Dentists who Scam

[Kurk]

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This is a real issue in dentistry for doctors both young and old. Obviously "interviews" and volunteer hours can all be "faked until you make it" if someone knew what they wanted to do. What is being done to fix this?

I wanted to know if it would be acceptable for me to bring this topic up during an interview and discuss my motivations to heal the image of private-practice dentistry among the general public. I don't want it to be too political.

 

[doc toothache]

This is a real issue in dentistry for doctors both young and old. Obviously "interviews" and volunteer hours can all be "faked until you make it" if someone knew what they wanted to do. What is being done to fix this?

I wanted to know if it would be acceptable for me to bring this topic up during an interview and discuss my motivations to heal the image of private-practice dentistry among the general public. I don't want it to be too political.

At this stage of the game, you are not exactly in a position to discuss this perceived "topic".

 

[jadedphysiotherapist]

This is a real issue in dentistry for doctors both young and old. Obviously "interviews" and volunteer hours can all be "faked until you make it" if someone knew what they wanted to do. What is being done to fix this?

I wanted to know if it would be acceptable for me to bring this topic up during an interview and discuss my motivations to heal the image of private-practice dentistry among the general public. I don't want it to be too political.

How else do they pay back 400k in debt?

This is in all healthcare and prevalent in private practice

 

[Kurk]

Am I getting the impression that this behavior is condoned?

 

[2TH MVR]

This journalistic piece of crap is wrong on so many accounts. It is obvious they had an agenda and produced a story to cater to their agenda.
The supposed "experts". Really? One lady looked like she was 100 yrs old and the other doesn't seem to know what elective treatment is.

Dentistry is about elective and (non-elective) necessary procedures. Necessary procedures (soft and hard tissue treatment: perio disease, active caries, Orthodontics 🙂 etc.) are necessary just to maintain a healthy masticatory system. Elective procedures ("smile make-overs" are dental treatments that are not medically or dentally necessary, but are important to that individual patient. The problem is that the line between necessary and elective treatment gets blurred all the time. As with all elective procedures .... these are more expensive than the "necessary" procedures.

 

[Kurk]

I can understand the push of elective procedures, but telling people that they need x number of root canals when they don't seems to be more than blurring the line. What about the example of the daughter needing crowns on every tooth but three?

 

[FanOfCostco]

I love YouTube. Shows me everything I want to know.

 

[DrJeff]

Note to those either in dental school or wanting to be in dental school reading this thread. The reality is that if you have a patient with multi disciplinary dental needs, and have them examined and treatment planned by 100 different dentists, you're probably going to get 98 different treatment plans! And the reality is that given a particular dentists skill level, past experiences with similar cases, and knowledge and awareness of various treatment options and/or options to utilizes their various specialists if needed and what the specialists are comfortable with doing, NONE of those different treatment plans may be incorrect given the patients oral health maladies, as well as the level of understanding on the part of the patient as well as the patients desire to treat conditions, some of which may not be "problematic" today, but may very well become problematic on a large scale in the future if left untreated now....

 

[distressstudent]

"reporter: Veneers are so common, some critics are calling it a venereal disease"
lol

Fear-mongering rhetoric aside...

Even in a purely academic setting when situations are just hypothetical and no financial obligations are considered, I rarely find instructors coming up with the exact treatment plan at my school.


edit:

Lady reporter: " what's the likelihood that an eleven year old with new teeth that just came in will need 4 fillings"

Insurance guy: Zero. The probability is zero"

LMAO that is just some straight up bull****.

 

[DDSER1]

Fake news. This is very one sided. I’m sure there are dentists who over diagnose, but is that the vast majority? Probably not. Don’t believe everything you watch on youtube or read in the news, think critically about everything

 

[Hannah Banana]

This is a real issue in dentistry for doctors both young and old. Obviously "interviews" and volunteer hours can all be "faked until you make it" if someone knew what they wanted to do. What is being done to fix this?

I wanted to know if it would be acceptable for me to bring this topic up during an interview and discuss my motivations to heal the image of private-practice dentistry among the general public. I don't want it to be too political.

I applaud you for this but bringing this up during interview might not be the best thing to do. It might work your way but it could also rub the interviewers the wrong way. Why risk it?

 

[PreDentTechySon]

This is a real issue in dentistry for doctors both young and old. Obviously "interviews" and volunteer hours can all be "faked until you make it" if someone knew what they wanted to do. What is being done to fix this?

I wanted to know if it would be acceptable for me to bring this topic up during an interview and discuss my motivations to heal the image of private-practice dentistry among the general public. I don't want it to be too political.

I wouldn't bring this up during an interview. There's no sufficient evidence this is a widespread issue in dentistry. I would definitely bring up how you want to be an honest, ethical dentist who patients can trust. That will go a long way.

 

[TanMan]

This is a real issue in dentistry for doctors both young and old. Obviously "interviews" and volunteer hours can all be "faked until you make it" if someone knew what they wanted to do. What is being done to fix this?

I wanted to know if it would be acceptable for me to bring this topic up during an interview and discuss my motivations to heal the image of private-practice dentistry among the general public. I don't want it to be too political.

In an interview.... hell no. Last thing a dental school, or any organization wants, is a potential whistleblower or self-righteous SJW. You might give that impression by bringing it up.

 

[Greyangel6]

lol there's also the people that complain about dentists only "monitor" the teeth without doing anything. You can't please everybody. Me, I'm just gonna do what my best judgement tells me within the confines of the rules and regulations and laws, etc.

 

[Gyuji]

Just get it done outside of the first-world country you're from. It's cheaper, quicker and effective.

 

[yappy]

This journalistic piece of crap is wrong on so many accounts. It is obvious they had an agenda and produced a story to cater to their agenda.
The supposed "experts". Really? One lady looked like she was 100 yrs old and the other doesn't seem to know what elective treatment is.

Dentistry is about elective and (non-elective) necessary procedures. Necessary procedures (soft and hard tissue treatment: perio disease, active caries, Orthodontics 🙂 etc.) are necessary just to maintain a healthy masticatory system. Elective procedures ("smile make-overs" are dental treatments that are not medically or dentally necessary, but are important to that individual patient. The problem is that the line between necessary and elective treatment gets blurred all the time. As with all elective procedures .... these are more expensive than the "necessary" procedures.

This about nails it. What I see happening in a lot of these types of programs is that they compare different treatment plans and chalk the differences up to foul-play. However, it may be that one treatment plan focuses on hygiene and caries while the other goes a step further to offer elective or preventative treatment. This is not wrong as long it is made clear to the patient which treatments are necessary for disease control and which are elective. It all comes down to good communication.
There are also grey areas in dentistry like where one doctor may treat large caries with a direct restoration and another doctor may prescribe an indirect restoration. There are limitation and benefits to both and depending on your practice philosophy and the patient's goals you can go either way.
Having said all that I'm sure there are dishonest doctors out there who should be stripped of their ability to practice. What is too bad is that these doctors give the rest a bad name and it is hard for the lay person to tell the difference. This is especially true when sensational journalists covers the subject in an irresponsible way.

EDIT: I would not suggest bringing this topic up in an interview. If you want to talk about the bigger picture here then be prepared to talk about academic honesty and your character. In my opinion it is best to examine yourself critically before you go out and try to change, or discuss changing, others / an industry/ the world/ etc. The topic of your interview should be on you and your career in dentistry.