We built an entire system based on perverse incentives and then act surprised at the outcomes.

I had many teeth ruined by a crooked dentist. I didn’t need any dental work for fifteen years after I changed dentists.

I don’t know why there aren’t government stings for dentists and mechanics. We have them against restaurants and bars all the time.

Completely ridiculous that it isn’t part of regular public healthcare over here

Oh, you mean when you involve a profit motive in health care, providers will act accordingly at the expense of the patient? Get the fuck out of here! No way! Next you’ll tell me when you introduce middlemen into the system they will also abuse their customers to benefit themselves!

This is not tbe first time i’ve heard of dental offices unnecessarily removing teeth in pursuit of profits.

The amount of unnecessary surgeries has been a known issue since the 1950s. During the first year of the pandemic, when the amount of non-critical surgeries would have been at a local minima, there were about 100,000 unnecessary surgeries. Spine surgeries came in at about 30,000.

In this article they reference a survey of why surgeons were doing unnecessary spine surgeries:

The two common answers were: USS were done because “we always have done this way” and for “financial gain, renown, or both”.

The article goes on and makes some recommendations. The first of which is:

1.Setting up musculoskeletal clinics in primary healthcare centers to filter spine cases and prevent direct access to spine surgeons.

We continue to undertrain physicians for the US population and many are incentives to go into lucrative specialties leaving primary care physicians to be over booked, and buried in paper work.

My friend’s wife owns her own dental practice and straight up says that numerous offices do this. It’s hardly a secret, apparently, among them.

I’m so fortunate I had a dentist that isn’t a piece of shit. Nothing she ever said sounded far fetched or like she was trying to get some cash. She unfortunately retired last year, but the other dentists at the practice seem good so far.

Long story short, I had an endodontist say I needed to pull a tooth because there was an infection, and my new dentist could do that. But he said he didn’t think it needed to be done and to go to another endodontist. Turns out the second opinion was to just get a root canal. In and out in fifteen minutes, and I still have my tooth.

So not all dentists are bad!

My guy suggested that i replace a tooth repair made 20+ years ago, maybe get some whitening. I asked if anything was functionally wrong with it, he said no. Not so sure he should be in medicine.

They’re trying to monetize their patient’s suffering before the tooth growing drug gets popular. I can almost guarantee it.

I got prescribed fillings for all four quarters once, but the dentist suddenly died and it took me a while to find a new one. The new one didn’t comment at all about needing any work and seemed satisfied with how I was taking care of my teeth. So, there’s that. If you’re prescribed expensive work, it might pay to get a second option.

Aspen Dental. Never, ever sit in one of their chairs. If they don’t try to take your teeth, they will fleece you in other ways.

I’ve heard similar things about C-sections.

Stubb’s in Utah is horrible about this. I was shocked at how often this happens

This has me kinda worried. They said i had a cyst that destroyed 40% of the inside of my jaw. To drain the cyst, i got a marsupialization, but was told to make room for it they needed to pull a perfect tooth…