COST is definitely a major factor when considering dental treatment in Guyana. Why is it so expensive to have dental work done in the private sector when compared with the Government Dental Service? Is the public being exploited by private dentists? How could you know if your dentist is overcharging you? Is it possible for comprehensive dental care to be within the reach of the low-income citizen? 

Undoubtedly, the foregoing are burning questions, and an attempt should be made to answer them. Anyone who has made a deliberate effort to systematically study and compare oral care delivery, from an international perspective, would know that dental treatment is exceptionally costly all over the world.
Many governments realize that the poor masses would not be able to pay for treatment. In fact, when research done by outstanding universities confirmed the enormity of the social and economic impact on most countries, public health dentistry was introduced as a specialized field of study.
So, since 1939, the strategy was to emphasize on prevention with water fluoridation on the forefront. But even a national prevention programme, whose aim is to cut down cost, itself proved to be too expensive for some governments. And in any case, it takes many years before a national prevention programme manifests itself sufficiently to be obvious. This fact alone often serves as a dis-incentive for economies to spend scarce money on something not generally considered to be a matter of life and death. In addition, politicians and technocrats, quite understandably so, could never be convinced that the oral health status of the population is just as important as the numerous ‘priority services’.
Private practice has flourished mainly against the backdrop of governments’ inability to adequately provide dental services for the population. As a result, numerous ‘quacks’ and charlatans openly exploit the population, and governments often turn a blind eye to this unfortunate situation, simply because the suffering public often has no other place to turn to for help.
Furthermore, despite the fact that dentistry is certainly the most expensive career to pursue, many private dentists have capitalized on, and exploited, the circumstances.
The criteria used for charging fees greatly depend on the dentist himself. Naturally, the primary expense the patient pays is the so-called ‘overheads’, which mainly comprise rent, material, electricity, staff salaries and income tax.
After the dentist has added his personal earnings, the average cost of an extraction should be about $3,500, and a filling $5,500. Prophylaxis (cleaning) should be in the vicinity of $8,500.
Clearly, patients who prefer an air-conditioned, carpeted office with Mozett paintings on the walls, where coffee is served while you wait, must expect to pay dearly for such luxuries. Some dentists are encouraged and ‘spoilt’ by patients who unflinchingly pay obviously unreasonable fees for simple conventional procedures. And, in some cases, patients pay more for simply being who they are, especially business persons.
Some people erroneously evaluate quality and standard by how much they pay. So, they assume that a dentist who charges high fees is better than one who charges affordable fees. Incidentally, patients who sometimes contemplate the question of quality of work must be aware that this has far more relation to impropriety and negligence, rather that the doctor’s incompetence.
The first step in ensuring that you are not exploited by your dentist is to know what prices various others charge. Dentists who display a list of their fees in the waiting room of their clinics could be considered honest because they cannot inflate their charges in a whimsical fashion.
Try to find out and pay for a procedure before it is done. If the dentist asks you to pay afterwards, you feel psychologically insecure and may become exposed to exploitation. In addition, asking you to pay after the procedure instead of before could be a trick to force you into commitment with cost for which you cannot escape.
Wherever possible, always seek a second opinion. One can consult with any or even all of the dentists at the Cheddi Jagan Dental Centre for a very small fee, which the Government implemented in 2005.
Guyanese who fall in the low-income bracket can have adequate dental coverage by means of dental schemes similar to that existing in other countries. Workers contribute a small fee, monthly or weekly, to a fund which pays a group of private dentists to provide dental treatment for them.
This system differs somewhat from our own NIS, in that it is voluntary; the patient never pays the dentist directly. All the dentists involved charge the same fee, and every dental procedure is accessible to the patient.
Apart from this, the participating dentists are monitored and required to meet established ethical standards. Private enterprises are especially attracted to these schemes, because the owners profit in one way or another. Insurance companies also become involved with dental schemes, which can make a handsome profit while simultaneously benefiting their contributors.