The dentist

I decided it was time to see a dentist here. There wasn't anything wrong, really, but I'm a regular twice a year visitor and I was a little overdue.

The word for dentist in German is Zahnarzt, which literally translated means "tooth doctor." One of the things I like about the German language is that it can be so very logical. An electric tea kettle is a Wasserkocher, a "water cooker." A refrigerator is a Kuhlschrank, or "cold cabinet". These things make a lot of sense. Then there's my personal favorite, the word for glove is Handschuh - you guessed it, "hand shoe".

So I asked a couple of people at the International School for a referral to an English-speaking Zahnarzt and I got a couple of names. I decided that I would go with the first one that had a receptionist who could talk to me on the phone in English. This was Tuesday at about 3pm. I called and all of a sudden had an appointment for Wednesday at 9am. The next day? What sort of an operation was this? I am used to waiting weeks if not months to see a tooth doctor.

When I went to the dental clinic in the morning I learned an important lesson. If you try and speak German with a German, they will likely continue talking to you in German. I guess this makes sense, but in my mind I wanted to show them I knew a little and then have them all switch to English after a few minutes. It didn't quite happen that way. The dental assistant and the dentist talked to me mostly in German and, to my surprise, I mostly understood them. It's not like we were conversing fluently - they were really patient and repeated themselves a lot and I listened more than I spoke - but I did ok. The dentist did switch to English when he was going over my X rays and when I looked extra confused.

As for the dental work itself, that went fine. All they really did was look at my teeth and X ray them. Then they told me I needed two more appointments  - one to touch up some fillings, which was covered by insurance, and one for a cleaning, which was not covered and would cost 110 euros. What? not covered? 110 euros? What if I went to another dentist?, I asked the dental assistant (not that eloquently). That wouldn't matter, she told me, it's not covered. I was so overwhelmed trying to process the language and the insurance coverage and the fact that my mouth had just been inspected so I just did as I was told and signed up for the appointments.

I was still puzzled by the whole issue. It made no sense to me that they would pay for the restorative work but not the preventive work. I know a thing or two about health insurance in the US, and how coverage sometimes makes no sense. So it didn't seem impossible that German insurance would be the same way. But I also wasn't sure that I'd heard correctly. I did a little research online and it appeared that yes, German insurance does not cover dental cleanings. It doesn't matter which dentist you go to or which insurance provider you have.

 I told Brian who asked a few of his coworkers about it. It turns out that everyone has a tooth doctor, and everyone has to pay for cleanings, which range in price and there's some sort of a card that you get punched every time like at the coffee shop or the car wash. Brian decided it was all a racket and I should have no part of it. Of course, he is the one who gets a checkup once every three years and the dentist tells him to drink all the soda he wants and come back in another three. I am not so lucky. I always have some area that's being "watched," like they are spying on my teeth.

I recognize that Americans are a little extreme about their dental hygeine compared to people from other parts of the world. Is every six months a little too often for a cleaning? I mean, maybe it's not the insurance policy that has the wrong standards, maybe it's me. I'm a good flosser, and I brush my teeth more than most people. Plus, 110 euros is a lot of money. So I decided that I will wait for a cleaning until the fall or winter.  I called and cancelled that part of the appointment, but I'll still do the filling touch-up. That seems more important anyway, and is free.

So my first experience with the German health care system actually went pretty well, now that I think about it. I got there, I mostly got what I came for, and I mostly communicated. And the place was alright. They were nice and saw me on time. The clinic was clean and new-looking. The tooth doctor even wore hand shoes.