Also in the US, and also frustrated with the cost of dental care. I was poor growing up, so the solution to major dental issues was an emergency extraction. And I’m not exactly rolling in it now, and having to deal with several missing fillings, all uppers needing considerable work after an ill-informed “LVI” veneer experience ~20 years ago, and a decade old temporary implant that I could never afford to have finished with the permanent. And yes, I do my damnedest to take care of my teeth. Issues just keep piling up, and just one procedure for one crown—with dental insurance—would still be >$1k.
Unlike the Anglosphere countries apparently, here in Japan dental care is considered "medical" and an essential part of healthcare, and is covered by medical insurance just like any other medical problem. Cosmetic stuff of course is extra, but the essentials are covered no differently than any other procedure.
In Germany it used to be that way a long time ago. Then it went into base treatment free(amalgam fillings) and rest paid. Having been in the backend of health policy in Germany I can tell you that German current health leadership has been pushing to move normal care in the same direction as dental care to make more money.
Health insurance in the US makes it super explicit: "health insurance" does not cover dentistry or anything vision related. Because being unable to eat or see is not a health issue?
It's worse than that. Of course, you don't actually "need" teeth to eat: you can just eat baby food all the time I suppose. But a lot of infections in people start in the mouth, and historically tooth infections were the cause of early death for countless people. There's a reason people needed bad teeth pulled in the days before modern dentistry.
And yeah, vision checkups are pretty important to: regular checkups find problems inside your eyes that will cause blindness later.
The US seems to do an absolutely horrible job of preventative healthcare. Here in Japan, everyone gets a free yearly health checkup that looks for all kinds of issues; it includes blood, urine, and stool testing, and also includes hearing and vision checks, abdominal ultrasounds, a chest x-ray, etc.
Yep, we get such a good start, then it's all downhill. At 18 you're hardly a responsible adult.. And it's not exactly cheap out of pocket here either. (though maybe better then the US? maybe)
It’s depressing, honestly.