Also dental care is very infrequent. Other than getting yearly cleanings, which can easily be paid for out of pocket, some people can go years without the need for dental work. That's another reason why people don't buy dental insurance.
I oppose universal health insurance, but I am open to states using a portion of the sales tax to encourage private insurance plans to offer stand-alone dental insurance for people, which would be at reduced rates as everyone is paying the sales tax anyway.
" It's very expensive, either through insurance or for the patient paying out of pocket at the dentist's office."
In the US, I've found dental expenses to be a reasonable amount of money. It's the physicians that nail me to the wall and big pharma that finishes me off.
It was surprising to hear Medicare doesn't include dental. But maybe that why dental is still affordable, I don't know.