Comments by patient through Singaporebrides.com forum

Hi Shanice Yes, I had braces previously and took them out twice ... once for ROM and once for actual day ceremony. But the dentist will charge you a fee for the material and also his labour for taking out and putting back the braces. Can be quite expensive so got to ask him beforehand on the charges. I went to Dr Loh, Omni Dental at Heeren. He's very gentle and patient.

zuzuPost Number: 81Registered: 1-2003
Posted on Monday, December 29, 2008 - 4:35 pm:

Price vs Fees

According to the Pocket Oxford Dictionary, price is the amount of money for which a thing is bought or sold.

Fees on the other hand, refers to the sum payable to official or professional person (e.g. doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects and engineers) for services.

Thus, it can be seen that the fundamental difference between price and fees is that price involves a product while fees involve a service.

When we compare prices, we make one single assumption:

The product that we are comparing is identical and differing only in cost, otherwise, we would be comparing apples with oranges, which does not help us make any meaningful comparisons.

An iPod is an iPod is an iPod!

The iPod in one shop is identical to an iPod in another shop with a different price. So it does not matter where you buy your iPod from because they are the same thing.

On the other hand, when it comes to services, the comparison is not so straightforward. For example, two chefs following the same recipe would not end up with exactly the same chocolate cake.

Invariably, one would taste better than the other.

The same applies in dentistry; two dentists doing a set of dentures each for the same patient will end up with different outcomes with the patient preferring one over the other.

Wild Boar Behaviour

We finished patients by 5:30 pm today and everyone left the office. Our staff then gets a call saying that an orthodontic patient of ours had broken his braces and was in pain. His parents insisted that he be seen immediately and refused to accept that the clinic is closed.

The parents said that they would be in our office at 6 pm. We instantly recalled the staff and I turned back from going to fetch my child from school.

Mum saunters in at 6:15 pm and I asked her where her son was because I needed to fetch my son from school. If I picked him up late, a teacher would have to stay back until he was picked up. Mum replied that the patient was on the way. She was not happy that I told her that I needed to rush off and she complained to her husband who was not in the clinic.

The patient comes in at 6:35 pm and when examined, we found that he had broken off a lower premolar bracket which was hanging off the wire. When asked if he was in pain, he replied no. We removed the loose bracket and I left, leaving the staff to tidy up and re-appoint the patient.

Apparently, after I left, Dad comes in and barged into the treatment room looking for me to confront me. He, then, leaves his family in the clinic and went looking for me in the shopping area.

How much wilder or more boarish can these people get? Doesn't it occur to them the inconvenience that they are causing to others or is life all about them and only them?