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

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

#401

Post by randerson »

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #103
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…

Went to a new dentist after moving. She found two "small spots that could go bad if left untreated!" and "should be drilled and filled!". A year later I am still in pain some time. Dentists are fucking psychopaths and we are literally cattle at their mercy. I have no idea how to continue, how to find a dentist I can trust with my stupid teeth. I am terribly afraid of them now.

I've considered using lies to detect lies. Go to a dentist and lie to them about a particular tooth sometimes being sore. If they tell you there's nothing wrong with it, that's your new dentist.

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

#402

Post by WWLink »

webmobdev wrote: post #339
jasonwatkinspdx wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is very true. I had a SO with severe chronic gastric pain and they got passed around by doctors for years. One jerk wrote "drug seeking behavior" into her file and that made things even worse. Finally someone took her seriously, got imagery done, and discovered surgery was necessary. In US healthcare you have to be your own advocate and be willing to push. The system breaks down if you don't have a routine and o…

That sounds very much like someone I know. She had pain in her stomach that doctors in the US just refused to examine in depth. One prescribed her pain-killers and another steroid. She asked more tests but they declined. Her father is a doctor in India and when she finally told him (after a few months of suffering) about her ordeal, he asked her to come immediately to India. After some reluctance, she flew down, and…

That's pretty funny because every time I've interacted with a stomach doctor, it pretty much went from introducing themselves to the patient (one time myself) to "let's get you scheduled for an EGD and/or a colonoscopy!"

That's with 3 different people and a handful of different doctors. They are actually pretty eager to look inside your stomach out here heheh. I'm really sorry to hear that happened to your friend though! I hope they're doing better now!

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

#403

Post by [deleted] »

mikeyouse wrote: post #278
Etrnl_President wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now imagine doing this on Canadian healthcare, having to wait months or years for each appointment, and nowadays they try to talk you into MAID to save resources…

I know HN is a privileged place but people should recognize that the “worst case” of Canadian/European healthcare wait times is already the reality for many if not most Americans.. You shouldn’t base your understanding of American health care on personal experience if you work for a big company that provides a nice health insurance plan.

[deleted]

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

#404

Post by baby »

KoftaBob wrote: post #379
baby wrote: post #349

My experience with dentists in France has always been good, but as I moved to the US I noticed that suddenly I was having cavities, suddenly floss was important (when studies say that they don't add any value), suddenly I had to take X-rays every 6 months, suddenly I was being pushed on doing aesthetic changes, suddenly I was seeing insane bills that had no connection with the service I was getting. I'm convinced tha…

How would floss not add any value? It literally removes food particles that otherwise would feed bacteria that cause cavities and bad breath. It was hard to take the rest of your comment seriously after that, and only reinforces the “europeans have bad teeth” stereotype.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/tossing-flossing-2016081....

> the authors of these guidelines could not find convincing evidence to support flossing, and the guidelines are supposed to be evidence-based. According to reviews of the evidence published in 2011 and 2015, there is minimal, short-term, and generally unreliable evidence that flossing might reduce gum inflammation, but no convincing evidence that it promotes plaque removal or prevents tooth decay or dental caries (cavities).

Basically, brush your teeth and you'll be fine. Europeans have great teeth, they just care less about having the great white hollywood smile, and care more about having their healthcare cover dental work.

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

#405

Post by ProjectArcturis »

swe_dima wrote: post #269

When I was in beginning of my 20s I would put blind trust in doctors. Unfortunately I had a ligament tear in my knee and after 4 surgeries I developed some pretty bad pains. I took a vacation and scheduled visits to 10 orthopedic surgeons who had some of the highest medical credentials in the country. Everyone told me that pain was caused by a different thing and dismissed ideas of other doctors. The confidence with…

Did you ever get it solved?

Also, they just discovered a new ligament in the knee a few years ago. Orthopedic science is not where a layman would imagine it to be.

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

#407

Post by shrimpx »

entropicgravity wrote: post #375
shrimpx wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So it's just holding the electric brush at 45 degrees against the gum?

Pretty much yes, holding your brush at 45 degrees and following your gum line. I found I could feel and follow my gum line except on my back upper outside molars where I had to turn the brush about 30 degrees up (in the front to back direction). For some reason I can't feel that part of my gums very well. I'm pretty sure your mileage may very. It's also helpful to have a reliable hygienist check how you're going unti…

I appreciate the detailed reply! Just to clarify: You only floss once every 2 weeks?

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

#408

Post by JenrHywy »

basisword wrote: post #164
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. 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…

I had a neurologist tell me that the scans he'd performed proved that there was nothing wrong with my wife, and he didn't know why she was choosing to act as though she had a neurological issue.

In neurology at least, I think a lot of the problem is that everyone is hyper-specialized. Luckily for us, my wife's insurance company convinced a generalist neurologist to come out of retirement and examine her, which put us on the path to effective treatment. But yes, that whole experience completely soured me on blind trust in the medical profession

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

#409

Post by mpsprd »

pfisherman wrote: post #389
basisword wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> 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…

One thing that I think people need to understand is the distinction between science and the practice of medicine. The practice of medicine is not science. The practice of medicine can be informed by science - to a degree that is almost entirely up to the practitioner. ; but it remains more art than science. The distinction is similar to that between an aviation maintenance and aerospace engineering. Sometimes doctors…

Doctors are technicians. Technicians with a large toolkit, but technicians nonetheless.

When you compare their behaviors to IT it all starts making sense.

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

#410

Post by bennettnate5 »

wredue wrote: post #316
Etrnl_President wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now imagine doing this on Canadian healthcare, having to wait months or years for each appointment, and nowadays they try to talk you into MAID to save resources…

This is not true. I mean, the wait times sometimes are, but they vary by province. More conservative provinces have worse wait times. That is not surprising given that the provincial conservative government are all actively attempting to sabotage public healthcare so we can move to an American style system. A system where we will all pay more, and still see similar wait times anyway. MAID is not actively proposed as…

> More conservative provinces have worse wait times.

This feels like a pretty glaring generalization. If we look at the actual data, the story becomes a little more nuanced [1]. "Conservative" provinces have wait times that are a couple of days to a couple of weeks higher than national average (assuming we call BC, AB, SK and MB "conservative" [2]), but then again almost all of the maritimes provinces (which are considered strongly liberal-leaning) have abysmally bad wait times relative to the average (10-20 weeks worse).

Overall, the average is ~half a year anyways, which is pretty rough regardless.

[1] - https://www.fraserinstitute.org/file/waiting-your-turn-2021-... [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Canadian_federal_election, "Results by province and territory

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