Most
Dentists and Dental Students assume that dental extraction is a relatively easy procedure which takes less time to perform and they need not charge much for extractions because all you need is few milliliters of Local anesthetic, a pair of gloves and some reusable instruments which need to be autoclaved. So, in the fear that their competitor could charge less for the dental extraction and acquire more customers because we all have realized that Nepal, India, and Asia in general, is a price-sensitive economy, dentists prefer to charge less than they actually should have charged for dental extractions. Non - Asian dental patients are price sensitive too because dental treatment is something the general public has envisioned as a costly treatment. But, it is to be noted that
Dentists in Asia are actually charging very less for dental extractions as well as other dental treatments and they should charge many times higher for the treatment than they are currently charging. Here are some reasons to justify it.
1. Dental Treatment is a One-to-One Patient Care
You cannot treat three patients at once however easy the procedure is or however flooded with patients your dental clinic is. Each patient has to be given sufficient time and instruments and chair should be set up and customized as per the necessity for every patient. This will take time. So, you can do only a limited number of patients on any given day, you cannot work 18 hours a day!! But does that mean we should charge an outrageous amount to a patient if very few patients come to our clinic? Not actually. They just need to be charged sufficiently so that you would not have to worry a bit about how many patients you can do today.
2. The cost of saving a Tooth
As Miguel de Cervantes said, "Every tooth in a man's head is more valuable than a diamond." The value of the tooth is reflected by the cost needed to remove it from the socket. People don't have to pay for keeping the teeth in their mouth. They know its importance only when they are lost. And when you charge just Rs. 500 (5 USD) to extract a tooth because it's easy and takes no time, you're telling them by your actions that they are not valuable, and more importantly, they are given a choice of sacrificing the tooth for a petty sum of money, instead of preserving it (if restoration or root canal treatment were possible) by paying a bit more money. People insist to have their restorable teeth removed just because they think you are trying to extort their hard earned money. So, the cost of dental extraction should be invariably higher than any restorative treatment efforts.
