Watching the new Frontline documentary made me grateful for Web journalism and its infinite elasticity. PBS’ “Dollars and Dentists” — about the extreme difficulties millions of Americans, including children with government-provided insurance, experience getting dental treatment — tells an important story about a key part of the U.S. health care system that is usually ignored.
But squeezing a complicated story into a 50-minute film leads to scapegoating and avoids the most fundamental questions about dentistry: Why does dental treatment cost so much, and why do we treat health problems of the mouth so differently from medical issues that afflict the rest of the body?
The film, which should be watched by everyone except those who are convinced they will never have a problem paying for their family’s dental care, makes the usual visit to a giant parking lot full of desperate people seeking free treatment. It devotes a segment to the kinds of for-profit children’s dental clinics that often appear in local TV news exposés during sweeps month, and another to the less frequently covered problems of adults who can’t afford (or don’t think they can afford, or who are simply too scared) to visit a private dentist for relief of pain and who end up in clinics that may pressure them to have teeth extracted and dentures fitted.
These problems are familiar to me, but people who have always had dental insurance and have never needed procedures that require them to shell out significant co-pays will probably be surprised. They’ll no doubt be shocked to hear from the grandmother who called 10 dental offices but couldn’t get an appointment for her 5-year-old granddaughter who has Medicaid insurance. (State reimbursements don’t cover dentist’s costs, so in states like Florida, only 10 percent of private dentists — and more than 90 percent of U.S. dentists are in private practice — see Medicaid patients.)
They’ll be surprised that adults who head to hospital emergency rooms for relief of dental pain end up with bills for thousands of dollars even though ERs can’t begin to address the fundamental problems that cause the pain in the first place. They may even be shocked that “traditional dentists” have tried to shut down nonprofit clinics like Alabama’s Sarell Dental Center, which provide much-needed treatment.
There are fundamental challenges to covering dentistry that are difficult to avoid. When moms complain that their kids were screaming in the dental chair, or that it seemed to them that some of the procedures the dentist undertook might not have been necessary, it’s tough to admit that those parents might not be experts in the field. (Which doesn’t mean that every procedure was necessary — just that a mother’s unease isn’t dispositive.)
When documentaries repeatedly use phrases like “corporate dental chains” “backed by private equity firms,” you might forget that private dentists also run for-profit businesses. (And, of course, those chains might indeed be pressuring the dentists they employ to meet billing targets; though, again, let’s not forget that private dentists also have profit targets. We just have more reason to trust them.) When for-profit clinics encourage people to sign up for special credit cards and give 87-year-old women treatment plans for procedures that will cost nearly $8,000, it’s worth asking how much a private-practice dentist would have charged — if she could’ve gotten an appointment. (Medicare doesn’t include dental coverage.)
If the Frontline documentary is a little sensationalistic, it’s probably because the problem is so enormous and so underappreciated. “Dollars and Dentists” is a flawed show, but an essential first step to public awareness.
So I guess dental care should become another entitlement or dentists should all accept Mainecare and go broke. This will certainly get the replies of the pay for me welfare class and the ultrarich liberals who love spending other peoples money on free programs for those who see all life is free.
Taxpayers help fund dental schools, dental school tuitions and more. Dentists did not make it on their own. They received welfare for the rich. They must be mandated to treat more low-income Americans. We know dentists love mandates because they are behind virtually every fluoridation mandate in this country.
Dentists do not recieve welfare for the rich. Most get through dental school on loans and grants that have to be paid back. You cannot payback what you owe if a state payment for a procedure doesn’t even cover the overhead of that procedure. People have to pay for certain things in life. It is not an entitlement of life that all things are free.
The argument is the welfare comes through state subsidized schools.
Well most of us went to state subsidized grade, jr. high, and high schools as well as colleges and professional schools.
