The dental surgeries are in a frenzy as the year draws to a close. Before the flurry of flashbulbs at the family party on christmas, another tooth cleaning was in order, the filling in the molar should be checked for its firmness before it meets the filling of the christmas goose. And if you don’t have a stamp in your bonus booklet, you can quickly make an appointment for the checkup. This year, however, everything is a bit different for dentists as well. Calm.
Dr. Dorothea ebenhoh, spokeswoman for the dentists in the district of kitzingen, sounds the alarm cautiously. She runs a practice in mainstockheim with her sister dr. Julia ebenhoh. The two dentists agree on one thing: times have become difficult to calculate. "We lack planning reliability," explains julia ebenhoh, referring to two things: on the one hand, patients are unsettled, canceling appointments at short notice more often than usual or not coming at all. On the other hand, also for financial reasons, they wanted to wait with a tooth replacement and not have the treatment carried out under the current circumstances. "That makes it even more difficult for us to plan."Their employees are on short time, so that financial losses can be compensated for. Dentists could not expect state aid, however, female dr. Ebenhoh.
Costs are rising
At the same time, the cost of medical hygiene products has skyrocketed, and some of them are not always available. Just a year ago, medical mouth and nose protection was available for three euros per 50 pieces; today, the same number costs 20 euros. An even more massive price increase, because the consumption is much higher than for the masks, is to be complained about for the gloves. The package now costs twelve euros instead of 3.50 euros – although the demand among the general population may have risen to a much lesser extent than for the masks. And availability is still not always guaranteed. "We always have to look at what’s on the market at the moment," says julia ebenhoh. It suspects that the material has been misused as a speculative object and would like to see more support from the company’s representatives in this regard. Rough practices with many employees could end up in financial difficulties if the situation persists. And also the laboratories would lack sometime of orders.