Starting to feel like the entirety of dentistry is a scam
Starting to feel like the entirety of dentistry is a scam
In the USA. Up until a few years ago dental visits were nothing to really think about. I went twice a year and got a cleaning. There was one bad place I went to a decade ago that kept "finding" small cavities to "proactively" fill but thankfully I switched to another and all is well. My home care routine is perfect. I use an electric toothbrush twice a day, floss, use mouthwash, wear a nightguard to protect against grinding, and don't really drink or eat sweets.
Yet two years ago dentists started hitting me with all this talk of periodontic cleanings. Deep cleanings. Scalings, whatever - getting in the pockets under the gums. At this point things took a turn. It started to feel like I was a cash cow being milked for all I was worth. I was even convinced to fork over a few grand for a gum graft. It literally made things worse, like I had more recession after the graph - more of the tooth was exposed. The dentist then gaslit me saying it was totally fine and it didn't need to be redone even though it was objectively worse than before when they were emphatic that it needed to be done.
Now I go to a new dentist because I move and the entire thing feels like an upsell from front to back. I think I got upsold on procedures four separate times during the visit. They even refused to give me a regular cleaning and told me I had to do the expensive periodontic cleaning where they charge me out the ass. Like what the fuck is going on? My gut after I left the office was just reeling and screaming at me not to trust the dentist. I can't even put my finger on why, they seemed very professional and answered all my questions. But the gut can pick up on stuff the brain can't, maybe.
This is all just really upsetting. I'm lucky enough that all my interactions with the medical system so far have not had this air of conning me into doing expensive procedures. Now I feel like I can't trust these people that went to these crazy expensive/prestigious/exclusive schools to spend years of their lives learning how to care for my health. Am I going crazy? Are dentists really all scammers?
everything else in the united states is a scam, why wouldn't dental care be
I've had friends from the US come visit me in Colombia specifically to get dental and medical work done. even with airfare etc. it came out cheaper than doing it in scam nation
And it's really good quality too. Dental and plastic surgery medical tourism in Colombia is a big industry
Have a relative that took a short vacation to Mexico to get dental work done and still came out ahead.
People in Europe go to Turkey for the same reason. Scandinavians and Germans also go to Poland.
If you can't pay you're fucked.
If you can pay they'll fleece you.
This is the most rational economic system ever.
My sister worked as a dental assistant for years. You are correct dentists will scam you for all you’re worth.
Yes you are not crazy it is a scam now like everything else.
Why do you think there’s so many trump loving dentists? The American dream is to scam people enough to retire comfortably and get out of this hellhole.
Check the cars in the parking lot, and the front desk.
If they got hot women at the front desk and there are NICE cars that seem to be staff, it’s going to be a scam place.
Idk, maybe. I switched to a new dentist (who happens to specialize in Invisalign) for a routine cleaning. Despite my bite being fine, she wanted me to consider Invisalign. I've previously had braces that gave my teeth a different misalignment, which I had to get Invisalign to correct. I have always religiously worn my retainers.
Also, my previous dentist always wanted me to get a deep cleaning and said I had enormous pockets. This one said my pockets were fantastic.
If it isn't all a scam, it seems wrong that there isn't agreed-upon criteria between dentists to determine when dental work is medically necessary
There was a big trend a few years ago where all the small practices got bought out by corporate chains. I'm not surprised it's all a scam.
Yep dentistry is going the same way pharmacy went over the last couple decades. Always ends worse for the patient for the benefit of the C-suite and their stockholders.
Someone I know who is borderline for sleep apnea and snores pretty badly went to see if they'd offer a mouth guard or retainer that might help...and they went on a spiel about how it would cost "a new car" to get a special retainer that would essentially "adjust" the way his jaw closes. He asked them to clarify and they said it would be thirty thousand dollars.
Fun fact, you can buy virtually the exact same retainers over the counter at most drug stores for $40-60. Look for any FDA-approved Mandibular Advancement device, and it'll work the exact same way as that $30,000 device because they're the exact same thing with a slightly different impressioning method.
Right there with you. About 20 years ago when I was young, I had a dentist put me on that Care Credit shit and racked up like 3k in debt without even realizing it was happening. Can't say I've trusted a dentist since then. About ten years ago, i tried going in for one of those cleaning and X-ray deals and we never even got into the cleaning on my first visit because they wanted to go over all the problems and set me up on a payment plan to fix them. Which I didn't do because I couldn't afford it. Now, my mouth is a mess; I've got regular ear aches and headaches, and the last dentist I went to in order to get a couple teeth pulled called me a gummy bear when talking to their colleague right outside the room. Top that all off with being in an area where no one is taking covid seriously and I'm basically at my wits end.