Here’s the deal. I am willing to give those behind me a hand up in life. I will vote to spend tax dollars to enable access to education for qualified people. Those people will become educated and not only repay their loans, but more than their entire debt to society through both taxes and an increase in the quality of life for the average citizen.
Hand ups forever; hand outs for life, never.
So NYSCOF, is this your universal take on things? Should the “needy” get free cars because taxes went to rescue car makers? Should we get free legal services, accounting, etc because many of those people benefited from tax funded schools and loans? Your comments are unrealistic. Clearly this is a problem that needs solving, but saying it is one professions obligation to give away their services is absurd.
Apparently. You have a skill, you make (what I consider to be) enough money, I need that skill, so you should provide it for free. See?
So would that apply to what ever you do for a living? If someone arbitrarily decides you have enough, will you provide what ever skill or service you may provide for free?
A liberal is a person that loves his fellow man so much that he is willing to spend every cent you have.
I’m a current dental student who is taking out full loans to get through school. My husband (who works full time) and I are making it, but not by much. I’m not getting taxpayer handouts to make it through school- we aren’t on government assistance. I will owe over $200,000 when I graduate. I’m not complaining- I knew this before I started. Know your facts before you start making accusations and pointing fingers.
Taxpayers fund all schools so everyone shoudl be mandated to do free work.
If you think we have a dental access problem now, wait until you remove fluoride from the water supply. While fluoride can cause mottling of the enamel, the teeth are more decay resistant.
Fluoride exists naturally at 7 ppm in Colorado where it causes Colorado Brown Stain. Ironically, these same people exhibited a very low decay rate. When you plot fluoride concentration against a person’s decay rate and mottling severity, you find a marked decrease of decay with a slight increase of mottling at 1ppm fluoride concentration. Thus, water supplies are fluoridated at 1ppm.
Selenium was reported to have a similar effect, but Colorado was a pretty place to visit for the researchers!
All licensed dentists should be required to see a minimum number of Mainecare clients.
So in your world a dentist should be forced to do procedures where the state payment doesn’t even cover the costs of that procedure. A dentist should lose money. You seem to believe that certain people are entitled to things others pay for. A pillar of the democratic party.
I agree…only if the state is paying off their student loans.
A lot like all Lawyers are required to do pro bono work……very interesting premise!
As a newly practicing dentist, I found this episode very interesting. It is a shame how corporate dental clinics are treating patients. The price that Aspen Dental was quoting for dentures was about double what it would cost in most private dental offices. I have seen numerous patients come from clinics like these for second opinions and usually they have been told they need work that they do not need. As far as why dental services cost so much, it is very simple. Running a dental office is very expensive. The overhead for employees, dental supplies and loan payments is higher than most people think. Also, it is not uncommon for a new graduate of dental school to have student loans from just dental school of $300,000. You can then anywhere between $400,000 – $1,000,000 for the purchase or start-up of an office. I do agree that there is a gap for adult coverage. Neither medicaid or medicare offer dental coverage for adults. The only options are to go to the county clinic or one of the free dental care programs such as mission of mercy.
Nick Cobb, DDS
Dentists aren’t as expensive as people think. I think I paid about $50 for most of my fillings 20 years ago. They are probably double now but still won’t send you to the poor house. It’s just part of the expense of living and having kids. If you need a couple fillings a year it is still much cheaper than a cigarette habit.
Double? Try triple.
Try $400 to $600 per filling. The going rate.
where are you going? we charge 230 at the most and down to as low as 35 dollars depending on income level.
Taking routine, regular care of your teeth is the cheapest way to go. If you take care of them, you won’t need those fillings. Be responsible for your own ‘equipment’! (Yes, I do work in the dental profession.)
Some people, despite the most meticulous care of their teeth and gums, develop problems anyway due to genetics.
That is the exception rather than the rule.
Never said it was the rule, simply stating a fact.
Soaking those type of teeth twice a day in 1.1% sodium fluoride in reusable custom vinyl trays will do wonders for high decay rates.
