<p>A few days before D left to study abroad this semester she went to our family dentist for teeth cleaning and a checkup. Dentist said she had FOUR cavities AND 3 “trouble spots” that might turn into cavities! Maybe due to ending flouride treatments when she turned 18 and no more sealants since then (per the dentist). No time to fill them prior to leaving, so they gave her some extra strength fluoride toothpaste (RX only in the US) and said to brush nightly, floss it into her teeth, and leave it overnight. Then get them filled when she gets home. I made the appointment for fillings for today, right after she returned.</p>
<p>So… four weeks ago she leaves the toothpaste behind in another country while traveling. Panicked, she makes an appointment with a dentist in the country she is studying in. He looks her over and says, “I can’t prescribe that tootpaste, as you have NO CAVITIES”. He even took an xray to check.</p>
<p>What to do? We decided to get a 2nd opinion when she got back. She brought the xrays from the dentist in the study abroad country, and I picked up her xrays from the family dentist this week (and cancelled today’s appointment for the moment). We went to the dental school at the state flagship university and had an appointment with a faculty member. He looked, said our family dentist’s xrays were too blurry to tell much… took a new set, and pronounced NO CAVITIES. One possible trouble spot to watch, but it has not changed since xrays 2 years ago (family dentist also sent those).</p>
<p>Needless to say, we are switching dentists (the faculty clinic at the University takes our insurance, so we will just start going there). I called the family dentist to politely let them know what happened, and let them know that we would be switching clinics. The dentist is going to call me back. But I am appalled… D almost had drilling and fillings for four non-existent cavities. I sort of thought this might be a gray area… “I see a spot there, but don’t think it is ready for filling yet.”. But it was not a subtle/judgement call type of difference. :eek:</p>
<p>We are trying to make an appointment to see the dentist for our kiddos (who have had very good teeth and hardly any cavities all these years), but maybe it’s OK that he hasn’t been returning our calls. He’s semi-retired and sees very few patients. My kiddos aren’t all that crazy about going for dental appointments. THank goodness for the dental school you trust!</p>
<p>Why should dental xrays be blurry? That’s very weird as it has never happened to us all the years we’ve had xrays.</p>
<p>I had similar concerns with my previous dentist. He kept wanting to fill “pre-cavities”. What is a “pre-cavity?” It’s difficult to switch professional providers, but some other addt’l issues arose, and finally I switched. Funny, I haven’t had pre-cavities or cavities since.</p>
<p>I had a similar experience- but with dentists 1 mile apart.</p>
<p>I have dentist phobia, but had a lot of problems with teeth. ( extensive braces in childhood -was a study case at the university- owwee)</p>
<p>Dentist #1, took xrays, said I needed special work on gums- etc., they redid one filling & gave me an estimate inc. insurance coverage for all the other work I needed. ( which ran into thousands even after ins)
Well, I didn’t have the money for all of that- I didn’t think they did a very good job even cleaning my teeth & the filling had been so painful, that I didn’t go in again for actually years. ( about 5)</p>
<p>I recently found another local dentist ( after reading yelp reviews for months) , because we were going to the mts for xmas & the cold often makes my teeth more sensitive.</p>
<p>They cleaned my teeth, & took full xrays, listened to my concerns & while they told me I needed a biteguard ( which I could get at the drug store) & that I should be flossing more, my teeth were in very good shape.</p>
<p>Well… I do think that as spots appear to be filled, they are not always “full blown” cavities, and they can “remineralize”. Or just not get any worse. This is pretty clearly not what happened here, though.</p>
