<p>I don’t trust dentists. I have several Mercedes in my mouth as a result of overzealous dentists. I don’t trust them At. All.</p>
<p>When I moved 25 years ago, I went to my lifelong dentist and knew exactly what treatment I needed. I then went to 3 dentists in my new town, two told me double digit #s of cavities and one told me the same basic treatment that my lifelong dentist had recommended. Those two dentists were no longer in town a few years later.</p>
<p>It is sad and scary that someone medical and someone you should be able to trust implicitly might have an ulterior motive. By the same token, some dentists simply have a more aggressive treatment philosophy and will, especially in the case of people who do not go every 6 months, try to treat everything to avoid potential future problems.</p>
<p>I hate paying for the dentist, especially when all 5 of us are treated as it takes such a huge bite out of the budget and in most cases a filling seems to be $130-200 these days, depending on the # of surfaces. Not that I don’t appreciate what they do, I very much do, especially the good ones.</p>
<p>On the other hand my in laws have a very expensive dentist and every couple of years they try someone else for a year or so, they point out the better “deal” at the new place, but within 18 months are back at the old pricey guy!</p>
<p>Two stories: </p>
<p>In college, I went to a new dentist near the college who told me I had to get all new fillings. My parents were not at all savvy, and I spent the summer replacing them (on their bill, fortunately). Wish my parents had been as smart as northeastmom’s.</p>
<p>Graduated, went to a new dentist, who I saw for several years. Moved again, about an hour away and decided to see a closer dentist. He wanted to do thousands of dollars of work on my teeth. I decided driving an hour to see my old dentist was worth it, and have been doing that for the last 22 years. Haven’t had a single cavity and only spent money when it was obvious (chipped tooth, for example).</p>
<p>My daughter has never had a cavity. When she’s out on her own, I’ll have to tell her to be wary.</p>
<p>Maybe some of the dentists who are pricier, i.e. charge more per procedure, need to if they’re conservative and honest and don’t ‘upsell’ the dentistry. I’d rather pay more for each of fewer procedures than less for each of a lot of procedures if some of those additional ones aren’t really necessary.</p>
<p>It’s tough with dentists because unless it’s something obvious, like a broken tooth needing a root canal and crown or an obvious cavity on the x-ray, how do you really know what needs to be done and what doesn’t unless one seeks multiple opinions? I think many times a lot of people trust their doctors based on how nice their personality and bedside manner are as opposed to true competence which is much harder to determine.</p>
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That’s so true. When I was a kid we went to a practice in the UK with 2 doctors. One was really nice and the other one was just horrible. There was always a long line for the nice doctor and hardly anyone waiting to see the horrible one. But half the time you’d end up having to go back and to the horrid one to get the right treatment in the end. He was the better doctor but gosh he was obnoxious. He thought everyone was a malingerer. I injured my neck when I was 8 and he thought I was putting it on and jerked my head to the side. When I screamed in pain he realized I was actually injured and called an ambulance and I ended up in hospital with my head immobilized for 3 weeks.</p>
<p>I love my current doctor. She is both nice and competent.</p>
<p>Thank you Intparent, for confirming what I have been suspecting for years. Everytime I have needed to switch dentists, I suddenly have a ton of issues that need to be taken care of. The second time this happened, I choose not to have the work done, and soon the dentist got tired of pestering me.</p>
<p>I recently went on the student doctor forum to learn what I could regarding possible medical school for out D. The dentist subforums are enlightening. It became very clear to me that dentistry is all about the money.</p>
<p>We pay more out of pocket for the best dentist ever. Everything he does is explained thoroughly, with pros and cons provided. He has often commented on the number of dentists out there who inflate issues in order to charge more. His hygienists tell us that he is among the best they’ve worked for.
Both daughters were scheduled for wisdom teeth extractions yesterday. He did one each instead of two because the others weren’t in as far as he’d thought they’d be or weren’t causing a problem (yet). He will re-evaluate in 6 months. He does root canals, too.
We travel over the bridge to see him - roughly 20 miles each way - because he’s worth every penny (and mile).</p>
<p>I have been mulling this over all day. The dentist did not call back. To be fair, I did not ask her to, but when I explained what had happened to the receptionist, she insisted that the dentist WOULD call me. Hmm, that has not happened.</p>
<p>I have been trying to figure out if she is incompetent… or dishonest. Neither is attractive. And I am so glad my daughter did not have to undergo this work – we would never have even known it was unnecessary. I am wrestling with whether to contact some kind of state ethics board (I assume there is one for dentists). I don’t really wish the dentist (or especially her very nice staff) ill, but when I think that this could happen to someone else, I feel like I should do something.</p>
<p>This has happened to me on more than one occasion. First dentist recommends filling and because I was young and without money, I didn’t do it. Next dentist I saw never mentioned it. At least once over the past 20 years I have switch from a dentist who suddenly started recommending a bunch of procedures - new dentist never said a word.</p>
<p>I asked a dentist friend about it and he looked embarrassed and said he never ‘forces’ procedures on anyone if they don’t want them. </p>
<p>I have a dentist now that I’ve been with for at least 10 years and I really trust him.</p>
<p>He said a lot of ‘soft spots’ never get any worse. Cavities don’t form overnight and a good dentist will often take a wait and see approach.</p>
<p>I’m not convinced that it’s even necessary for most people without dental issues to go in every six months for a check-up. I think that’s a way to enhance revenue.</p>
<p>It is just VERY wrong to inflict unneeded procedures on people. Not sure what the dentist COULD say after being found out in this manner. I think it would weigh heavily on you if you did NOT do something and found out that someone suffered because this person continues to practice in this manner. That would cause me to speak out, even if it made me uncomfortable (no one wants ill of someone “nice,” but if no one speaks out, they continue to practice this way).</p>
<p>In our family, we generally see a dentist about every year (sometimes it is two or more years between visits). We all have VERY GOOD teeth and no dental problems.</p>
<p>All those builders and self-employed contractors, and corporate employees now without incomes and thus dental insurance = dental practices that relied on regular customers with insurance, now are starving. </p>
<p>Haven’t you noticed how easy it is to make a doctor’s appointment?</p>
<p>When I was around 14 I was told I had 11 cavities, and spent part of my summer getting them filled. Then I went back to school, my parents got divorced and I didn’t see a dentist for 4 years. When I finally went to a new dentist the so called cavities had disappeared. The old dentist was a crook.
