finland is notoriously "conservative" (read: medieaval) about pain medication.

[cimorene]

Dear Finnish doctors:

There's nothing cool about pain. It doesn't build character. It doesn't bring you closer to any higher powers. It doesn't lead to philosophical epiphanies. At best, it increases your tolerance. More likely, it interferes with your eating and sleeping habits. All it has to do is keep you awake a few nights to convert you to a semi-useless and extremely unhappy lump of seething resentment. So, you know, if someone comes to you in agonising pain because of some kind of medical problem, and they can't even sleep, then I think that fucking ibuprofen is not really the answer. A good clue would be if they've already been taking ibuprofen and it didn't help. The beautiful thing about your medical degree is that all kinds of options for pain relief for your patients are available to you with the use of something called a prescription book, and many of these are ones they couldn't buy at the drug store without your help! If you want to earn acclaim and admiration from your colleagues and patients, you could even try using something strong enough to actually fight the pain!

An extra-special note to Finnish dentists: Try anaesthetic when performing root canals, oral surgeries, and even just your average cavity fillings! Your patients will like it and they won't become a) weaklings or b) hardened drug addicts, honest! Fuck sisu.

No love,
Cim

P.S. You guys aren't nearly as cool as the Finnish cops.

Comments

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

Actually, private dentists in Finland are so much more expensive. The common healthcare-provided dental care is practically free, something like 10-20 euros per visit. A visit to a private clinic will cost so much more. Fixing one tooth costs about 100 euros, minus the portion that the State will pay you back that is about 30% of the price, --> 60 euros. That's reasonable, but still a lot more costly than in public healthcare.

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

That surprises me - I had really got the impression that they were a lot cheaper than that. Isn't there a thing where you get half the money back from the government, though, or is that only for special cases?

[anglepoiselamp.livejournal.com]

Trying to get money back from the state here is worse than dentistry without drugs. -___-

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

*checks*

Okay, these are prices for correcting a hole in a tooth, in a dental office situated in the bumfuck, nowhere, Finland. So, if you are lucky and you only have a small simple hole, that costs you as little as 37 euros, of which you will pay 20,20 euros and the state will pay rest. Cheap! If the hole needs more care, the price goes steeply up, one crown on a tooth will cost 122 euros, of which you will pay 74 euros. Of course you will have to peddle up the whole sum first, and then ask your money back within the next six months. I for example, was an idiot who lost the receipts' for my eye doctor and then was just lazy and therefore lost lost my chance to get money back for my 90 eur appointment.

price, EUR patient will pay, EUR
SFA00 Pieni täyte 37 20,20
SFA10 Yhden pinnan täyte 50 30,20
SFA20 Kahden pinnan täyte 78 45,00
SFA30 Kolmen tai useamman pinnan täyte 91 53,20
SFA40 Terä tai kruunu 122 74,00

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Oh, Wax is already at a private dentist, but he wasn't giving out medication stronger than extra-strength ibuprofen - she's got an infected root, which I guess to him is a toothache. He wouldn't even write her an excuse from work.