<p>This family dentist is in a solo practice (she had a falling out with her partner a few years ago and split off). So… I kind of wonder if she bought older equipement to get started or something? I mean, I would never know. But maybe that explains the blurry xrays. Still waiting for her call (when I called her office to explain the results, the front office person immediately said she would have the dentist call me, although I did not request it). It will be interesting to hear what she has to say…</p>
<p>I’ve been to dentists with VERY OLD equipment–NONE produced blurry xrays, ever. The falling out may have been due to these practices? May also be why she needs to have more & expensive procedures? Would definitely think about filing a complaint, especially if you have anything in writing from the different dental offices (original & the two others). Scary!</p>
<p>I have had a couple of bad dentist experiences. The dentist we had as kids was really bad. Strangely at out six month check ups we would always have cavities on just one side one check up, then the other side the next. The week before I got married the first time I had a bad tooth ache and went to him and he said there was nothing wrong. The last night of my honeymoon I was in agony and my entire right side of my face was hurting and couldn’t even be touched. When we got home we went to a different dentist that day who initially told me off for not going to the dentist earlier then was horrified to learn i had gone to one a week earlier. I had an abscess that he said had probably been there a couple of years. He had to drill through the tooth without an anesthetic to drain it (that was fun). I have had a lifetime of dental problems. Partly because I do I have really bad teeth (weak enamel) but partly because of the poor treatment from the one dentist as a chile.</p>
<p>My 2nd bad experience was when I moved to the US. I have several crowns and I 1st moved to the US the first dentist I went to said the crowns on my front teeth needed to be replaced and quoted one price then suddenly doubled it because the existing crowns done in a different country were done in a different way to US ones. I went to another dentist and asked for a quote to replace the crowns and he examened them and said he *could *give me a quote, but why? They did not need replacing at all. I went to him for a while but when he retired I did not like his partner who took over at all. Very pushy and all about cosmetics and spending big bucks, and creepily smarmy.</p>
<p>I really need to find a new dentist and make an appointment. Ugh.</p>
<p>But OP, I think your dentist needs reporting to whoever dentisis get reported to.</p>
<p>I received that kind of advice before. I think they go to “how to make more money” seminars.</p>
<p>This is why I hate my dentist: They look up what your insurance covers, then make a plan of what you can have done this year, next year, etc. Then they call you non-stop to try to get you to schedule what they want to do to you. What other kind of practitioner does that?!</p>
<p>It’s like if your insuance will cover two crowns in 2011, then we’ll make sure you get two crowns in 2011. My level of trust is 0.</p>
<p>I feel compelled to put in a good word for dentists: we love ours. He’s conservative in his treatments and has an excellent hygienist (very important, as the bad ones either don’t clean thoroughly enough or else rip your gums apart). He’s an endodontist and has done a painless root canal on me, as well as a couple of crowns (over the course of 20 years). My whole family actually looks forward to routine dental appointments, since his whole office is so friendly.</p>
<p>Some dentists look in your mouth and see a new boat and others don’t have that approach. I had a boat guy and swtiched quickly to a much less financially driven dentist who has been great. Like anything, don’t be afraid to shop around.</p>
<p>My BIL & SIL are dentists practicing together and have lifetime friends among their patients. They are very honest, conservative & inexpensive. I trust them absolutely–unfortunately they live in SF & we don’t generally feel like dental work when we visit them there. :)</p>
<p>We had a wonderful dentist who was worth driving across the lake for- but he retired!
