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Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

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Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#261

Post by WalterBright »

dlp211 wrote: post #236
WalterBright wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was 21, my dentist recommended removal of my wisdom teeth. I asked why, he said because they are difficult to clean, and so I'd lose them anyway by 30. I switched dentists. I'm old now, still have those teeth, and they are the healthiest teeth in my mouth. If you want to keep your teeth, 1. get an electric toothbrush 2. brush for the full 2 minutes, twice a day 3. floss twice a day, gently (overdoing it will e…

0. Be born with the right genetics. There is this idea that the only thing you need for good oral health is to simply do the maintenance. This couldn't be further from the the truth, and an honest dentist will tell you so. There are plenty of folks that take exceptional care of their teeth, yet still have issues and there are plenty of folks that don't take care of their teeth the way their dentist recommends and sti…

Very true. I've got the genes that require aggressive and thorough efforts to keep my teeth. It's still a losing battle.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#262

Post by bombcar »

seanc wrote: post #189
dogman144 wrote: post #130

This is a truth about corporate dentistry, and it common in family practices but less so. I used to know a few dentists. One was a conservative, family dentist with a small home office in a small home (and a mountain of savings). He had a good rep bc he earned it. The other two had a bit more extravagant lives, and they earned it through specialization (and in my opinion, probably a little bit of this article). What…

Veterinarians as well: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-private-equ...

Same idea was discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31728350

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#263

Post by bombcar »

patentatt wrote: post #118
pc86 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've told this story here before, but I grew up with very health-illiterate parents, who were very "old school" in the sense that if anyone in a white coat said something, it was gospel. Doctor, dentist, nurse, whatever (curiously they had and still have extremely negative opinions of medical paraprofessionals like PAs and NPs). Anyway, I was around 15 or 16 and had always had perfect dental checkups. One day I had a…

Now I'm grateful for my parents' choice of dentist. She worked out of a small office attached to the back of her home, and had family members as office staff. This is in the 90's in a very posh suburb of a major city, not some backwater a long time ago. Anyways, that dentist always had unique advice, she told me that if I were going to only do either brushing or flossing, that I should do the flossing and skip the br…

I've heard the "flossing more important than brushing" from a number of sources, and it makes sense; it can be a pain but it's literally getting at areas that your lips and tongue can't.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#264

Post by bombcar »

sedeki wrote: post #178
noduerme wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worse happened to me. I had no cavities until the age of 36. Then I apparently got two. New dentist. I went for a second opinion and a second new dentist confirmed it, but who knows. I got the fillings. Within six weeks, one of the teeth broke in half around the filling and the guy was trying to give me an emergency root canal. I ended up having to have it pulled. The other one broke in half a few months later, anoth…

A few years ago, a friend of my cousin became a licensed dentist here in Sweden. My cousin had to remove a tooth and his friend gave him, I assume, a lower price because they're friends... He removed a tooth alright, but the wrong one (on the wrong side). And apparently my cousin just assumed he worked on fixing something else, realising the mistake way too late. I asked my cousin if he considered suing but he didn't…

Reminds me of people getting "THIS LEG" tattooed on the leg to be removed, perhaps something similar with a stick on tooth decoration could be worth it.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#265

Post by bombcar »

cauliflower2718 wrote: post #210
ravenstine wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it just me or do dentists rarely if ever suggest that their adult patients change their diet to avoid dental caries? They probably still tell children "don't eat candy", but since I reached adulthood I don't think a dentist ever told me suggested that the reason I needed so many cavities drilled was because I was feeding bacteria in my mouth. If my experience is as ubiquitous as I suspect, there seems to be a perv…

A dentist once told me that it's worse for my teeth to sip a soda or a coffee slowly over several hours than to chug it all at once. I wonder if it was suggested because patients might actually do that, compared to not drinking soda or coffee at all. (I might drink coffee slightly faster than I used to. I do not drink soda. I'm fine with stains but not unnecessary tooth decay.)

