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A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

arstechnica.com

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Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#21

Post by dmd »

ksaj wrote: post #16

I get my teeth cleaned 3 times a year. Every time, they always ask me if I want my wisdom teeth removed. Thing is, I'm 55, and have never had a problem with them or because of them. Extraction is clearly a bread winner for them since they ask the same question every time. The other bread winner, which thankfully I've only had one time (as a kid), is the "pre-cavity" where they dig it out more and then add filling. Th…

Wisdom tooth extraction (when there isn't an obvious need) is probably not backed by evidence[0][1]

[0] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1963310/

[1] https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD...

Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#22

Post by ahoy »

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #2

I went to a new dentist when I was 18 because my other dentist was unavailable. He declares that I have two cavities and fills one, but doesn't use enough anesthetic. Given my bad exp with him I went back to my other dentist who's flabbergasted that there was supposedly a cavity on the other tooth. No sign of any decay. These kind of experiences are why I try to vet a new dentist very hard before trusting them, even…

I had this experience a couple years ago. I hate dentists man

Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#23

Post by atomicnumber3 »

ryandrake wrote: post #8

This short-term hustle is going to hurt the practice of dentistry long-term, as people learn to distrust their dentists. Look what's happening on the non-dentistry medical side: when mainstream doctors fool and take advantage of their trusting patients for long enough, then anti-vaxers, Homeopathy, essential oils, faith healing, and the like start to take root.

Unfortunately it seems like this is just how a lot of the world works at this point. Take a communal goodwill, then try to exploit it into the ground for your own profit while making everything else far, far worse for literally everyone. Privatize the gains and socialize the losses as an intentional, foundational strategy.

Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#24

Post by kolbe »

nextworddev wrote: post #9

Dental profession has a rampant fraud problem in general. Personally know many dentists who scare people to upsell unnecessary procedures, extractions etc.

Agreed. I gave up on trying to navigate the fraud. I've gone once in the past 15 years because my wife begged me to. I have yet to regret it whatsoever.

Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#25

Post by [deleted] »

SoftTalker wrote: post #4

It's a bit off topic but I often wonder why dentistry is not a specialization of medicine (like e.g. dermatology) but is its own separate thing, with separate insurance, etc. Dental health is part of being healthy. A lot of dental work is surgery. To me, it should be part of regular medical care.

[deleted]

Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#26

Post by chamakits »

candiddevmike wrote: post #12
SoftTalker wrote: post #4

It's a bit off topic but I often wonder why dentistry is not a specialization of medicine (like e.g. dermatology) but is its own separate thing, with separate insurance, etc. Dental health is part of being healthy. A lot of dental work is surgery. To me, it should be part of regular medical care.

Dentistry is a specialization, and Dentists are doctors. Not "doctors" in the chiropractic sense, but actual doctors with residency requirements.

I think the parent comment was referencing that, at least in the US, dentistry is treated differently in many ways. For example, it’s a different health insurance with its separe premiums and limits, and you’ll never find a dentist in a hospital; instead they have their own offices.

Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#27

Post by kolbe »

azinman2 wrote: post #13
nextworddev wrote: post #9

Dental profession has a rampant fraud problem in general. Personally know many dentists who scare people to upsell unnecessary procedures, extractions etc.

The biggest problem is the cost of education. People have loans to repay, and then don’t take time to apprentice like they used to. In dentistry this leads to a lot of unnecessary work. In medicine this leads to very short appointments, and fewer doctors.

How does this argument square with them driving a $150k BMW?

Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#28

Post by ben_w »

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #2

I went to a new dentist when I was 18 because my other dentist was unavailable. He declares that I have two cavities and fills one, but doesn't use enough anesthetic. Given my bad exp with him I went back to my other dentist who's flabbergasted that there was supposedly a cavity on the other tooth. No sign of any decay. These kind of experiences are why I try to vet a new dentist very hard before trusting them, even…

Not had that myself, but have known people in the UK reporting the same.

Me, I had mine "professionally cleaned" for the first time in my life about 9 months back, and they've felt permanently a bit off ever since.

Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#29

Post by eschulz »

cj wrote: post #18

This reminds me of when I went to a dentist in SF who told me I needed to have my wisdom teeth out. I did the initial exam, and then hesitated when it came to booking the procedure. The dentist noticed my hesitation, and said something along the lines of "And after the surgery, don't forget we'll also prescribe really great pain medication!" 10 years later my new dentist says the wisdom teeth are fine and to leave th…

I think this is incredibly common. I currently have my wisdom teeth which are not bothering me at all, and I have received completely contrary advice with one dentist gently encouraging me to have them removed at my next convenience, and one telling me to not really worry about it. Since I suffer no pain or discomfort I have decided to just leave them be for the time being.

Re: A new dental scam is to pull healthy teeth to sell you expensive fake ones

#30

Post by dopylitty »

I looked into this "ClearChoice" company and unsurprisingly it's private equity owned through a chain of sketchy intermediaries.

If you're having any sort of medical or other work done make sure the company is not PE owned or affiliated. The best way to check that I've found is to look for press releases.

In this case there's a press release from 2020[0] about "The Aspen Group" acquiring ClearChoice. The Aspen Group then is owned by PE firms[1] and is already being sued in multiple states for deceptive practices that hurt patients.

0: https://www.teamtag.com/newsroom/Aspen-Dental-Management-to-...

1: https://pestakeholder.org/news/pe-owned-aspen-dental-faces-y...

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