241–250 of 585 posts
(Throwaway account) I can only say, avoid dental chains at all costs and only go to trusted dentist owned clinics if possible. I'm from EU and I got a yearly review + professional cleaning in a chain for my first job more than 15 years ago. The first time I used it they diagnosed me 4 or 5 caries that needed treatment, they said it was just a "beginning" but that it should be treated soon. I ignored it and left it un…
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 took him to my dentist who found a single tooth that may have a cavity but it's too early to be sure. A year later he's had one filling. And that one was not any of the teeth the other dentist wanted to drill. He flosses in public bathrooms.
They obviously was a cash grab and were going to just drill the fuck out of his mouth to maximize medicaid payments.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same experience here. My analysis is it's a money milking scheme between groups of doctors. Pass you around so everyone gets a cut and they cross refer people to scratch each other's backs. Surgeon refers you to pain management and pain management refers you to surgeon. Add in a physical therapist, testing facility, and chiropractor and you got a pretty lucrative meshnet of referrals going.
While this might happen, it's certainly a tiny minority of cases. In most cases it's just too big of an ego to admit that they really don't know, and not willing (private practice) or unable to (employed by a big hospital) spend the large amount of time needed to raise the chance of finding the cause from 0% to maybe 2%. Truth is that modern medicine still knows much less than is often assumed, let alone individual d…
> There's an absurd amount of potential for LLMs here.
The problem is not that doctors are stupid, the problem is that a lot of ailments are just not easily diagnosed. Even if the doctor has one (or more) suspicions what the red rash on your skin is, there just aren't any tests for many conditions. Many diseases are only diagnosed by symptoms and the underlying cause is unknown.
And even if you get a diagnosis, there is often nothing you can do.
LLMs are not going to magically come up with cures.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
For me at least, I’ve had freezing fail many times. Once they begin, I believe you’re pretty much stuck there until the dentist is done, and that’s a lot of drilling. Not looking forward to ever needing anything like that.
What is freezing? Anesthetic?
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. I believe in listening to experts (but ultimately making an informed decision). I believe in modern medicine. But that experience shook me and forever changed my trust in the dental industry. Ask anybody who’s experienced a “chronic” illness about the “experts” and they’ll tell you a tale or two. The experts are great until they have a case that is unusual. The don’t have the time or know…
Humans don't have a full understanding of everything, and in fact it's quite the opposite, in that we don't understand almost everything. Almost all paths are untrodden. It's fine to look where others haven't and come up with your own theories and ideas, as long as you retain a healthy skepticism and back things up with data as much as you can.
Science and exploration should not use fear of social reprisal as a guide.
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…
From my point of view (patient), I feels like dentists base their treatment recommendations on how much kickback they’re getting from medical corporations (Invisalign anyone?) and biased papers.
I wonder why dentistry is so far removed from the rest of the medical profession on this. Not that MDs are immune to the above but it feels to me like it’s not as bad as in dentistry.
At the very end of the article: "This article originally ran in the February 1997 issue of Reader’s Digest." Surely this should be noted in the HN title?
Some easy heuristics that will save you: - shower curtains instead of glass doors: subpar airbnb - Kikkoman soy sauce: probably not the best sushi - teeth whitening services: dentist not optimizing for dental health The problem is that they all push teeth whitening ... but it's a strong signal if you find one that doesn't.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
While this might happen, it's certainly a tiny minority of cases. In most cases it's just too big of an ego to admit that they really don't know, and not willing (private practice) or unable to (employed by a big hospital) spend the large amount of time needed to raise the chance of finding the cause from 0% to maybe 2%. Truth is that modern medicine still knows much less than is often assumed, let alone individual d…
I was with you until the last sentence: > There's an absurd amount of potential for LLMs here. The problem is not that doctors are stupid, the problem is that a lot of ailments are just not easily diagnosed. Even if the doctor has one (or more) suspicions what the red rash on your skin is, there just aren't any tests for many conditions. Many diseases are only diagnosed by symptoms and the underlying cause is unknown…