I've been told that drinking it via a straw is better on your teeth because the straw deposits it directly into your throat and doesn't swish it around your teeth, but in any case I suspect doctors and dentists have stopped telling people to change their diets because people just don't.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#266

Post by llsf »

Seems like regardless of the country, dentists can easily slip to the "bad side":

Ex. Recently France sentenced one dentist to 10yr for doing procedures that were not needed (same combo root canal + crowns): https://www.lefigaro.fr/faits-divers/c-est-un-carnage-un-anc...

My pet peeve is about the number of x-ray my dentist performs. Every time, everything is fine. Feels like the sole reason, is that my insurance pays for me to be radiated once a year.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#267

Post by bombcar »

lostcolony wrote: post #94
usrn wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've gone to my current dentist for years and he's always extremely reluctant to even do fillings (last time he gave me a speech about how you can't replace what "God gave you" so you should just monitor it or so.) I think there are some dentists that legitimately care. EDIT: Mine is actually in a very wealthy neighborhood and the lady who runs the practice (I think that's how it works?) has a reputation for buying s…

Yeah; the ones who treat conservatively are gold. I'm still looking for one in my current location over ones who are aggressive in pushing additional treatments and things.

I've found that if you can get conversational with the hygienists outside of the office they usually know who is who.

But that can be a chicken-and-egg problem if you don't know any hygienists.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#268

Post by matwood »

rgersten wrote: post #99
usrn wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've gone to my current dentist for years and he's always extremely reluctant to even do fillings (last time he gave me a speech about how you can't replace what "God gave you" so you should just monitor it or so.) I think there are some dentists that legitimately care. EDIT: Mine is actually in a very wealthy neighborhood and the lady who runs the practice (I think that's how it works?) has a reputation for buying s…

This. I come from a family of dentists and they are very hesitant to drill unless absolutely necessary. Their rationale as I understand it is that all fillings, crowns, bridges, etc fail eventually. That anytime you attach something to a tooth you add a failure point and potential for infection. The problem is their businesses can’t compete with the ones that play the insurance game. Insurance reimbursement rates hav…

There’s a dentist near where I live in a wealthy neighborhood that I went to once and was great. Problem is, she’s expensive and doesn’t take insurance. She doesn’t need to push anything extra because everything is already priced where she needs it to be. Obviously that won’t work generally, but something to think about.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#269

Post by bombcar »

cardiffspaceman wrote: post #228
iforgetti wrote: post #177

Personal anecdote about this: My wisdom teeth grew in about 15 years ago and have sat comfortably behind my molars since. I saw a new dentist for a routine cleaning “intro package” where she suggested that I have the wisdom teeth removed. I asked her why should I have a surgery for this since I never had problems with them. She said it was a good idea because they were “more likely to develop a cavity” because they a…

I went to a corporate dental practice in my early 20's and they showed me via an x-ray that my wisdom teeth were practically horizontal and growing forward rather than upward. But the prognosis was that they would inevitably get infected at some super inconvenient moment. By whose definition of inconvenient though? There was, 10 years later, an infection that I chose not to ignore (it was clearly an infection), and I…

I'm in a similar situation with 1/3 (the fourth never showed up and will no doubt be fired for tardiness if it does), and I'm 20 years in.

Should have taken the money I would have spent on it 20 years ago and invested it in APPL, tho, because an APPL a day would keep the dentist away.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#270

Post by bombcar »

borski wrote: post #234
alistairSH wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even still, the OP wouldn’t be any worse off waiting for a cavity and getting the tooth pulled then. Pushing surgery now is sketchy AF.

Not quite true; sometimes, if an infection develops (even without a cavity, just because food got caught in the gums) it can be significantly more painful to deal with than getting it taken care of when they're healthy.

Isn't this more of an argument for getting a toothache handled quickly than waiting until the pain's almost unbearable before going in?

In either case if you're using an oral surgeon they're gonna numb the area first anyway, and you're gonna have to deal with the hole afterwards.

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