This is standard treatment for patients with xerostomia or decreased saliva too.
Cutting out the pop, candy, gum, etc does wonders too……..
The Myth of “soft teeth” and genetics related to decay are just that…total myths.
WRONG!
That’s a knee jerk response. Please cite a research article to support your facts.
Well we have about 20 dentists and hygenists where I work…I guess theyre all wrong too?
Well, yes, 20 people working in the same dental practice CAN all be wrong.
Genes are related to amelogenesis imperfecta:
“Mutations in the AMELX, ENAM, and MMP20 genes cause amelogenesis imperfecta.The AMELX, ENAM, and MMP20 genes provide instructions for making proteins that are essential for normal tooth development. These proteins are involved in the formation of enamel, which is the hard, calcium-rich material that forms the protective outer layer of each tooth. Mutations in any of these genes alter the structure of these proteins or prevent the genes from making any protein at all.
“As a result, tooth enamel is abnormally thin or soft and may have a yellow or brown color. Teeth with defective enamel are weak and easily damaged.
“In some cases, the genetic cause of amelogenesis imperfecta has not been identified. Researchers are working to find mutations in other genes that are responsible for this disorder…
Amelogenesis imperfecta can have different inheritance patterns depending on the gene that is altered. Most cases are caused by mutations in the ENAM gene and are inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. This type of inheritance means one copy of the altered gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the disorder…”
Amelogenesis imperfecta is also inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern; this form of the disorder can result from mutations in the ENAM or MMP20 gene. Autosomal recessive inheritance means two copies of the gene in each cell are altered…
“[There is also] an X-linked pattern [of inheritance]… In most cases, males with X-linked amelogenesis imperfecta experience more severe dental abnormalities than females with this form of this condition.
“Other cases of amelogenesis imperfecta result from new mutations in these genes and occur in people with no history of the disorder in their family.”
[http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/amelogenesis-imperfecta]
I stand corrected. Those cases are extremely rare however. there are hundreds of millions of people in this country and roughly 1/100th of the population is effected…Thats slightly less than the 10 people a day I hear claim this.
Thank you Liz!
There are numerous conditions that affect the ability of tooth enamel to resist decay. One is amelogenesis imperfecta. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/amelogenesis-imperfecta
One in 14000 people, or 0.01%, or less than 20000 people in the US have amelogenesis imperfecta. While you are technically correct, you are raising an issue not statistically impacting the perceived problems of dental care. If your other “numerous” conditions totaled ten, then 99.9% of the problems are still not “soft teeth”. Prevention is cheap, cheap, cheap. Bad lifestyle choices and laziness is expensive, expensive, expensive.
I agree that prevention is vital.
I disagree that it is “cheap, cheap, cheap.”
People who are financially impoverished and/or elderly essentially have no access to preventive dental care except extractions. MaineCare and Medicare don’t pay for it, and dental insurance is expensive.
Brushing and flossing are important, but so are twice-yearly dental hygiene appts to get rid of tartar buildups. People who are struggling to get by (and please do not tell me all unemployed people are lazy) focus on food and shelter and keeping their car going. Dentist visits cannot be their 1st priority.
I do agree that everyone should consume a LOT less sugar. But that’s not the whole answer.
That is simply not true. I’ve taken excellent care of my teeth over the years, as I’ve always had enough money to do so (dental insurance helps a lot). I’ve brushed and flossed etc. etc. since childhood. Yet every tooth in my head has one or more fillings, plus I’ve had 6 crowns and a root canal.
I have two adult daughters. Both have been equally careful. One finally got her first cavity a few years ago. The other has required thousands and thousands of dollars of dental care.
thousands and thousands? You must have went to Aspen.
Over the years yes you can easily spend many many thousands of dollars. I have one bridge alone that cost nearly 6 thousand!
the most expensive bridge here at PCDC is half that amount at full fee and could be discounted up to 50% off that amount based on income…if you ever need another bridge and dont feel like getting ripped off again.
