I'm 74, still working and can't afford new teeth. Dental care is my election issue

More and more, people are finding out how shitty capitalism is. But they often fail to identify the real problem: the rich. Everything is a sham because a very small group of people have all of the wealth. Change that and ordinary people can have something too.

I really hate to say this, but the issue is not only the rich.

The issue is the voters themselves.

You could open a new dental school in every province. Tuition will be very affordable, but graduates will be required to work 5 years for a public dental clinic. The dental schools and public dental clinics will be funded by taxing soda, alcohol and cakes.

Any politician that suggests that will be immediately accused of creating a nanny state.
- The rich manipulate the voters. A portion of the population are stupid as fuck and fall for culture war scams, but it's at the behest of the rich to keep us from developing class solidarity.
The problem is the system itself.

Fuck the rich, but fuck the system harder.
- But they're the same thing

I wonder how this person voted in their youth.

"I'm 34 and working. I can't afford to pay for other people's dental care. I'm voting Conservative!"

Good thing to vote for. As an aside, have you looked into getting your work done at a dental college/school? You can get the same work for a fraction of the price, but timing and quality can vary. If you are in a bind, might be worth looking into.

Also see: We must keep advocating for proportional representation. If PR dies, so does Canadian democracy as we know it. FPTP is already pushing us toward a two-party system, just like the USA

!fairvote@lemmy.ca is on bluesky too.
- Hmm, explain more?

Cost of dental care in Canada is ridiculous (don't know about US probably even worse there). One of the issues is that the dentists and hygienists are allowed to charge whatever the fuck they want. $400+ cleaning? Lol fuck that shit...a dentist in UK did cleaning for me within the cost of check-up so I wouldn't have to go hygienist unless it was absolutely necessary, not just because "oh well you have insurance, let's milk it dry and give insurance companies more reasons to deny claims and shit". And that's not even talking about everything else.

Where are they charging you 400$ for a cleaning? Edit - did not realize Van area was so goddamn expensive

Dental care is 100% an issue and it should be universal but a standard cleaning is about 200$ and if you tell the dentist you don't have insurance more times than not they will drop that number even further.

Source - I had a cleaning last month and my bill is in front of me.

200$ -> Three unit of time-Scaling 36$ -> One unit of time-Polishing

I'm in the GTA. 400$ is either disingenuous and you're pushing a narrative or your dentist is fucking fleecing you.
- Vancouver and it’s no where near $400 on average. Now if you haven’t been in a decade and they need like 15 units of scaling, expect to pay more than a person returning twice a year. I paid $67 per kid recently before being covered by a plan.
- Metro Vancouver, we get plenty of things more expensive here, don't ask me why, other than why not... (But some cheaper occasionally)
  
  Edit: I should mention, they're obviously fleecing the insurance company because they cover 2 cleanings a year, with no other limitations. I would never pay that shit.

What does age have to do with anything? Everyone deserves all of their body parts to be healthy not just "Non-Luxury" ones.

We should be able to care for our elders without forcing 74 year old humans to work so they can eat and sleep under a roof, but not even get dental care.
- We should care for our elders, yes. They also have the lowest poverty rates in the country while young people are experiencing the worst poverty and unempyment rates with a bleak future. Our society is so wealthy. Healthcare should be a human right no matter your age.

Still holding a job at 75 and can't afford dental care, that's rough..

Is dental care in Canada as expensive as in the US?

Dental and eyecare are largely private here in Canada, so yes. It will bleed your wallet dry unless you have insurance, work benefits, etc.
Teeth are considered luxury bones.
I don't have numbers to compare, but it, eyes, and prescriptions, are a glaring gap in our public healthcare, and I'm not sure people from elsewhere realize.
- We don’t. The going legend in the US is that all things healthcare related are socialized and cheap in Canada. Well, except for the Trumpiers. I can’t speak to what they think, or if they think.
Our liberal federal government has begun to include dental coverage under our healthcare. They started with elderly and those under 18 (I believe), but have expanded it recently.

It should eventually be "free" for everyone, just like our healthcare is (paid through taxes).
- I'd like to point out this is only because NDP (New Democratic Party, further left than our Liberals) got enough seats.
- https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/dental/dental-care-plan/qualify.html#wb-cont Federal Dental plan details ^
It's a racket. Fine if you have insurance, but it's a luxury many people cannot afford and as many of us know, if you leave teeth too long it masks other issues and then you end up in emerge and cost the state more money than if you got a cleaning every 6-9 months.

I have wondered this. Though it’s your most important issue, would you let it become a “single issue” vote? I.e. if it meant going down the Trump route but they promised free dental, would you vote for it?

I think the point of such an article is to point out that if we want to really protect our democracy against fascism, we have to also be delivering to such justified single issue voters.
- As devils advocate, So you'd be willing to give up democracy and your country for teeth?
No sound person would have trusted it in the first place under such a party.

Vacation to South America..

And even then.