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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

#171

Post by iwontberude »

hansonkd wrote: post #31

This might sound stupid but I refuse to go to dentists that have "too nice" of an office. Over the years I have lived in several places and had a variety of dentists and one common theme that sticks with me, the nicer and higher tech the office is, the more procedures they are going to recommend you. They need to pay for the equipment and office somehow. I've had one dentist say I need 3 cavities filled. That I neede…

That is a pretty lame heuristic. May as well be superstitious. Unsurprised to see contrarianism, but surprised to see it so poorly founded in first principles.

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

#172

Post by blackeyeblitzar »

I think this is not a new scam but an existing one. A lot of dental work like pulling wisdom teeth isn’t actually needed. Even though the claim is that those teeth will be harder to deal with later in life, this is dubious. People in many other countries leave wisdom teeth alone and have no issues.

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

#173

Post by bsimpson »

dazc wrote: post #46
hansonkd wrote: post #31

This might sound stupid but I refuse to go to dentists that have "too nice" of an office. Over the years I have lived in several places and had a variety of dentists and one common theme that sticks with me, the nicer and higher tech the office is, the more procedures they are going to recommend you. They need to pay for the equipment and office somehow. I've had one dentist say I need 3 cavities filled. That I neede…

It doesn't cost that much to have a nice office. A better way of judging is how much stuff your dentist places on 'watch' rather than recommending expensive treatments. As we get older our teeth become less perfect and there will always be some work that needs to be done. Most of it isn't urgent, has no effect on your health and can take years to deteriorate to a state where it does. If your dentist isn't telling you…

Mint + Bella Dental near Washington Square in NYC has a gorgeous, modern office _and_ will tell you what to watch out for without prescribing expensive treatments.

They're so nice, honest, and when I've been there I've felt like the only one. I legitimately like recommending people to them in part to make sure they stay open.

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

#174

Post by Maximus9000 »

hansonkd wrote: post #31

This might sound stupid but I refuse to go to dentists that have "too nice" of an office. Over the years I have lived in several places and had a variety of dentists and one common theme that sticks with me, the nicer and higher tech the office is, the more procedures they are going to recommend you. They need to pay for the equipment and office somehow. I've had one dentist say I need 3 cavities filled. That I neede…

> This might sound stupid but I refuse to go to dentists that have "too nice" of an office.

You'd love mine. Their x-ray machine is still rocking windows Vista - and that machine is definitely plugged into the internet. With that said, I like them as a dentist.

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

#175

Post by rootusrootus »

hansonkd wrote: post #31

This might sound stupid but I refuse to go to dentists that have "too nice" of an office. Over the years I have lived in several places and had a variety of dentists and one common theme that sticks with me, the nicer and higher tech the office is, the more procedures they are going to recommend you. They need to pay for the equipment and office somehow. I've had one dentist say I need 3 cavities filled. That I neede…

I think there is some merit to that idea. It is not perfect, but it is a potential red flag.

I experienced something similar a couple weeks ago when I went to a local dermatologist for a skin cancer screening. The office was gorgeous. Top of the line everything, spacious, just incredible.

When the doctor came in, he was a whirlwind - he glanced at my back, the fronts of my arms, and my face ... then pronounced me in perfect health and "see you again next year!"

He billed my insurance just under $300 for an exam that took under 5 minutes (including the consult with his nurse to point out anything I was worried about) and was worth almost nothing.

A skin exam shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes, but if the doc doesn't bother to look at your scalp, or the inside of your mouth, the soles of your feet, etc ... it is not really screening for much.

$100/minute is why his office was magnificent. What a scam.

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

#176

Post by josefresco »

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…

> 10 years later my new dentist says the wisdom teeth

You got lucky. Pretty much every wisdom tooth consultation goes like this "they might grow in ok, but they might not and that will cause other issues".

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

#177

Post by stronglikedan »

bugbuddy wrote: post #51
yardie wrote: post #33

My wife, who is a recent immigrant to the US, when she goes to get her teeth cleaned here is what happens: dental hygeniest does there thing, X-rays are taken that weren't asked for, dentist come in to review the photos, sure enough her mouth is falling apart and she has loads of cavities, then they want to discuss a treatment plan. When she gets home we discuss it and agree $8000 in Invisalign is a bit excessive. Th…

Run away when you hear “treatment plan” because you are about to be robbed.

This is terrible advice. I didn't go to the dentist for years, and when I went back, I certainly, undoubtedly required a treatment plan. But my dentist went through everything - every spot on the X-ray, backed up with photos taken with a dental camera. The point is, the offering of a treatment plan is not a metric to base anything on.

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

#178

Post by sroussey »

jvanderbot wrote: post #54
sameoldtune wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I started working at Amazon in 2014 I had a number of coworkers from India and Taiwan whose dentists had convinced them that they needed professional teeth cleanings every 3 months. I didn’t say anything as I am not a dental expert, but it felt like my coworkers were being taken advantage of. Like you I had an experience as a child with a dentist who my parents later found out was full of B.S.

While in LA, we shopped around for dentists. Several of the smaller places took advantage of the fact we had good insurance and insisted they had found several cavities (11 in once case). Having never / rarely had cavities, we were skeptical and tried other places. Since moving back to MN, where lack of insurance is less common, we do not have this problem. The only remaining scam is xrays.

X-rays are the universal scam. Even the government recommends against them for the last decade at least.

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

#179

Post by Eisenstein »

burnte wrote: post #71
hansonkd wrote: post #31

This might sound stupid but I refuse to go to dentists that have "too nice" of an office. Over the years I have lived in several places and had a variety of dentists and one common theme that sticks with me, the nicer and higher tech the office is, the more procedures they are going to recommend you. They need to pay for the equipment and office somehow. I've had one dentist say I need 3 cavities filled. That I neede…

> This might sound stupid but I refuse to go to dentists that have "too nice" of an office. I have a similar rule about all healthcare providers. If your office looks like a West Elm catalog, I can't afford you. I want you to spend money on people and equipment, not a $5000 coffee table.

This doesn't count for dermatologists though. The fancy office is paid for by botox and ridiculously overpriced moisturizers, but they are still capable of treating skin conditions.

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

#180

Post by gruez »

dopylitty wrote: post #103
belter wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a case where a private equity organization has been proven not to be shady? Would love some examples. "Warren Buffett: Private Equity Firms Are Typically Very Dishonest" - https://youtu.be/r3_41Whvr1I

There might be one case somewhere that could be found where a firm that technically counts as PE isn't shady but in general the very idea of private equity is shady so it follows that all the PE firms would be shady also. The point of PE isn't to run sustainable businesses that provide quality products and services for customers while treating their employees well. The point is to rapidly suck all the value out of bu…

>The point of PE isn't to run sustainable businesses that provide quality products and services for customers while treating their employees well. The point is to rapidly suck all the value out of businesses by loading them up with debt, breaking laws, mistreating customers, and exploiting employees. What happens to the carcass of the business or to the customers and employees whose lives have been destroyed doesn't matter to them.

This is an overly-broad statement. Private equity just means... equity that's private (ie. not on public markets). SpaceX is technically private equity. SoftBank's Vision Fund is private equity. There might be problems with those companies/funds, but "rapidly suck all the value out of businesses by loading them up with debt" is not one of them.

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