I’m in the same boat, I’ve taken excellent care of my teeth over the years, have at times had dental insurance but for the most part have not. I don’t think I have a tooth without a filling, a couple may even have 2, I’ve had several root canals, crowns and 2 bridges and spent many thousands of dollars to make sure I keep my teeth.
Still about the same price. A member of my family paid $200 for 4 fillings last week.. Really, not that expensive.
There is a critical lack of dentists in Maine. There is ONE dentist for every 3,000 people in Maine. And yes, many of them don’t take Maine Care patients, and many of them don’t take special needs patients, i.e., kids with autism.
Special needs patients are just that– special. If I had a child with those needs, I wouldn’t want just any practitioner treating him/her. I’d want someone who is skilled and compassionate to provide the care. You can’t mandate that.
Penobscot Community Dental Clinic in Bangor has an excellent pediatric residency program offering care to both special needs children and adults. They also accept all forms of dental insurance and Mainecare. Call 992-2152 for anyone needing dental care.
Taxpayer money paying for this, and it is fronted by a George Soros organization, so tell me we should have this running on Public Broadcasting!
Taxpayers pay hundreds of millions of dollars a year for dental care treatment sought in hospital emergency rooms because half of all Americans can’t afford a dentist. You need to get after the dentists on this one.
80% of dentists refuse Medicaid patients. 130 Million Americans don’t have dental insurance. Many of those with insurance can’t afford dentistry’s high out of pocket expenses.
Meanwhile dental insurance companies such as Delta Dental spent hundreds of millions of dollars on fluoridation schemes when they could be instead increasing reimbursement so that more people could actually afford dental care.
Adding fluoride chemicals into the water is actually a money-maker for dentists because fluoride damaged teeth is a new epidemic affecting 60% of adolescents. Dentists will cover those stained and pitted teeth with veneers that cost about $1,000 a tooth. As long as dentists can make lots of money on cosmetic dentistry, the poor will continue to be ignored.
Your ability to assess this matter clearly is clouded by your obsession with fluoride. Anyone reading this would be well served to get other opinions on what NYSCOF writes.
Fluoridation works, actually, and it’s not stealing our essence, either.
Refined sugar is the devil in teeth. You need to stop the manufacturers from putting it food or tax it heavily to pay for the dental treatment required to fix its effects.
Just like they tax tobacco.
And just to be clear, peole have no money to pay for decay and toothaches, but lots of money to pay for cosmetic dentistry?
This is another sign of the times. Have you noticed how many people in Maine have missing teeth. Go to Aroostook County for instance and you will see a lot of people just have their teeth pulled because it is all they can afford.
That was a very unprofessional and one sided coverage on the issue.
The author was taking words out of the context and not looking at the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is that the dental practices are for profit organizations and, for example, pay taxes (unlike hospitals who are non- profit and don’t). Hospitals are obliged to take Medicarepatients and get reimbursed 47 cents of a dollar because it is part of the non profit world, this is their way to pay back to society because they don’t pay taxes.
So, next time someone wants to critisize the dental practices, please, make it more professional and bring more healthcare expertise to achieve objectivity and professionalism.
That was a very unprofessional and one sided coverage on the issue. The author was taking words out of the context and not looking at the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is that the dental practices are for profit organizations and, for example, pay taxes (unlike hospitals who are non- profit and don’t). Hospitals are obliged to take Medicarepatients and get reimbursed 47 cents of a dollar because it is part of the non profit world, this is their way to pay back to society because they don’t pay taxes.
So, next time someone wants to critisize the dental practices, please, make it more professional and bring more healthcare expertise to achieve objectivity and professionalism
Dental care is medical care, include it as part of what we all should have: SINGLE PAYER insurance, such as we already have for some–Medicare and VA.
