Is Dishonesty Increasing in Dentistry?

[Abalone]

Hi,

I'm new to the group. I'm a 50 something guy who has lots of fillings, 2 crowns, and 2 wisdom teeth pulled.

First of all, let me state that I am not implying any dentist on this board is dishonest !!


But it seems there are a lot of stories of dishonest dentists. My gf left her usual dentist, since he was expensive and she had lost her dental insurance, and went to a dentist who had a discount coupon advertising himself. This discount dentist informed her she had 5 cavities, and it would cost her $700 to get them filled !! I told her to go back to her old dentist, and pay for a standard cleaning and exam, without mentioning to him the 5 alleged cavities. She had the cleaning and exam, and, as you no doubt have guessed, was told she had NO cavities.

That's her story. My story follows: I was at my usual dentist, whom I trust, for a cleaning and exam. But my dentist was not there. for some reason, so I was given some other dentist, a new one to the group, to do my exam. The tech, looking at the xrays, was insisting to the new dentist that I had 2 cavities. The new dentist (a young attractive woman) seemed to be bullied by the tech into agreeing I had 2 cavities, and she then started to try to schedule herself to do my fillings !! I immediately said I would have my regular dentist do any fillings. Thank god my regular dentist is honest. He looked at the x-rays and said I only had one cavity, which he filled.


In closing, not to be totally gloom and doom, let me say that I like my regular dentist, whom I have used for many years, and think he is competent and honest. But he wants to retire, and then I'll be on my own again, and I sure don't want to use the new dentist he hired, after she found the non-cavity.


Was the "5 cavity" dentist being dishonest? Could there have been 5 "soft spots" that may have been interpreted a possible future cavities? Why do we hear so many stories like this?


Abalone

 

[SEOSmile]

Dishonest dentists

I've personally had some bad experiences with a, pardon the pun, crooked dentist in Eugene, OR. I had cavities filled that never actually existed. The best bet is to do research on your dentist first, ask around, see if you can get opinions, honest ones, from current patients. If a dentist isn't willing to offer some referrals or testimonials, that's a red flag to me. These are your teeth and only you know how you feel. Good luck!

 

[floridagirl]

RE

Hi,

I'm new to the group. I'm a 50 something guy who has lots of fillings, 2 crowns, and 2 wisdom teeth pulled.

First of all, let me state that I am not implying any dentist on this board is dishonest !!


But it seems there are a lot of stories of dishonest dentists. My gf left her usual dentist, since he was expensive and she had lost her dental insurance, and went to a dentist who had a discount coupon advertising himself. This discount dentist informed her she had 5 cavities, and it would cost her $700 to get them filled !! I told her to go back to her old dentist, and pay for a standard cleaning and exam, without mentioning to him the 5 alleged cavities. She had the cleaning and exam, and, as you no doubt have guessed, was told she had NO cavities.

That's her story. My story follows: I was at my usual dentist, whom I trust, for a cleaning and exam. But my dentist was not there. for some reason, so I was given some other dentist, a new one to the group, to do my exam. The tech, looking at the xrays, was insisting to the new dentist that I had 2 cavities. The new dentist (a young attractive woman) seemed to be bullied by the tech into agreeing I had 2 cavities, and she then started to try to schedule herself to do my fillings !! I immediately said I would have my regular dentist do any fillings. Thank god my regular dentist is honest. He looked at the x-rays and said I only had one cavity, which he filled.


In closing, not to be totally gloom and doom, let me say that I like my regular dentist, whom I have used for many years, and think he is competent and honest. But he wants to retire, and then I'll be on my own again, and I sure don't want to use the new dentist he hired, after she found the non-cavity.


Was the "5 cavity" dentist being dishonest? Could there have been 5 "soft spots" that may have been interpreted a possible future cavities? Why do we hear so many stories like this?


Abalone

It's sad but the economy has hit people hit hard in a lot of ways. People with their backs against the wall financially are liable to do just about anything to cover their basis. Then you have people who just aren't good people to begin with and dentists are no exception. We come out of school a small fortune in debt and many people simply need someone to bridge their finances. However, this isn't new to dentistry and you just have to wonder if we're simply more aware of it now with the availability of information today.

A lot of dentists are like auto mechanics in that they may lean towards a procedure that is not altogether necessary. One way to know what you're getting into is to look for as many third party reviews as humanly possible. For example, we have over 150 reviews on our website (coral-springs-dental.com). Obviously this wouldn't be altogether possible if we weren't continually providing a high level of service. There's no guarantee that past great service will lead to feature great service but it tends to be the best indicator.

I'm interested in hearing other people's experiences if they care to share.

 

[concerneddentalpatinet]

I agree with this assessment of dishonesty. I have had proposed treatment plans extend into the thousands of dollars only to have a second opinion state I had a few minor areas of concern. It is hard to know who to trust. I had found the dentist who are more willing to work with you financially tend to be more honest.

 

[Ohio Dentistry]

Dishonesty & Dentistry

Sadly, I see the same thing in not only dentistry, but other professions both healthcare and otherwise. It's the same way with attorneys (before I started working in the dental field I was a paralegal). One attorney might say you need to file a simple form while another might recommend a whole other route, with more time and money involved.

Many times it may be someone trying to make an extra buck by doing unnecessary work, while other times it may be a lack of knowledge or inexperience on the new dentist's part. Like mentioned above, new dentists can be pushed and pulled to make certain diagnosis by others. They also may not have the required hands on experience to tell what needs to be treated and what doesn't. Either way, it's not something you want to encounter when your paying a "highly trained" professional.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is anything new. It doesn't matter if you're talking about present day 2013 or 1993, there's always going to be some dishonesty or lack of knowledged in certain industries.

I agree with the comments above that 3rd party reviews can be a great tool. Remember, you don't have to settle, there's always room for a 2nd opinion.

 

[movemen]

Diagnosis in dentistry is subjective, meaning a dentist can treatment plan differently according to his or her training and experience. In the situation above, one of the cavity might be small but and if that dentist was trained to fill it to prevent future problems then he or she will incline to fill it. In my opinion, if the cavity is small i would just watch it.