100 Ways To Save on Dental
Hands up if you love going to the dentist? Thought so. This week on the Daily Drive we spoke to retired dentist Dr Jamie Harris. 
Dr Harris claims to have written the first book of its type in the world. Whilst I don’t think you’ll see it on the New York Times Best Seller list anytime soon, it could top your personal favorite list if it saves you the thousands of dollars Dr Harris says it could. …Time to turn the system in your favour…
Research shows if you’ve got a bad oral condition it can show up in the rest of your body by way of cancer, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, alzheimers and even premature birth. Imagine then the burden off our health system if we could minimize the problems in your mouth!
Dr Harris conducted a survey of patients at his Adelaide practice and he found that three things stop people from visiting a dentist – time, fear and cost, the greatest being cost (or maybe fear of cost lol).
When we pressed Dr Harris to spill the beans on how we can save “thousands” here’s a taste of what’s in his book. You’ll need to buy the book for the full list – details below
- The amount of dentistry you need can vary depending how bad your mouth is.
- If a dentist says you need $5000 worth of work, get a second opinion. Dr Harris says many practices will do this for free.
- There are companies out there who can offer payment plans for as little as $20 a week.
- Speak to your health fund first as they can steer you towards dentists in your area who may not charge you a gap payment
- If you need a filling, discuss the type of filling materials with your dentist. Composite materials will, on average last 6 years, whereas porcelain can last 10+ years.
- Take control of your dental health by telling your dentist what outcome you’d like and asking for help on minimizing the bill rather than blindly accepting the status quo.
- Try this one – If you live 15 minutes away from your dentist, suggest to him/her that if they have a cancellation, you can be there in 15 minutes but you want a discount. Even dentists wants bums-on-seats. My dentist recently offered me a full teeth whitening service if I could source 2 tickets to the Justin Beiber concert for her daughter!
Dr Harris lays claim to having the fastest growing dental practice in the world in 2013 with his business growing 600% in 6 months.
If you’re into social media, he had 18,000 likes on his practice facebook page. To put it into perspective, the Fiftyup Club facebook page has had 9392 to date!
So here's a link to purchase Dr Harris' e-book: 100waystosaveondental.com or contact Dr Harris at topgundentist@gmail.com
