10 things your dentist doesn't want you to know...

[Zoomzoomz]

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I've posted this article in the dental forum for feedback. I'd like to see your responses to any of the 10 issues at hand. Me personally, I don't know what to believe so I'm trying to garner some wisdom from those more experienced in the dental forum.

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Highlights...

If you're like most people, you see your dentist twice a year — just like those appointment postcards in your mailbox say you should. But where did the rule originate? In a comic book written more than 150 years ago — English satirist George Cruikshank's The Toothache

"No one quite knows what's being taken off the tooth," says Reg Moncrieff, a New York City dentist. "It's possible that bleaching takes something from the tooth that you might want later."

Another worrisome fact: An estimated 15 to 18% of dentists are addicted to drugs or alcohol, and a 2002 study of the problem by the ADA had roughly 10% of dentists reporting they'd used illicit drugs in the past year. Not exactly a comforting thought with a drill stuck in your mouth, vibrating mere inches from your brain.

A $1,000 dental bill in 1985 would translate into $2,837 today, since dental care has shot up at nearly twice the rate of inflation,

 

[Drill2Fill]

Where are they getting their information from?

 

[nothen2do]

Troll...some people are just ignorant

 

[1992Corolla]

a drill mere inches from the brain? HAHAHAHA, and if it slips it will hit the tongue or the gums, not go zooming into the corpus callosum, what a joke!

 

[Comet208]

You know what you are dealing with when AOL is the source. This is a stupid article written by someone who is VERY ignorant about the profession of dentistry.

 

[HermeytheElf]

The ignorance of this author is astounding. I honestly laughed when I read the article because they consider it to be an honest presentation of dentistry as a profession, yet they were sincerely, 100% wrong. I didn't agree with a single point in the top 10 list. In conclusion, the author of this article can go fornicate himself with an iron stick.

 

[double4life]

The scary thing to note is that there are many people, outside any aspect of the profession, who will take this article to heart. Ignorance breeds fear and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[polarnut]

Not exactly a comforting thought with a drill stuck in your mouth, vibrating mere inches from your brain.

"now now, mr. jones, i'm very close to your hypothalamus. try not to flinch, you dont want me to drill a hole into your hypothalamus, do you? do you want to be a walking zombie? huh? is that it? your brain is mere inches from my vibrating drill, for god's sake. in fact, stop breathing."

 

[Comet208]

The scary thing to note is that there are many people, outside any aspect of the profession, who will take this article to heart.

Which is a very dangerous thing. This is why patient education is an integral part of practicing dentistry.

 

[svwtyf]

Dentists recommend getting a checkup every 6 months because 99.99% of insurance companies and PPOs will pay for exams, prophys, and bitewings every 6 months. If insurance companies paid for Brazilian bikini waxes and capuccinos every 6 months and dentists were contracted with these insurance companies and PPOs, dentists would recommend that as well.

 

[JavadiCavity]

Not all patients are recalled every 6 months. This would only be characteristic of a cookie-cutter profile of a dentist. Depending on the health of the dentition, patients might be recalled every 6 weeks or as infrequently as every year. I'd hate to think that a dentist's health care decision is influenced more than marginally by the dictates of the health insurance company. The patient SHOULD consider both the dentist's recommendation and the insurance companies policies. The dentist SHOULD consider what the patient needs to have done in order to improve oral health, but only be aware of what limitations the insurance company places on their patients.

 

[Comet208]

This is how people on Dental Town are responding to this


and this is what someone suggested to be done with the author... i can't help not posting it:

"How about giving her a brain endo? Access prep with door-hole drill bit. Stick a very large broach (a wire scrub brush) in from the most superior "fontanelle" area, all the way past the cerebellum and medulla oblongata to the brain stem. Pour 1L of hypochlorite into access cavity. Use toilet brush to remove dissolved tissue. Obturate with giant wad of Methyl-Methacrylate and be done with it. NOTE: no amalgam core build up- that would cause MS."

 

[Rezdawg]

That was horrible.

If you havent read it, dont....save 2 min of your life that you will never get back...go have a smoke, it would be more beneficial to you.

 

[Biogirl361]

he's not trolling and it's not just an AOL article; my parents brought this very article to my attention a couple weeks ago when they read it in the original financial magazine it was in. I agreed with a few of the points (i totally agree with the one about protecting alcoholic dentists) but thought the other points were either lacking in important relevant information (like the digital xray one, among others) or just not even that good of points at all (what's wrong with doing CE in vegas?) I'll spare you my detailed breakdown of the article cause it's way too long 🙂

 

[Zoomzoomz]

The responses this post has generated are interesting to say the least. I ran across the article this morning and thought I'd like to share what was out there in mainstream media concerning dentistry. I don't know where the author gathered his data from...which is precisely why I was skeptical but curious at the same time. I'll be going to d-school this fall and I suppose I'll have to learn the "truth" for myself. - D 0.5 LLUSD

 

[Comet208]

I don't know where the author gathered his data from...

The author, whatever her name is, is apparently a well known author of several articles. Her bitterness towards dentistry may have started when she wanted to replace her amalgam with composite fillings (she claims for health concerns, but dental town people think other wise) and that for FREE too (according to dentists who have had her before). So they refused and said she doesnt need the procedures done. And since NO other dentist in the state of CA was willing to do this, she had to go to Mexico and have the procedure done. She has zero knowledge of dentistry.

