Re: I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

David Friedman wrote:
In article <b55p04t0d8m9fardsmdeihh2j0065946b3@xxxxxxx>,
mike weber <fairportfan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:25:32 -0700, David Friedman
<ddfr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <roIOj.11776$yD2.246@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Jette <bosslady@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

eah, in the UK up till fairly recently dentists would only consider braces for teeth for actual _problems_ such as badly misaligned teeth, whereas in the US fixing purely cosmetic problems seemed to be more accepted. Probably because in the UK our generation mostly got our dentistry on the NHS who weren't too concerned with our vanity, whereas in the US they have always had private dentists. When you're paying for it you might as well go the whole hog and have teeth that look as good as they work.

I don't follow the final part of that. If you have the choice between straightening your teeth for cosmetic purposes or not doing so, I would think the fact that you would have to pay for the straightening would make you less likely to do so, not more.

If you're already paying, say, $500 for something, an additional $150
(made-up numbers having no known relevance to orthodonty) doesn't seem
as bad as, say, $300 to start for scratch on the extra.

$150 isn't as bad as $300. But Jette wrote "when you're paying for it," which seemed to imply that the alternative was not paying for it. In your hypothetical, the alternative is paying even more for it.



Well, you guys seem to pay through the nose for it. In fact you seem to pay through the nose for all your health related items. Even for children - and braces are usually issued to children, who wouldn't be charged for _remedial_ work in the UK. (cosmetic work, yes)

--
Jette Goldie
jette@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
http://wolfette.livejournal.com/
("reply to" is spamblocked - use the email addy in sig)
.

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