposed to €400 here). I think dentures in UK are as well, providing you can find an NHS dentist that does bridges or dentures.

Children get free treatment on the NHS in UK but trying to find an NHS dentist that isn't full is a nightmare. My daughter has been on the book for 9 years and still hasn't been taken on. Even pensioners pay in UK. My Mum, now 90 with all her teeth, still has to pay for any check ups and treatment.

Those on benefits do get free treatment but everyone else pays.

I never said the UK NHS  dentistry is free!

I am saying you cannot compare private here with NHS, only private UK, , in which case Spain is cheaper.

the profit on crowns in both countries must be astronomical!

A check up clean/ polish and fillings on the NHS would definitely be cheaper than here, but of course, people don't want their mouth to look like metal mickey!

I never said the UK NHS  dentistry is free!

I am saying you cannot compare private here with NHS, only private UK, , in which case Spain is cheaper.

the profit on crowns in both countries must be astronomical!

A check up clean/ polish and fillings on the NHS would definitely be cheaper than here, but of course, people don't want their mouth to look like metal mickey!

A check up with clean and polish in the UK is £19 (about €23). A filling in UK costs £50.50 (about €63).

My last clean and polish was €28 and they said I need a filling replaced which was another €58. Not much difference there. My 6 monthly checkups here are free, in UK £19 each time.

You must live in a terrible place if the price goes up when they hear a Brit accent. The prices at our dentist are clearly laid out in menu format in about 5 different languages. It certainly doesn't say "If you're Spanish, it will cost such and such, If you're British it will cost so much more". I' m certainly glad I don't live where you do.

Although I think my husband was ripped off( he went to a different dentist)  the charges where I go are reasonable.

checkups are free, with clean and polish- 25 euro.

Small filling 30 e, large approx 50 , and they are white fillings.

Unless it's a front tooth, fillings on NHS will be amalgam , so you can 't really compare . 

you have to compare like for like,so don't compare Spanish private with UK NHS as they are not the same, both in quality or prices.

As for not being unable to get an NHS dentist, where I used to live, NHS dentists were advertising for patients!