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Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

arstechnica.com

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Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#371

Post by wccrawford »

red-iron-pine wrote: post #241
wccrawford wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the opposite experience. I told the dentist that I thought my wisdom teeth were causing my migraines, and they said it was possible but unlikely, and didn't really recommend removing them. I pushed, and they relented. They were right, it didn't make any difference. Oddly, I only had wisdom teeth on one side, and not the other. So only 2 teeth were removed.

sounds like the dentist was on the level. lotta things it could be, and those may be easy to address without dental surgery. did you ever figure out what the root cause of the migraines was?

Unfortunately, no. And they've been getting worse over the years. I have, however, found Excedrin Migraine is really good at dealing with them, so it's not as big a deal as it was, since I hadn't found anything back then.

Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#372

Post by scubadude »

QuibbleQuota wrote: post #118
scubadude wrote: post #76

Australian here, and I will say that I fully trust my dentist. I have had one tiny cavity in nearly 20 years. X-rays are every 2 years, and it's to see between the teeth where they obviously can't see visually. I've been told the radiation dose is the equivalent of an hour on a plane flight.

I’m just a layperson, but I’ve never been comfortable with that argument. An hour’s worth of radiation concentrated into a moment seems very different to me.

I just think we'd fly to another city, or even internationally for 17 hours, without giving the radiation a second thought. It's just not rational to worry about 1/17 of that dose, once every 2 years, when there is apparently a benefit to oral health. If the dentist wanted to do it every week then that would be something to object to.

Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#373

Post by ein0p »

cruffle_duffle wrote: post #264
ein0p wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly suspect my dentist is making shit up, too. I had to refuse a couple of expensive treatments. The main goal seems to be to “use up” my dental insurance more than anything.

Setting aside the unnecessary procedures bit, the “use up my dental coverage” isn’t a bad way to look at dental insurance. Those things are priced in a way that they are basically almost pre-paid “use it or lose it” products, especially if it is private dental insurance. If you aren’t coming close to maxing out your dental (or vision) insurance you can probably get by with less. And if all you are ever really getting…

I’d much rather just pay out of pocket, but if I don’t get the “negotiated” price, it’s 2x to 3x the amount. This should be plainly illegal, but since it only affects the poor, nobody gives a shit.

Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#374

Post by CogitoCogito »

fifticon wrote: post #137

anecdote on their usefulness. I recently had my yearly inspection, _without_ xrays (which she said it was probably about time for "next time"). A month later, I had pain in a rear molar, and went for a checkup. They reacted "that is not good, because that tooth is root-treated - no nerves, so pain from a place without nerves is not good". They then did an xray, which revealed the tooth had started rotting - a lot - i…

Tradeoffs.

Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#375

Post by Reefersleep »

jjeaff wrote: post #278
FollowingTheDao wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it is the biggest reason we need universal healthcare.

I actually don't see how universal health care would help in this situation. Bad actors are going to try and milk whatever system pays the bills. Capitalism "should" be pretty good at taking care of this kind of stuff. I'm not sure why insurance companies aren't better at reining in these kind of abuses.

Seems to me like capitalism is pretty good at incentivising this stuff.

Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#376

Post by SirMaster »

DowagerDave wrote: post #349
konfusinomicon wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my 95yr old grandmother who still has her OG chompers always told me to only floss the teeth i want to keep, and given hers are still usable after 9 decades, i listened

do you think your sample size of one could be attributed to any of the many other aspects, most outside the control of the owner?

Is flossing really that controversial?

It's so simple to do, might as well do it even even it only might provide a benefit.

I certainly can't imagine any downsides to it...

Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#377

Post by kbelder »

ipqk wrote: post #315
Vinnl wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's extra fun is that that insurance only covers treatments to a fairly low amount, just slightly higher than the price of your regular checkups. (That said, I believe dental issues that are the result of e.g. accidents do get covered by the default care package.)

I've been self-employed for years now (USA), and never buy dental insurance, because it's not really insurance, it's basically a non-taxable way for companies to give their employees extra money. Buying it as self-employed persons is basically just giving the "insurance" companies your own money.

Isn't medical insurance the same? On average, the sum benefit you get from insurance is less than the total amount you pay.

Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#378

Post by magnetowasright »

agurk wrote: post #145
underbiding wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the studies are about outcomes of parachute use writ-large ("gravitational challenges"), not just helicopters. Only reason I'm being pedantic here is because if the study was in-fact looking at parachutes from helicopters, it could actually be plausible that parachutes had no improvements when used with helicopters. Most, if not all pilots, don't wear parachutes because there's not enough time to jump out of a crashi…

Interestingly helicopters don't fall out of the sky when they lose power. Air moving over the rotorblades causes lift, as they are after all wings. During normal flight the blades are turned by the engine generating lift in the expected way. If you are already above the ground and start descending, the airflow over the blades as you descend will cause them to rotate and generate lift. This is known as autorotation[0]…

The Jesus nut[0] failing is one such catastrophic failure; the rotor would separate. I just think it's neat that it has a Wikipedia page.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_nut

Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#379

Post by TeaBrain »

twiceaday wrote: post #46

A routine dental X-ray recently caught my failed root canal and the tooth needs to be extracted asap or I risk pain, huge swelling, and nerve damage.

Have you considered having it retreated and have you received a second opinion from an endodontist?

Re: Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

#380

Post by cevn »

ein0p wrote: post #190
FollowingTheDao wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two stories. 1) Just yesterday I went to a an acclaimed dental school (UNC) for low cost dental care. They not only gave me a panoramic x ray but also a full set of bite-wing x rays. I read this and I want to break the world apart this morning. 2) When I was a child I kep needing root canals. It turned out our dentist was making these all up and was later found passed out from laughing gas in his office.

I strongly suspect my dentist is making shit up, too. I had to refuse a couple of expensive treatments. The main goal seems to be to “use up” my dental insurance more than anything.

Same here. Crazy how common this is but maybe not because of the incentive structures.
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