 

[Rezdawg]

The author, whatever her name is, is apparently a well known author of several articles. Her bitterness towards dentistry may have started when she wanted to replace her amalgam with composite fillings (she claims for health concerns, but dental town people think other wise) and that for FREE too (according to dentists who have had her before). So they refused and said she doesnt need the procedures done. And since NO other dentist in the state of CA was willing to do this, she had to go to Mexico and have the procedure done. She has zero knowledge of dentistry.

She is clueless on amalgam. I'd like to ask her about the gamma 2 phase of amalgam and its relationship with proper trituration.

 

[burton117]

a drill mere inches from the brain? HAHAHAHA, and if it slips it will hit the tongue or the gums, not go zooming into the corpus callosum, what a joke!

Yeah.. really!! lol

 

[Columbiadent]

The ADA has responded to this article as well: http://www.ada.org/prof/index.asp

 

[kurt10]

She really is clueless about amalgam. I'm sure taking Mr. Whistler (pediatric name for the drill) to the amalgam is going to be way more detrimental, turning it into smaller particles for more surface area to be acted upon. It's stupid. There is no evidence relating amalgam to any disease. No need to change. And i'm sure that if it were a threat the ADA would be all over that, and their not.

 

[Comet208]

From the link above (ADA website):

ADA staff is contacting AOL to make them aware of the response Dr. Brandjord had sent to Smart Money magazine.

We encourage you to lodge a complaint with AOL, too, especially if you are an AOL member (see the contact information below).

General AOL Corporate Media Inquiries Nicholas Graham 703-265-1746 (You’ll get voice mail. The automated system will prompt you to press a certain number if you are an AOL member. Please do so. It’s important to register your complaint, as an AOL member and as a dentist, about this article). If you are an AOL member, you may also e-mail (through your log in screen).


I AM GOING TO COMPLAIN TO AOL

 

[coolraz]

What a surprise that this is on AOL. Lol they are the biggest piece of **** provider in the world. If you have AOl you are overpaying for you internet service and getting ******ed "special AOL" content. Do you know that AOL highspeed for example is just the extra "AOL" stuff for 20$/month and you have to pay a normal DSL or Cable ISP their regular fee to use it?! They sucked in the late 90's when you couldnt connect and they still suck now by publishing stupid articles.

By the way, the article DOES raise a few interesting issues (of course they're completely misrepresented) which could be used to further patient education. I hope that dentists whose patients come to them with this article use this as an opportunity to educate and promote instead of being defensive or dismissive (as that would, unfortunately, only support the article's points in the patient's view).

 

[food4thots]

just as in any profession, there are good and bad people in it. dentistry is not immune from it, especially because the money is good. i do disagree with a lot of things in the article though.

 

[burton117]

By the way, the article DOES raise a few interesting issues (of course they're completely misrepresented) which could be used to further patient education. I hope that dentists whose patients come to them with this article use this as an opportunity to educate and promote instead of being defensive or dismissive (as that would, unfortunately, only support the article's points in the patient's view).

Good point... I agree with this..

 

[coolraz]

There's a good way and a bad way to write money-saving tips. Here's actually a pretty interesting (and surprisingly good and very fair) article from Money magazine that actually tells you useful things on how to save money on dental work without disparaging the profession (and some of the tips are actually advantageous to the dentist as well!). I wish someone showed this article to the ****** that wrote the other one to teach them a thing or two about GOOD journalism.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2006/02/01/8367525/index.htm

 

[dentalguy]

Im doing my thesis in dental ethics as we speak and the response about amalgum fillings is outrageous.....its a proven fact that the resin-composite fillings do not last as long as the amalgum fillings....yes there are cases where the resin posterior composites last a long time (20 years) but for the most part they are only good for 7-12 where as amalgums are good for 20+ usually....

The ADA released a statement about how the mercury in dental fillings is not harmful and does not post a threat to patients.....in fact I believe it is unethical for a dentist to remove a silver filling just because of the heresay on mercury poisoning....

this is complete bs....i mean yes you can make more money if you do composite fillings.....but as dentists shoudn't we do whats best and not what is for the most money.....i know if i switched fillings in order to make money but not for the patients best interest that I would feel bad at the end of the day....

 

[Biogirl361]

that article's a lot better than the other one although i am not sure i personally would follow all the recommendations like trying to find dentists who accept cheaper insurances (cheaper work might mean lower quality)... also... i don't like them encouraging people to "negotiate" - if someone asked me for a discount i would politely say no (i guess it doesn't hurt to ask) but i'd consider it rude of them to press the matter further...
what do other people think about patients asking for discounts??

 

[coolraz]

that article's a lot better than the other one although i am not sure i personally would follow all the recommendations like trying to find dentists who accept cheaper insurances (cheaper work might mean lower quality)... also... i don't like them encouraging people to "negotiate" - if someone asked me for a discount i would politely say no (i guess it doesn't hurt to ask) but i'd consider it rude of them to press the matter further...
what do other people think about patients asking for discounts??

Yeah when I first saw that part too I was like "hmmm" but then as you read down it says your best best to get a discount is if you offer to pay in full upfront and you get 10%. For the dentist, this is ENCOURAGED by practice managment professionals as a very very good way to increase your % collections and decrease the time $ spend in accounts receivable. It's a win-win situation for the dentist. I would offer this option to all of my patients if they asked for a discount and I would think most of them would go for it (even though in principle I would require payment upfront anyway or credit-card pre-authorization for that amount). As for cheaper insurances, yeah it sure does means lower quality but hey, people KNOW this (it applies to everything) and it's up to YOU to persuade your patients that you are indeed a better quality dentist. Believe me, from shadowing a dentist, people WILL pay more for things like digital x-rays, awesome patient education, super-friendly staff etc.