If I need major dental work, and I do, but I do not have the hundreds of thousands of yen upfront to pay for it, what are my options as a foreigner? I have a job, but the pay is not great. Not much left after health insurance, city taxes and assorted bills each month.
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Health insurance covers dental work, i think it covers 75% of the cost (don’t quote me… I’ve never been good at remembering this figure).
So your out of pocket cost shouldn’t be too high unless you need your entire mouth replaced.
Dental is covered under health insurance. Unless you’re asking about purely cosmetic dental work.
[Here’s an explanation in English of what’s covered](https://www.ibmjapankenpo.jp/eng/member/benefit/dental.html). It’s for a specific employers health insurance provider, but the coverage should be identical across providers for the most part.
hundreds of thousands? it won’t be anywhere near that. I’ve been getting a root canal and it’s in the hundreds of yens in a visit. Plus a thousand yen if they do an Xray, or make a crown or something. Even cleanings which are not covered by insurance are like 3000 yen.
As long as you’re not impatient and willing to let the dentist work in a way that allows them to get you the maximum benefit from the insurance you’ll be fine. This is the first world, noone goes broke paying for necessary healthcare/dental care. It just might take multiple 30 minute visits until everything is fixed instead of one marathon session.
Also if it’s going to be a big bill you can contact your city hall, normally your out of pocket for the quarter is capped so if it goes over that amount everything is covered – you typically get a paper from them to give to the doctor (not 100% certain this also applies to dental care but give it a shot).
As others have pointed out, most (i.e. non cosmetic) dental work is covered by insurance. Furthermore, the insurance system in Japan caps the maximum you can be charged in any one month (in most circumstances, usually at around 100,000 yen).
What makes you think the procedure will be so expensive? Most dental procedures in Japan are fairly reasonable and should be quite doable, even on a modest salary.
Dental work isn’t expensive if you’re enrolled in the government health insurance system. Treatment fees are capped and you pay just 30% of the total cost for treatment.