The thing that bothers me the most about it is that over my lifetime I have had those unneeded cavities refilled, as the old fillings fell apart, and each time the hole has gotten bigger until I ended up getting crowns in some of them. Not only did I pay for his boat, but for other dentist’s boats, all because the guy was a crook.</p>
<p>Grr.</p>
<p>Yes, I think the receptionist was angry, and not with me. This dentist is not the easiest to work with, I suspect. I think the receptionist was appalled at the story. I was really calm and matter of fact when I talked with her, just laid out what happened and apologetically asked to be removed from the reminder list as we would be switching clinics. She knew we were getting another opinion, because I had called to ask for the xrays and cancel the appointment a few weeks ago while we figured out what was needed. So how does that make her staff feel, to know that this happened? Awful, I am sure. </p>
<p>Another interesting thing, this guy who gave the 2nd opinion knew my dentist. We live in a fairly large city, so I didn’t know if he would. He didn’t actually look at her name until after he had rendered an opinion, and he was too professional to indicate what he thought of her. He said she was a couple of years behind him at dental school.</p>
<p>When I was a teen (many decades back), our family dentist told me & my family that I’d need platinum posts to replace my amalgum in all 4 of my molars. We didn’t do anything and decades later, my BIL who had recently graduated from dental school offered to replace the amalgum with porcelain (cosmetically more attractive than silver). He did and to this day, I have not had those platinum posts installed & no one else has said I should, including my other BIL & SIL who are also dentists.</p>
<p>H has federal insurance that covers dental exams & bitewing xrays, as well as damage from an accident but not much else. Our kids have not had many cavities at all (floride in their vitamens from birth through age 18 + good genes). Our dental bills have always been pretty negligible.</p>
<p>Our kids never had sealants, though the idea was floated when they were young. Doesn’t appear to have harmed them for not having had it done.</p>
<p>I read an article years ago in Reader’s Digest about dentists & how often patients get told they need things they don’t really need … or are charged more than they need to be charged. I am fortunate to have found an amazing dentist years ago who sold his practice to an equally wonderful dentist when he retired. I have recommended this practice to many people throughout the years. If you are looking for a new dentist, asking around for recommendations can be helpful.</p>
<p>Now, if I could just find a family doctor I like …</p>
<p>A couple of months ago (hmm, more like a year ago) I contemplated braces for myself. My dentist, whom I like, recommended I go to a certain orthodontist. Young guy, newer practice. He recommended I have my jaw broken, remove four teeth, go to a periodontist before I began, and have my wisdom teeth removed. </p>
<p>I had my wisdom teeth removed and consulted with periodontist who said gums looked healthy, etc. </p>
<p>I decided no jaw-breaking and was very skeptical about removing four more teeth. For those of you who are FB friends - check out my smile - my teeth are not that crowded.</p>
<p>So, I get a second opinion. I go back to older orthodontist who did DD’s teeth. He talked about mild underbite and said some ortho’s would suggest breaking jaw, but he thought it was too much money & risk for very little benefit. He never mentioned removing four teeth. Price was about $1500 less. </p>
<p>I got to thinking about something my dentist said when he made recommendation - the ortho he recommended did his daughter’s teeth. Hmm, sure. </p>
<p>Anyway, I am starting treatment in January - YAY - but it does pay for a second opinion.</p>
<p>Fireanddrain, sorry that you had to go through the pain and expense of “all new fillings”. I wonder of your dentist and the one that I saw attended the same seminar about how to make some extra $$$$$ from patients. What a scam!</p>
<p>Wow, the idea of purposely having a jaw broken for dental work would cause me to seek a 2nd opinion as well. </p>
<p>I am happy that I have a good internist and good allergist (tho I had to fire 6 others to get the good allergist). It makes a HUGE difference to have someone whom you can totally trust. </p>
<p>Hope our old dentist that H has known & seen forever calls back so we can make an appointment. That’s one of our major excuses for not seeing our BIL as a dentist–H really does prefer his buddy after all these decades.</p>
<p>All of these posts are starting to sound more & more like auto repair shops (doing unnecessary & poor work) but at least those places don’t compromise your physical health as dentists can. Wow!</p>
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<p>I would decide the same for myself unless I had 3 different opinions that believed telling me that I’d lose all of my teeth if I did not comply.</p>