I am a private practicing dentist in Texas, I started my practice from scratch 12 years ago. Unless you have intimate knowledge of the expenses involved in operating a dental office, it is difficult to understand the plight of dentists across the country. We treat, on a daily basis, many patients who begrudge their dentists the ability to collect the necessary money needed to keep our doors open. These same patients make snide comments about how wealthy they think dentists are, while ignoring the reality that many of us live in the same neighborhoods, drive the same cars, and have our kids attend the same schools they do. Every profession suffers the occasional crook, and unfortunately they make the news more than the honest ones- but citizens of this country need to find reality. Dentists do not employ workers, pay rent, fund taxes, buy supplies, pay auxiliary dental companies, and donate/sponsor community programs with rainbows and unicorns. There is a reasonable level of compensation that we should, in respect, gladly afford our doctors for the blessing that is their calling to serve their community with their gifts and talents. It can be a thankless and difficult profession from time to time, and it is difficult to stomach the kind of hatred and venom the common patient feels no compunction spewing at their doctor. It is unfortunate, but it appears that our country is doomed to get what it is screaming for- “free” healthcare. The saddest bit of all will be the realization that it isn’t the dream we dreamed- it will be dystopia. Will it be too late then?
I am a private practicing dentist in Texas, I started my practice from scratch 12 years ago. Unless you have intimate knowledge of the expenses involved in operating a dental office, it is difficult to understand the plight of dentists across the country. We treat, on a daily basis, many patients who begrudge their dentists the ability to collect the necessary money needed to keep our doors open. These same patients make snide comments about how wealthy they think dentists are, while ignoring the reality that many of us live in the same neighborhoods, drive the same cars, and have our kids attend the same schools they do. Every profession suffers the occasional crook, and unfortunately they make the news more than the honest ones- but citizens of this country need to find reality. Dentists do not employ workers, pay rent, fund taxes, buy supplies, pay auxiliary dental companies, and donate/sponsor community programs with rainbows and unicorns. There is a reasonable level of compensation that we should, in respect, gladly afford our doctors for the blessing that is their calling to serve their community with their gifts and talents. It can be a thankless and difficult profession from time to time, and it is difficult to stomach the kind of hatred and venom the common patient feels no compunction spewing at their doctor. It is unfortunate, but it appears that our country is doomed to get what it is screaming for- “free” healthcare. The saddest bit of all will be the realization that it isn’t the dream we dreamed- it will be dystopia. Will it be too late then?
I am a private practicing dentist in Texas, I started my practice from scratch 12 years ago. Unless you have intimate knowledge of the expenses involved in operating a dental office, it is difficult to understand the plight of dentists across the country. We treat, on a daily basis, many patients who begrudge their dentists the ability to collect the necessary money needed to keep our doors open. These same patients make snide comments about how wealthy they think dentists are, while ignoring the reality that many of us live in the same neighborhoods, drive the same cars, and have our kids attend the same schools they do. Every profession suffers the occasional crook, and unfortunately they make the news more than the honest ones- but citizens of this country need to find reality. Dentists do not employ workers, pay rent, fund taxes, buy supplies, pay auxiliary dental companies, and donate/sponsor community programs with rainbows and unicorns. There is a reasonable level of compensation that we should, in respect, gladly afford our doctors for the blessing that is their calling to serve their community with their gifts and talents. It can be a thankless and difficult profession from time to time, and it is difficult to stomach the kind of hatred and venom the common patient feels no compunction spewing at their doctor. It is unfortunate, but it appears that our country is doomed to get what it is screaming for- “free” healthcare. The saddest bit of all will be the realization that it isn’t the dream we dreamed- it will be dystopia. Will it be too late then?
He’s right.
Dentristry is a hard profession.
It takes years of education and training to become a dentist. 4 years of college and 4 years of dental school just to attempt to pass state licensing exams.
Once licensed you can look for a job in your field. You’re inexperienced so you’re slow, but you get to work at a corporate dental office where you can hopefully make enough to pay your loans and survive.
