Teeth cleaning

<p>I have been trying to get a proper teeth cleaning in Argentina for ages. I went to about 4 professionals over the years, through Hospital Italiano, and the system is devised to make you get as many appointments as possible.</p>
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<p>Some literally lasts 15 minutes and they simply scrap the dirt away. &lt;br&gt;In Italy I went to a private dentist and she used ultrasounds cleaning, with a special toothpaste brushed over the teeth surface.</p>
<p>Here in Capital the dentists (2) wanted each a X-ray of my mouth. They do not share it on the Hospital Italiano system, so every time you change dentist you get to do a new X-ray.</p>
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<p>Today we had two appointments booked for a teeth cleaning in Almagro. It was our first time at this location so we got a X-ray and a ‘consult’ which consisted in a dentist looking into my mouth and dictating to her assistant what she saw. No cleaning, as this requires a separate appointment.</p>
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<p>Last dentist I went to, in Palermo, at the first appointment she said I needed X-ray, which was done at a different location on a separate day. &lt;br&gt;Then I got to bring the X-ray to her. &lt;br&gt;She cleaned half my mouth, inviting me to book another appointment for the remaining half, which I never did. 4 appointments on 4 days for a simple teeth cleaning?!&lt;/p&gt;</p>
<p>&lt;p&gt;Was I spoiled in Italy or is it the norm?</p>
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Quote from Rice

We went to a highly recommended dentist for tooth cleaning, and received the most cursory 19th century style scraping; nothing more. It made us wonder if perhaps this facet of preventive dentistry isn’t emphasized in Argentina?

I guess you mean the famous dentist on Santa Fe? I had my implant there and I inquired about teeth cleaning because I was impressed with their professionalism (at least in comparison with Hospital Italiano's dentists...) - I was told that the dentist determines what cleaning technique to employ based on each individual case. I was not pleased with the answer because if I pay out of pocket, at least I want premium service.

A friend spoke highly of DAS for teeth cleaning with ultrasound. She also reported that the staff speaks English. I wanted to try DAS but my husband says that we are paying a lot of $$$ for our health insurance which includes teeth cleaning, so we should use that, instead. Something tells me that the X-rays we got yesterday will be charged separately... I took the x-ray because I did an implant two years ago and I was concerned about it. My husband didn't want to do the x-ray for himself, but I convinced him to do it since he had his wisdom teeth removed last year.

However, I asked the secretary 'Do we have to get x-rays every time we change dentist?' and she played dumb. And when I was getting x-ray I asked the technician 'But am I getting my teeth cleaned today?' and she also pretended to not understand me, giving me a standard answer 'go back to the waiting room and you will be called for your consultation'. When I was called in for my consultation the dentist asked me 'Why are you here for? A check up?'. WTF, we had two teeth cleanings booked, for god's sake!

But I didn't get my teeth cleaning, instead I was offered teeth cleaning session FIVE weeks from now. They mentioned they have another office in Caballito where I could get an appointment for next week, so we booked in Caballito now. The secretary prepared our cards with a post-it "Caballito with xrays" and the details of our next appointment to be shipped at their other location. What a long and rudimental workflow!

On FB I found a recommendation for Dr. Isaac Meta, also in Palermo.

Quote from GlasgowJohn

Maybe if the Health plans paid the professionals properly and promptly , only one appointment would be necessary. The system of paying poorly encourages the more appointments , the merrier system .

I have nothing against using appointments as tokens, but I am pissed if they make me waste my time.

Why should I spend three hours for a 15' teeth cleaning when abroad it is done in 30-45'?

I can sign three times for three appointments in a row. Why do they need to be in different days?

Anyway, I do pay for my health insurance, so even if these visits are included with my plan, it doesn't mean that they are 100% free.

Quote from UK Man

Not visited a dentist here and don't have any desire to after hearing several horror stories.....to be fair such dentist stories exist in the UK as well.

My wife insists on getting as much value out of our OSDE heath insurance as she can. Blood tests, eye tests, heart and chest tests...I go through them all on a regular basis. I'm not a fan of doing it but do as I'm told!!

We have family members along the same line -- since it is included in their health plan, why don't take the most advantage of it?!

However, the more you use the services, the higher the prices for you monthly plan.

It is not free-free.

And who wants to do unnecessary tests just to find out that something is wrong? If it is not broken, do not fix it!

Quote from UK Man

I'm sure she knows exactly how often she can do it without incurring extra charges.

I wasn't referring to the extra charges that are billed as separate items, but for the 'cost for the system' for these unnecessary exams, which in the end is paid by all health plan subscribers.

I subscribe to you comment, UK Man !

I hear many complaint from my fellow Italians but the service I received back home was amazing compared to what I am getting here. I must also confess that I was one of the whiners, as I had always thought that if you pay the service is better and the hospital would have be run more efficiently... I don't know if the issue is with private healthcare in Argentina or in general...

I have been only in three private hospitals here, and the more modern ones (Hospital Italiano in Almagro, Clínica San Lucas in San Isidro) have a shiny look, but the service was terrible because of bureaucracy, something that in the national heath service is almost nullified.

The whole system of having affiliated clinics and offices is bogus and the chance of going to a place where for a reason or another (low payment, bad management, different work ethic than abroad) you risk of not getting what you need.

I too thought that it meant no queuing, however with hospital italiano I have as much queue as in a public hospital in (northern) Italy.

My teeth cleaning was scheduled five weeks from now, which is absurd. They could have booked one more time slot on Friday and do it immediately (considering here it is just a quick matter of scrapping plaque).

The issue is that some health insurers here have no (or almost no) medical facilities, just offices, and they rely on other affiliated institution, such as hospital italiano. So hospital italiano is swamped with patients under a different provider, hence the queues.
Also, they have an online booking system where you can book your own specialist appointment. If it is authorized by your GP you pay less, otherwise it is out of pocket.

However, not all physicians are registered in the online system and not all appointments are available online. If you call the call center there is often another doctor/another appointment available at an earlier date.

That said, if you want to stuck with one specific specialists (establishing a relationship with one HCP), prepare to wait months. My dermatologist had a 4 month wait, however if I emailed her she allowed to come in anyway, but at 7 AM before the visits which started at 8 AM.

Otherwise, you can swap professional at each step of the process to speed up things, such as initial consultation with doctor A, who prescribed tests, then you need an appointment just to bring the results (if they are online, the doctor just translates in layman terms what the exam says), so you go to Doctor B (because doctor A first appointment would be months from now) who then prescribe you something (surgery?). At which point you have to book surgery with the hospital, which will surely ask you to come for a prep visit, then in three months you get the actual surgery. It takes so much time to get small things accomplished!

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Oh man! Expensive bad and impolite service. Sounds like a winner!

This made me remember that I haven't had a proper check up in years. When I was a teenager I had surgery for a small problem (cysts). The doctor said I should do a sonogram every year to make sure they didn't reappeared. While in Italy, I was able to do this exam (not exactly every year, but once in three).

When I arrived to Argentina I too wanted to take advantage of my health plan. However the doctors here never wanted to do that specific exam, nor the other, more generic one. They want to do the regular thing they do and see you next year, but you cannot spot cysts with that.

Now, I really wanted to do that check up because it's been a decade since my last sonogram, but the sole idea of having to deal with the system makes me want to desist.