Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

rd.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 585 posts

Re: I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

#111

Post by Waterluvian »

hunson_abadeer wrote: post #98
Waterluvian wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the “do your own research” label conflates two categories: people who are shopping for a comforting answer, and people who want to be informed and make conscious decisions. I don’t have to be a dental expert to know that something isn’t adding up and to seek a second opinion.

I think it's easy to come up with such delineation after the fact, but OP was looking for a more comforting answer. By the sound of it, they just didn't like the implications of the initial diagnosis. It wasn't about facts not adding up. The reality is that modern medicine is absolutely amazing, but there are also many interventions backed by shoddy science or no science at all. Sometimes, "doing your own research" e…

It’s funny how every generation of modern medicine acts like this time they know 100% what the correct answers are while we all scoff at how wrong they got it just a few decades ago.

Every generation the advice on which way to put your kid to sleep flip flops.

It would be shamefully foolish to disregard all the incredible advances and technologies that modern medicine offers. It would be equally shamefully foolish to think it’s not still deeply flawed.

Re: I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

#112

Post by notdang »

shagie wrote: post #48
ustamills wrote: post #41

I know my comment is anecdotal but for me it's relevant. I'm 60 years old. Up until about 25 I just listened to dentists. They drill-and-fill and I went along. No longer. In 35 years I've had one problem. I broke a tooth biting on a hard seed in some Indian food. I got a crown for that. A few years later the crown came off. I haven't bothered getting it replaced. I don't have tooth pain. My teeth have not shifted. I…

Setting aside the drilling on shadows... There are studies that link gum disease to dementia. https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/large-study-links-gum-disease-d... > The mouth is home to about 700 species of bacteria, including those that can cause periodontal (gum) disease. A recent analysis led by NIA scientists suggests that bacteria that cause gum disease are also associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease…

Haven't we read here on HN that there are studies that coffe might help with dementia (or Alzheimer?), so they should level up.

Re: I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

#113

Post by kypro »

Waterluvian wrote: post #47

My son when 3 had a fall and a few teeth were bent. Went to our local dentist who mostly had a wait and see opinion. But then calls a day later and says they’ve decided they should just come out. Two top front teeth. Would have no top front teeth for years. I went into engineer mode and while I acknowledged I didn’t have domain expertise, I asked questions and probed the whole situation. Very unsatisfactory, meanderi…

The same is true for healthcare generally in my experience. Very bad advice is often given.

I can't really common about the US, but here in the UK the quality of healthcare is shocking bad. Although we may have the opposite problem, where instead of doing unnecessary procedures to increase costs, the NHS generally tries to avoid doing anything unless you're dying.

I had some pain in my abdomen a few years back and had persistently elevated liver enzymes. My doctor told continuously told me not worry about it and would say the pain was probably because I was sitting funny and other nonsense. In their opinion I was too young to have liver problems so there was no point in doing any further tests.

Fed up, I decided to do my own research and pay for my own tests. From this I found out that I have a fairly rare generic condition which makes me highly predisposed to liver disease and NAFLD. Certainly not the end of the world, but it pissed me off a bit because the disease could have progressed had I taken their advice and simply ignored it.

Around this time I also had a family friend who was the same age as me. She went to the doctors repeatedly over the course of a year describing several symptoms she was experiencing just to be dismissed. Turns out she actually had cervical cancer, but they never ran any tests and kept telling her it was probably nothing to worry about. By the time she found out she had cancer it was stage four and she died a few weeks later. She was 28 and had two kids.

Like you I believe in listening to experts. Most experts know what they're talking about and generally give good advice, but it's important to keep in mind the conditions experts operate in. Here in the UK the NHS has neither the time or money to give you high quality healthcare. It doesn't really matter if you see the best doctor in the world, if they can't spent the time and money running the tests you need you're not going to get a good diagnosis.