All the time working on scared patients that think you make way too much when you can barely pay the bills.
That’s the reality of a new dentist unless you’re the son of a dentist and working with your father.
I fear young adults faced with these prospects will look elsewhere for a career.
Everyone has missed the 800 pound gorilla in the room.
You need to address the couse of all of this decay. S-U-G-A-R!
If you want the freedom to eat anything you want you must accept the responsibility to fix what you destroy.
You need absolutely NO REFINED SUGAR to lead a happy and healthy life.
So if you want the freedom to eat whatever you like and the individual is not responsible enough to take care of their own problems, then simply add a cavity tax to all items with refined sugar to pay for all of the dental care needed. That pays for the destruction and encourages better food choices.
The stainless steel crowns demonized in the documentary (if it is indeed a documentary) are superior restorations for many children… much, much better than simple filling especially on back teeth.
With a stainless steel crown you pay for it once. With a filling you may well see recurrent decay within a year after the filling is placed. Now you get to pay for two fillings. That stainless steel crown now becomes very cost effective. For those concerned about the trauma to the child, the child only has to tolerate the proceedure once.
We’re just throwing a cup of water on a house on fire until we deal with the refined sugar dietary problem.
Everyone has missed the 800 pound gorilla in the room.
You need to address the couse of all of this decay. S-U-G-A-R!
If you want the freedom to eat anything you want you must accept the responsibility to fix what you destroy.
You need absolutely NO REFINED SUGAR to lead a happy and healthy life.
So if you want the freedom to eat whatever you like and the individual is not responsible enough to take care of their own problems, then simply add a cavity tax to all items with refined sugar to pay for all of the dental care needed. That pays for the destruction and encourages better food choices.
The stainless steel crowns demonized in the documentary (if it is indeed a documentary) are superior restorations for many children… much, much better than simple filling especially on back teeth.
With a stainless steel crown you pay for it once. With a filling you may well see recurrent decay within a year after the filling is placed. Now you get to pay for two fillings. That stainless steel crown now becomes very cost effective. For those concerned about the trauma to the child, the child only has to tolerate the proceedure once.
We’re just throwing a cup of water on a house on fire until we deal with the refined sugar dietary problem.
Dental care can be so difficult to access and afford for many people across the US. It was great to see Frontline cover this important issue. With a large part of the population without dental insurance, much more needs to be done to help bring reasonable options for care and treatment that won’t break the budget.
Dental pricing transparency is a significant issue also facing the industry. Procedure prices can vary 400% in the same neighborhood, sometimes within blocks of one another. In conjunction with Empirica research, Brighter recently released a survey on this topic and its impact on the LA area. Uninsured patients are potentially overpaying by hundreds of millions of dollars, with seniors, families, and minorities among those most impacted. For more, check out: http://www.brighter.com/research/price_transparency/los_angeles/
Fear of prices keeps many from seeking out care early on and sticker shock once care is received are gut-wrenching experiences far too familiar to many of us. Brighter.com, a dental savings plan and consumer empowerment tool, is working hard to bring affordable, quality care to the uninsured. Brighter believes in bringing transparency to dental care, letting members compare dentists based on reputation and upfront pricing. We use group buying power to pre-negotiate savings of up to 60% on dental procedures to enable our members to save and make the best dental wellness decision for themselves and their families.
