Malagent’s Domain

In preparation for dental implants I had two teeth pulled this morning. My only complaint is that for some reason the dentist does not see fit to provide a pain medication prescription after two rather difficult extractions. She actually suggested using Ibuprofen. Oh well, it wont last long and if it gets too bad I’ll simply call and demand a prescription. As I’m writing this the local anesthetic is nearing the end of it’s usefulness and I’m realizing that the pain is not as bad as expected but still exceeds the efficacy of a few Advil.

Without having (or wanting) health insurance coverage I simply pay cash for the services as they are rendered. However, having had health insurance in the past I’ve noticed one major difference without it. In my experience doctors tend to literally hand out prescriptions when a patient is insured and are much more reluctant to do so for patients who pay out of pocket. This especially applies to pain medications. If you have experience with this let me in the comments, perhaps I’m in the minority on this one. Someone in the health care business might be able to enlighten me on this subject.

My other thought on this subject comes from seeing an article on CNN.com a few minutes ago with the headline “Brits resort to pulling own teeth.” Having posted about the health care & socialized medicine debate recently I finds it interesting that as an uninsured U.S. citizen I’m complaining about a little pain while 6% of Brits are pulling their own teeth according to CNN’s article. While it’s not the only case of people suffering or dying under the socialist medical services it certainly does sound like a painful example. Reminds me of Tom Hanks smashing his tooth out with a rock in the movie Castaway.

The article states the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, commissioned the survey which finds “that the NHS dental system is letting many patients down very badly.”

What? Does Michael Moore know about this? Someone should let him know so he can release a new version of Sicko.

One respondent in Lancashire, northern England, claimed to have extracted 14 of their own teeth with a pair of pliers. In Liverpool, one of those collecting data for the survey interviewed three people who had pulled out their own teeth in one morning.

“I took most of my teeth out in the shed with pliers. I have one to go,” another respondent wrote.

Others said they had fixed broken crowns using glue to avoid costly dental work.

Valerie Halsworth, 64, told British television’s GMTV she had removed seven of her own teeth using her husband’s pliers when her toothache became unbearable and she was unable to find an NHS dentist willing to treat her.

Halsworth admitted that the first extraction had been “excruciatingly painful.” But she added: “It got that painful that I just had to do something… When you have taken a tooth out… the pain has gone.”

Sharon Grant, chair of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, which commissioned the survey, said: “These findings indicate that the NHS dental system is letting many patients down very badly.

“Where NHS dental services are available, people are happy with the quality of treatment provided but many find the NHS fee system confusing and expensive, with some patients taking out loans to pay for treatment or more worryingly taking matters into their own hands.”

So in summery…

I call the dentist and setup an appointment, walk in and have the work done. With minimal wait and minimal expense - all without insurance. While in Briton the citizens with a socialized system said to be superior to that of the U.S., have to wait long enough for dental care that they start pulling their own teeth with pliers or fixing “broken crowns using glue to avoid costly dental work.” I seem to remember several scenes in Sicko talking about how the British system was free, so how is it costly?

If even one person has had to do this, their system has failed. Imagine cramming hand tools into your mouth and pulling a tooth out.