Greece Donkey Droppings

Don’t believe everything you hear about inferior health facilities outside the UK

Ken has spent several hours sitting in the dentist’s chair over the last few days, which seems a good opportunity to comment on our Greek dental experiences, compared to our previous UK ones.

There’s just one dental practice in Koroni, an unassuming surgery above a restaurant. Giannis (John) is a very friendly dentist with pretty good English. He works alone. He did have an assistant/receptionist last year but she doesn’t seem to be around any more. We’ve heard she now works in a local supermarket. Seems dental support services aren’t seen as an actual career in Greece.

Not like the UK, where the number of non-dentists in a practice would significantly outnumber the actual dentists. Receptionists, hygienists and dental surgery assistants almost tripping over each other, all of whom had to be utilized in delivering your treatment. Your appointment could only be arranged by the receptionist; you were expected to submit to the ministrations of a hygienist (this has to be high on my list of worst experiences ever); the dentist seemed incapable of operating without an assistant to deal with all the little things. And, of course, the cost of your treatment had to contribute to all their salaries.

Fixed appointments aren’t the norm with our Greek dentist. You can just drop in, and as long as you don’t mind waiting, you’ll get seen. If you need a lengthy appointment (such as for bridges or crowns) you go as soon as he’s open. But he doesn’t turn people away if they’re in the waiting room. Nor does he charge anyone an emergency fee. And however many people he has waiting, he never gives the impression of being harassed, or makes you feel you’re being rushed.

By comparison, getting to see a dentist without an appointment, even in an emergency, was a challenge in the UK. We had one dentist who insisted on fixed appointments (and charged you if you had the temerity to miss them) but who never felt the need to honor his side of the commitment. I’ve arrived early morning, believing mine was the first appointment of the day (having specifically requested this, and seen it booked into the diary), only to find at least half a dozen people ahead of me, and suffered an hour’s wait, with no explanation or apology. I’ve even seen my dentist meet with a salesman while I was waiting for my overdue appointment.

Almost as soon as they could, our UK dentist had us signing forms agreeing to pay for whatever treatment was needed. In some cases we had to pay on every visit, even though treatment wasn’t completed. There was definitely no possibility of getting out of the door without paying. In Greece things are much more relaxed. We’ve had check-ups, even fillings, and not been asked to pay until later. ‘Leave it a few days and see if it’s alright’, John will say when asked about payment. We could just disappear without paying, but there is that layer of trust running through the Greek psyche which means we won’t.

Facilities in Greece seem, on the surface, to be less sophisticated than in the UK. The surgery is basic, the waiting room just a few seats and a television. There are no posters or leaflets, no advertisements for the latest techniques, no frills in fact. But this is a false impression. The surgery has all the equipment and facilities we would expect, and if there’s anything they can’t do locally they can quickly and easily access specialist facilities in Kalamata. No waiting weeks for an appointment.

Greek dentists use A4 size x-rays where you can really see what’s happening inside the tooth, not those match-box sized pictures we’re used to from the UK. And the dentist takes time to really explain and discuss the treatment he’s suggesting. He makes sure you fully understand the implications of the treatment, what it will involve, and what it will cost. He doesn’t hassle or try to push you into something. He presents the information, gives you the time you need to make decisions, and accepts what you decide.

My non-NHS UK dentist almost denied me access to his surgery when I declined their decidedly unpleasant hygienist services, and made me feel like a second-class citizen when I was unsure about going ahead with lengthy, expensive treatment that wasn’t going to achieve anything other than a cosmetic improvement to teeth that couldn’t even be seen.

In fact, our experience with Greek dental services has been far superior to most of our encounters in the UK. Interestingly, our best experience of service in the UK was with an NHS dental practice, which we were fortunate to be able to join in our last couple of years there. A service that was staffed by dentists from Eastern Europe…

Surely you don't want a picture of teeth?