Whatever happened to dentist hygiene? This film shows dentists putting their fingers into patient mouths, then using the same fingers to adjust the lamp, then back into the patient mouths again. Over and over, throughout the entire film, they do this. Unless the lamp handle is sterilized from one patient to the next, the dentist is transferring germs from the mouth of one patient to the mouth of the next. Same thing with the x-ray button, dental tools, and even eye implements that need adjusting. These people touch everything that can be contaminated before putting their filthy fingers in patient mouths. I don’t need to be suffering from OCD to have an aversion to dental-office visits. The last time I was in, the gal dropped the x-ray film on the floor. She would’ve succeeded in picking it up and placing it in my mouth had I not had the peripheral vision to notice and clutch her wrist in time. And that x-ray shield she threw on my lap? It was filthy, way dirtier than the pad my mechanic throws on my car fenders. Imagine how filthy the chair, itself, must be, much less the unprotected head rest! No matter how clean your clothes and hair are going in, you can come away only as clean as the filthiest patient before you. The thought alone makes my skin crawl. And dentist wonder why patients hate to see them or why infections are now epidemic in the health-care industry. What a sorry spectacle of health-care professionalism, infested with people who mistakenly believe that donning rubber gloves makes it okay to touch everything that is not sterilized.
Dentists, like veterinarians, are highly trained and skilled professionals. They perform procedures that no one else can. If you don’t believe me, try filling your own teeth! They incur huge educational debts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars before they have a chance to even begin practicing. There is no inherent reason why they should be forced to offer free dental care to anyone other than a public service of showing people how to brush and floss properly. May I suggest that those Mainecare individuals who wish to use a dentist’s services should establish a fund with some of the money they saved from not buying health insurance or Tanf or welfare programs and use it to visit a good dentist at least once a year. Then they should limit their food stamp allocation to fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and cut out the birthday cake, pop tarts and Booberries. Finally they should stop smoking and drinking too much, because it’s not good for your teeth and gums. Then any money that’s left over should be given to your hard working neighbor who is holding down three jobs at 10 dollars an hour and not getting any services from the state, but can hold his head up high.
Why is prevention of dental diseases discussed?
Dental hygienists cold prevent a lot of dental disease. If hygiensts were allowed to work independently, they could set up practices in these underserved areas without a dentist.
Dental diseases are preventable, but the information for the public to be able to do that has not been made available.
With disclosing dyes, the public would have a picture of what needs to be romoved from their teeth to keep their mouth healthy.
The biggest problem is diet. To refined, too sweet, too often. Produces to much biofilm that causes decay.
Greedy dentists would object. They use the cleaning/exam hook to generate patients and generate treatment plans. I won’t bother to elaborate on the THOUSANDS of dentists who enroll in bogus prepaid dental plans, primarily as a ruse to lead hapless sheep to slaughter.
Far too many dentists are concerned with generating income than competent patient care. My experiences with these bankers-in-a-lab-coat confirm the Readers Digest study (1997?) when 50%? of dentists sampled to provide a treatment plan to the test patient obviously had competency or integrity issues.
“1997 article in Reader’s Digest entitled “How Honest Are Dentists?” William Ecenbarger has done us all a favor by pointing out the remarkable inconsistencies across the board within our profession”.
I’d welcome the opinion of a few dentists on the 1997 article mentioned. It did not portray the profession in a favorable light, and I remain convinced very little has changed for the better. The results were consistent with my experiences with far too many immoral dentists. I caught TWO Florida dentists falsifying my records (to conceal slipshod treatment) within a 5 year time span. One got away but the other crook was fined and reprimanded. Of course his license should have been revoked for altering medical records.
After a few bad experiences in Fl I travelled 1,200 miles to a dentist from my past, with supposedly impeccable standards. The $3,800 of restoration to 5 or 6 teeth (1999) was technically sound but why didn’t he mention the two $800 gold crowns had cosmetic imperfections? I eventually learned the dimples were due to the metal being too hot when they were poured. Kinda seems you can’t even trust the “cream of the crop”.
I took an elderly uncle to an office visit. He had a six tooth bridge (upper front) with the two bicupids on each side serving as anchors. One of them needed a root canal. The quack (endodonist) at this large practice/office said the bridge had to be removed (and redone) in order to do the root canal. They then proposed the new bridge would only be anchored by ONE bicuspid on that side!! What? Even I realized one anchor was not adequate. Ended up at the office of a competent endo. He performed the root canal without any problems, along with some minor tooth restoration with the bride in place. That was 6 ears ago.