'Canadian Public Health Care'. Do people realize how bad it is getting?

My maxillary molar has lost its half-century battle with dental caries. Two weeks ago, an infection of some bacterial type badly infected the gum-line adjacent to the molar. Since then it has spread into my cheek and jaw and is blurring my right eye! Here are some of the symptoms I've experienced over a two week period: intense pain, abscessing pressure against nerves causing tingling in right side of face, chills, flu-like symptoms, swollen neck glands, headache etc. The dentist said it must be extracted "right away", but that the earliest I could be fit in is 4 to 6 weeks! And, he sent me home with a prescription for antibiotics, but not for painkillers! I'm in agony here, way past a tylenol 2 pain here! The penicillin should reduce or eliminate the infection a month before the appointment date! Isn't there something wrong with this picture? You tell me.
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I sympathize with your pain and hope all will turn out all right. Unfortunately, dental care, which is essential to good health, is excluded from UHC plans from all that I can see--you have to buy separate insurance or pay your own way. In the States, it's far from the norm to have dental insurance with your health plan. There are some specific dental insurance plans out there, but it appears to me that they are pretty limited--my brother has one and they only cover a couple of grand--and there are co-pays on top of the premiums. I don't see it as worth it. When I absolutely have to go to the dentist (money is tight for me and no insurance) I find a discount dentist. Our parents had bad teeth and we used to live in Texas across from Juarez and they got LOTS of dental work for a greatly reduced price. Trickier to do when you're not on the border. I fear most Americans who hear about your story will be surprised because they same too falsely believe that dental, vision, long-term care, etc. is all immediately and readily available in Canada and other UHC countries and it's not. People get upset when you point that fact out, but Canadians already are spending a HUGE portion of their taxes trying to keep the UHC system afloat. To add more benefits will cost more and as each province has different plans depending on reimbursement some would have more dentists than others because health care providers have to live to. Good luck.
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