Klarinet Archive - Posting 000074.txt from 2004/06

From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Alf_H=F6rberg?= <alf.horberg@-----.se>
Subj: [kl] Teeth
Date: Sat, 5 Jun 2004 20:52:12 -0400

Dear list.

At the moment I=92m fighting a battle with the National Health Insurance
Department in Sweden and I want some inputs. My problem is that I =
recently
had to pull a tooth, #6 at the bottom left side. This was an accident =
caused
by my ex-dentist when performing a root-filling. In Sweden, a high tax
country, an accident like this was until recently covered by the =
national
health insurance together with the dentists own insurance.=20

Until recently there were two different treatments I could choose =
between: a
conventional bridge or a titanium implant. I want an implant for various
reasons: An implant only replaces the missing tooth without doing any =
damage
to the surrounding teeth. Minimum changes in the cavity. When mounting a
bridge you have to reshape the surrounding teeth to fit the bridge. The
damage is permanent and if I=92m not happy with the result there is no =
way
back to what it was before. Some major changes in the cavity.

Recently they changed the recommendations about implants behind the 5th
tooth. Now they won=92t pay for this slightly more expensive treatment =
even if
the dentist=92s insurance is paying 90% of the operation. I=92ve been =
claiming
that I=92m a clarinettist in a major philharmonic orchestra and that I =
can=92t
risk any major changes in my cavity because it will but my future as a
musician at risk but it makes no difference. The rules are the same for =
all.
In my country there are no insurance companies that offer private tooth
insurances. The rule has always been that the dentist=92s insurance =
together
with NHI should cover everything without any problems. Now, the only
possibility to get an implant behind the 5th tooth is to pay everything =
out
of your own pocket and I don=92t think that=92s fair considering that =
Sweden is
the country with the highest taxes in the world. But when you want =
something
that=92s not =93average=94 they let you down.

The new recommendations haven=92t been tried in court yet so my case =
will be
the first. What I want is that the recommendations should be practised =
more
flexible as they actually are formulated. If someone claims good reasons
like professional reasons they should make an exception. It=92s =
important that
I=92ll win this case since it will become pilot case. As it is now =
it=92s
already a pilot case to my disadvantage as long as I don=92t bring it to
court. So I have everything to win.

What I=92m asking from you fellow clarinettists is why you would prefer =
an
implant instead of a bridge yourself? Every input is valuable since I =
need
all ammunition I can get. If there are any dentists on the list who also
play the clarinet you=92re especially welcome to take part of the =
discussion.

Just don=92t get stuck in a discussion about taxes. I happen to know =
every
detail about those discussions beforehand.=20

Alf

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