Re: I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

#114

Post by ballenf »

gitfan86 wrote: post #85
Waterluvian wrote: post #47

My son when 3 had a fall and a few teeth were bent. Went to our local dentist who mostly had a wait and see opinion. But then calls a day later and says they’ve decided they should just come out. Two top front teeth. Would have no top front teeth for years. I went into engineer mode and while I acknowledged I didn’t have domain expertise, I asked questions and probed the whole situation. Very unsatisfactory, meanderi…

90% of dentistry revenue is a scam. But at the same time it is very important to brush you teeth twice a day and floss weekly. You should also avoid sugary food as much as possible. Dentistry is much like Realtors, they like to take credit for very little actual work. "If I'm not here to confirm people are brushing regularly everyone would lose all their teeth" "I'm so glad I could sell your house for 500k. Without m…

The sugary foods advice is true if you're talking about refined sugars, but I recall a study showing that raisins, e.g., are much better than refined flour in terms of damage to teeth. Despite having much higher sugar content.

Here's an article about the study: https://nutritionfacts.org/blog/raisins-and-dental-health/

Re: I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

#115

Post by 2-718-281-828 »

Waterluvian wrote: post #47

My son when 3 had a fall and a few teeth were bent. Went to our local dentist who mostly had a wait and see opinion. But then calls a day later and says they’ve decided they should just come out. Two top front teeth. Would have no top front teeth for years. I went into engineer mode and while I acknowledged I didn’t have domain expertise, I asked questions and probed the whole situation. Very unsatisfactory, meanderi…

> I’m not a conspiracy nut

where would be the conspiracy in your experience anyway?

> But that experience shook me and forever changed my trust in the dental industry.

don't trust any industry. industry is always about making money and keeping a comfortable status quo. sometimes this is achieved through conspiracies.

Re: I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

#117

Post by abeppu »

I'm guessing this can't happen for institutional reasons, but given that dentists are using x-rays + cameras, and apparently even sending people home with copies of images, is there room for a standardized ML-based "check" which could help catch cases where individual dentists are recommending something well outside some consensus/standards of care? If everyone could easily check their images against the same bot, and pool information, one could identify dentists who regularly recommend unnecessary work. Or we could normalize the idea of getting the exam done by dentist A, and getting the work done by some other undisclosed dentist B, so they're not incentivized to give bogus recommendations?

Re: I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

#118

Post by programmertote »

CommieBobDole wrote: post #31

I've posted this before, but I went to a new dentist one time and though I'd never had a cavity, the new dentist said I had nine, some of which were pretty bad and needed immediate treatment lest they require a root canal. I didn't have any money or dental insurance at the time, so I didn't go back and just worried about it a lot for a while. That was twenty-five years ago. Haven't been to a dentist since. My teeth a…

Same thing. I am always good with flossing twice a day, brushing teeth twice a day (in fact, I spend ~10 mins brushing teeth gently and carefully every day). But the dentist in SF I visited 10 years ago "saw" 4 cavities and he showed me the X-rays, which I didn't know better I should have looked at carefully. But I got 4 fillings. Credit to him, those fillings never had any issue for the last 10+ years.

But I went to a new dentist in FL a few months ago, and that guy told me to refill them because according to him, they are starting to crack (not sure how he saw them in grainy X-rays; he tried to show me one, but I couldn't see it) :D Anyway, I agreed to have them refilled since it's been a while and the cost was reasonable. Now one of the fillings he redid in my molar makes me feel uncomfortable when I chew things with it.

I wrote up a more detailed experience about this in another comment in this post. I hope people see it and learn from it to not trust their dentists easily (esp. the ones you are visiting for the first time).

Re: I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

#119

Post by 2-718-281-828 »

CommieBobDole wrote: post #31

I've posted this before, but I went to a new dentist one time and though I'd never had a cavity, the new dentist said I had nine, some of which were pretty bad and needed immediate treatment lest they require a root canal. I didn't have any money or dental insurance at the time, so I didn't go back and just worried about it a lot for a while. That was twenty-five years ago. Haven't been to a dentist since. My teeth a…

the dental elephant in the room is that our body can heal cavities to some extent. especially if you change your dental hygiene and diet. (also your dentist might have tried to scam you, of course)

Re: I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)

#120

Post by stevehawk »

lost_tourist wrote: post #92
microtonal wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frequent cleanings are nice though. As an avid tea drinker it's nice to have white teeth again once or twice a year. The insurance covers most of the cost, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

once or twice isn't "frequent" in the USA. I'd guess you're in another country? Most Dentists here say 2 times a year. I had one who suggested every 4 months and I refused. I go every 9 months now, to split the difference between 6 and 12

well.. "twice a year".. but your insurance policy probably says 1 every 181 days.. just to rob you of the actual twice a year.. #america
Post reply on HN