I feel like most medical shit in the US is a scam in one way or another. That being said I really like my dentist, he seems really knowledgeable and has never tried to sell me on anything I don't need
I had some sort of gum infection that cleared up with antibiotics from the ER (it swelled pretty bad). Went to a dentist to make sure it wasn't a deeper problem with my roots or something. First thing they did was a painful set of x-rays that proved my roots were FINE. So the dude bumps me around to see three different kinds of dental experts, none of them could figure out what the cause might have been. Lastly they recommend I get FOUR TEETH REMOVED (WTF?!). I never went back. Guess what? I'm fine.
Some people really need it, like I had fucked teeth and had to have the wisdoms removed (another baby tooth didn’t have an adult one behind it so the dentist did some stuff (I was a kid I don’t recall what) to try and might make it last (it has so far).
Brush, floss, mouth wash on almost daily basis and the only thing that would really change is if I did it daily they’d be whiter.
If you can swing doing that daily and have no issues from the way they grew in it’s probably fine to skip out on it so long as the hygiene is maintained for the most part.
Really, what the fuck is up with dentistry it feels like the most vibes-based medical profession out there. Dentists seem less like doctors and more like salesmen with how they treat oral health, especially wisdom teeth. I swear every fucking dentist will insist that you get them removed immediately as if they're cancerous but they're just normal goddamn teeth. How the fuck is this still allowed?? It's like if doctors urged all their patients to preemptively cut out their appendix and tonsils because they might cause problems later.
Gonna push back a little on the wisdom teeth thing, at least if they don't come in right they can fuck up your other teeth and jawline just trying to come in, and that's before getting to the potential for infection for improperly erupted teeth. Until I got mine removed a few years ago, I got tons of infections in the sides of my jaws that were painful as hell for literally days, and I was not keen on rolling those dice any longer.
And your appendix might get an infection and could kill you if it ruptures. Does that mean doctors should default to removing them from everyone? Even before it causes any issues?
My problem isn't that dentists remove wisdom teeth, it's that they remove them in completely asymptomatic people as standard practice.
I got my wisdom teeth removed really young because I had an unrelated dental surgery and the dentist was apparently just like, "while we're in there we might as well get them too" and my parents agreed. That shit sucked so much, I had to pack the deep holes in my gums with gauze for weeks. The rest of my teeth came in naturally straight as well, so I think it was totally unnecessary.
never run into anything like that myself, but scams in the USA is the least surprising thing ever
hope you can find a good one that'll just do the fucking cleaning and x-ray lol
Just a heads up, you shouldn't use mouthwash, it fucks up the bacteria balance in your mouth. Kills the good along with the bad, which can allow the bad to take over
Same way how oral antibiotics can give you permanent diaorrhea if you're unlucky, cause it wipes the gut clean and then the doo doo ass bacteria takes over.
Not saying this isn't true, because I'm a dum dum, but how is mouthwash allowed to be produced and sold around the world?
Because capitalism and corruption and lack of oversight?
I’m convinced those gum cleanings are the scam of the century. You’ve got a “trusted” health care provider telling you to do something that’s very profitable for them, but leaves your mouth vulnerable to worse problems than you had before. These dental chains like Aspen are notorious for recommending this.
The really fucked up thing to me is that I have no idea whether it would actually be a good treatment or not. If I go to another dentist and they tell me I don't need it, who is right? Am I just trying again and again until I get the answer I want? I guess the profit motive weighs heavily on the side of them recommending it. Do I need to teach myself basic dentistry to advocate for myself?
i haven't been to a dentist in 2 years because my last dentist stopped responding to my messages after i had to miss an appointment for family stuff. they sent a really nasty text at that time after i told them i had to miss the appointment, saying it was their busiest season and guilt tripping me, completely unprofessional, and i responded in kind. now i can't figure out how to search for dentists on my healthcare network (which i only recently got and don't know how to use after being uninsured most of my life) because typing in 'dentist' shows nothing and even after searching up all the local dental places allegedly 'on my network' , none have responded to my emails or new patient applications.
no point in maintaining my body anyway, i can't get a real or stable job that's not door dashing gig economy stuff because i am dependent on medical cannabis for my mental health and driving is the only thing i'm qualified and experienced enough to ever get hired to do since having a college degree apparently makes it so no one will ever hire you for entry level jobs, so i'll almost certainly never be able to afford retirement, i'm in my 30s so i'm already like 15 years behind.
Parenti goes to a great rant about medicine and doctors as salesmen in one of his lectures. This sounds a lot like what healtcare in the US was like a few decades ago applied to dentistry.
Also very different from a country with a more nationalized dental care, my dental doctor said that teeth break with age, a lot of it is hereditary, we fix stuff when it breaks, but we can't turn back the clock.
Healthcare and capitalism don't mix