Sold his practice to a luxury truck guy( who drives it to costco)
He has a “fun” personality, but his eye on an Italian villa.</p>
<p>We love our dentist, our hygienists and the receptionist, too!</p>
<p>But we switched to this dentist after the previous one insisted that my daughter needed sealants. At the next visit after getting the sealants, the dentist said that she had cavities under three of the four sealants. When we arrived for the cavity-filling appointment, after having a chance to think about the situation, I asked to speak to the dentist before the teeth were filled, as I had thought that the whole purpose of sealants was to prevent cavities. I was told that if I talked to the dentist beforehand, there wouldn’t be time to fill the cavities. I said that was fine, but I needed to talk to the dentist. The dentist had no real explanation. I switched dentists, and my daughter hasn’t had a cavity before or since.</p>
<p>intparent, when I was in college I had a filling that came out. I went to a dentist near my college (think I found him from a local phone book). He fixed whatever was wrong and told me that all of my fillings were “very old” and that most needed to be replaced. I called my parents to tell them the “bad news”, and was very upset. My parents just laughed. They knew that I had seen a “boat guy” (if I may steal barrons’ term). When I came home from college I went to my new dentist who had not done most of the dental work in my mouth. He found nothing wrong with my “old fillings”.</p>
<p>My mother is in her late 70s needed a bridge. She went for several opinions and was also shopping for price. One dentist scared her to death when he asked her to sign what he called a proposal (once one signs, I think that it is a contract for the work). My mother did not want to sign anything because if she was unhappy as the work progressed she wanted to be free to go elsewhere. She found a dentist who did not ask for a signed contract.</p>
<p>^^ Just wanted to add that my parents felt the “new boat” dentist saw dollar bills since he saw that I had braces. My parents felt that he was trying to “cash in” with parents who were willing to shell out for dental care, and tuition at a private university!</p>
<p>We H & I took our current jobs, we had dental insurance for the 1st time. We never had any particularly egregious experiences previously, although I have a phobia of dentists. We took the dental equivalent of an HMO and there was only one dentist in town who participated. We got the same sales pitch for almost $10,000 for each of us. </p>
<p>H broke a tooth and needed a root canal & crown. This dentist didn’t do root canals so sent H to a specialist. The specialist wanted FOUR visits to do the root canal & crown and he wouldn’t make the following apt. until you were there, and there was always a 4-6 wk wait. H is not patient. </p>
<p>Turns out our neighbor is a dentist. We talked to him and he said it is a seminar/course in dental school about how to do the sales patch for max. dental work. Anyway, this was late May and we had to wait until July 1 to change dental plans so we could see our neighbor. Did that right away, and he fixed H’s tooth in one visit (well, he did need a brief second one to replace the temp. crown with the real one).</p>
<p>Another dentist would-have-been disaster:
Many years ago as a young newlywed, I traveled one hour back to old neighborhood to maintain relationship with childhood family dental practice. The Old Man had long since retired, but I trusted him enough to trust his new associates. I went in with mild discomfort, and came out with the diagnosis of root canal. In shock, I went to a random local up-the street dentist in my new neighborhood for a second opinion. After listening to my story, he asked one question: do I get sinus infections? I said yes, and he said it was merely the tooth root being “tickled” by the bloated sinuses, and no dental work at all was needed. In the years since, the mild discomfort has occasionally returned for a day or two, but I sure was quick to replace the old, ‘trusted’ dental practice with my new, unknown one!!</p>
<p>Our family has ‘good’ dental insurance.
Been with the same dentistry group for many years, two dentists in group.
Mostly, I am comfortable with them and believe that work is recomended only if actually necessary. But I do make it a point to ask to see the films of supposed cavities (as though I can really interpret the films!). Maybe if they know I’m paying some attention it might give them pause to suggest work on nonexistent cavities?</p>
<p>I do know that my insurance plan only covers some materials on some teeth and that the dentist is supposed to ask me about what material I want (when there is a choice).
That never happens and insurance only covers the lesser cost material of course.</p>
<p>Only so much hovering I can do to try to not waste $$$$ I don’t have.</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear there are “boat dentists” out there. Felt compelled to add some happy stories too </p>
<p>I have a fabulous dentist. He has high rates, but he seems honest and fair. He will explain where he sees issues (decay around old filling)… but admit no worse than the year before. He does all himself - no assistant or receptionist. Although he is in his 50s, he has rejoined the National Guard and does 3 month stints in the middle east caring for our troops. </p>
<p>Another dentist/friend left his successful practice when aggravated over hassles of insurance and inability to do quality extensive care. He spent several years after that working on indian reservations as a government dentist. </p>
<p>Others can continue to vent. It does a valuable service… I had no idea that there were so many dental recommendations made with profit motivation.</p>
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