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IMO Berlin doctors + dentists are rather untrustworthy. It's a meme that there will be no appointments available until you mention "private insurance" or "self

IMO Berlin doctors + dentists are rather untrustworthy. It's a meme that there will be no appointments available until you mention "private insurance" or "self pay" - at which point they can suddenly see you in the next few days. I've heard of people going across the border to Poland specifically for dental treatment due to the cost and quality of Berlin.

domh 4y ago
This is the same in the UK with the NHS dentists now. No NHS availability but as soon as you ask for private availability they can see you next day.
- niffydroid 4y ago
  NHS Dentistry is a joke, its been neglected and underfunded for years. No wonder dentists dump all NHS patients or don't accept them, majority of them have ethics and want to give the best and ideal treatment, not the cheapest minimum. I believe they are given a single flat fee for all treatment in a session. Private dentist is the only way to go now. My mum was having tooth pain, so she was back and forth, the NHS dentist said everything was fine. Then soon afterwards her filling fell out and tooth starting to split. The NHS dentist said it needed to be removed fully. She went to a private dentist who pretty much said no it doesn't, she had a root canal and pins. Since then we've had private dental insurance. My brother dental practice went to remove a tooth but ended up damaging another tooth and didn't even get one out. Now he's on the family dental insurance. Again the private dentist said his treatment was shocking.
  - stuaxo 4y ago
    It's ridiculous - they "don't do cosmetic dentistry" - but that means things like; they don't offer fillings that look nice and really only do the bottom level stuff. The NHS dentist I go to is good, but there isn't much they do - ended up referred to Harley Street for more advanced bits - they only have a fairly basic xray machine for instance. Then again, when I was referred to get a CT Screen, the guy starts pointing at how low rez the original Xray was - well, no of course that's why I was referred.
- mjburgess 4y ago
  NHS dentists are required by the gov to meet targets, so what's actually happening is that they're all booked up and have on-staff a private dentist who isnt. It isnt the same issue.
config_yml 4y ago
This is because dentists in germany can charge the services rendered quarterly to the state insurance, but they only get paid a flat flee per insured patient by the state insurance. It means doctors effectively cover the diff/take the risk of unhealthy patients until they are covered. So they have to balance with private insurance income.
- rkachowski 4y ago
  There are plenty of structural reasons, and the end result is you can't take medical / dental advise at face value in Germany.
  - lornemalvo 4y ago
    There is no link between getting appointments easier with private insurance and the quality of the medical advice you are getting. I might be wrong, but it feels like you had bad experiences with some doctors and took it personally.

domh 4y ago

This is the same in the UK with the NHS dentists now. No NHS availability but as soon as you ask for private availability they can see you next day.

niffydroid 4y ago
NHS Dentistry is a joke, its been neglected and underfunded for years. No wonder dentists dump all NHS patients or don't accept them, majority of them have ethics and want to give the best and ideal treatment, not the cheapest minimum. I believe they are given a single flat fee for all treatment in a session. Private dentist is the only way to go now. My mum was having tooth pain, so she was back and forth, the NHS dentist said everything was fine. Then soon afterwards her filling fell out and tooth starting to split. The NHS dentist said it needed to be removed fully. She went to a private dentist who pretty much said no it doesn't, she had a root canal and pins. Since then we've had private dental insurance. My brother dental practice went to remove a tooth but ended up damaging another tooth and didn't even get one out. Now he's on the family dental insurance. Again the private dentist said his treatment was shocking.
- stuaxo 4y ago
  It's ridiculous - they "don't do cosmetic dentistry" - but that means things like; they don't offer fillings that look nice and really only do the bottom level stuff. The NHS dentist I go to is good, but there isn't much they do - ended up referred to Harley Street for more advanced bits - they only have a fairly basic xray machine for instance. Then again, when I was referred to get a CT Screen, the guy starts pointing at how low rez the original Xray was - well, no of course that's why I was referred.
mjburgess 4y ago
NHS dentists are required by the gov to meet targets, so what's actually happening is that they're all booked up and have on-staff a private dentist who isnt. It isnt the same issue.

config_yml 4y ago

This is because dentists in germany can charge the services rendered quarterly to the state insurance, but they only get paid a flat flee per insured patient by the state insurance. It means doctors effectively cover the diff/take the risk of unhealthy patients until they are covered. So they have to balance with private insurance income.

rkachowski 4y ago
There are plenty of structural reasons, and the end result is you can't take medical / dental advise at face value in Germany.
- lornemalvo 4y ago
  There is no link between getting appointments easier with private insurance and the quality of the medical advice you are getting. I might be wrong, but it feels like you had bad experiences with some doctors and took it personally.