When you consider the costs of dental treatment, is all that you consider defined by the final dollar amount?

Final dollar amount is important of course, because the change it leaves effects how you can buy other goods such as property, food, or commercial goods (to take a few broad examples). But have you considered that there are other aspects of dental costs which may be just as important  as how much is left in your bank account after your dental visit?

For instance how much time have you committed to your dental experience, or how much did you lose in terms of the biology of your condition? You may want to also consider costs in terms of effect on your residual insurance premium, or efficiency of access to co-payment schemes such as Medicare (Medicare? I bet you thought Medicare doesn't cover dentistry... Well it does, but you have to read further into the web site).

It's easy to speak in technical generalisations though. It makes the explanations seem erudite, complex, and importantly gives a great sense of achievement to the writer.

But a better way to explain anything is through example, so let's talk about some dental scenarios that you may have found yourself in.

Scenario 1.

A tooth ache on Saturday night.

Scenario 2.

A rotten wisdom tooth tale.

Scenario 3.

Shopping around for the cheapest implant possible.

Scenario 4.

"My dentist provides the cheapest orthodontic treatment in town."

Scenario 5.

Going to Thailand for a holiday and dental makeover.