I have a medical question, but it is also one of ethics, and when to draw the line as far as the right and wrongness of it all.
This is hypothetical, to a degree, however it is something that could very well happen in reality.
I am going to word it as if it is really happening, and let you decide.
A 65 year old woman goes to the dentist because of dental work done on her, by another dentist, which is now breaking down, and she feels it is time to have all of her remaining teeth removed, and get dentures.
The first dentist she sees is just a regular dentist. As he is looking in her mouth, he mentions a couple of white patches, which he says, just in passing, more or less talking out loud to himself, “its not up to me to say what they are, (the white patches) that would be a pathologists job” ……now, the woman hears this, and it gives her pause, to stop and wonder, what he meant by the statement in passing,, however she does not question him on it.
In her limited knowledge of the medical profession, she does however know that a pathologists job is to study and test tissues for certain diseases , one of them being cancer. She goes on to think to herself , “Did the dentist possibly see something, that in his mind, needed to be tested for cancer?” and if he did,, why did he not refer her to a doctor who would do such tests.??
Instead, the said dentist, referred her to a colleague, who would be the one that would make the dentures for the woman. He told the woman, that this dentist would be able to take impressions of what was remaining of her teeth, so he could better build the dentures to fit her mouth.
The woman goes to the appointment, with this dentist, telling her he has little to work with, as far as making impressions, and he is going to refer her to an oral surgeon, to have what remaining teeth she has removed, and then she would come back to him, for him to make her dentures, at a cost of $2600, with a follow up visit in 6 months costing $675.
At no time, where the white patches brought into question by this dentist. Either he didn’t see them (how is that possible).or he chose to ignore them, (more likely).
The entire time, the unspoken question of the white patches are on the woman’s mind..
The woman goes to her appointment for the oral surgeon, and he agrees to extract the remaining teeth, at a cost of $3400. Again, no mention of the white patches. And yet again, did he choose to ignore them??
The woman has her teeth extracted, pays the $3400, has the other dentist make her dentures, pays him the $2600, and within two to three months, discovers she has mouth cancer, and her dentures end up in a garage sale within 5-6 months, because the woman is 6 feet under.…………….where, along this chain of events, should someone have told the woman she should see some sort of medical doctor to find out what the white patches were??? or was it up to her to ask? Should it have came from the first dentist who saw the white patches as being something that should be looked at??
This is hypothetical, to a degree, however it is something that could very well happen in reality.
I am going to word it as if it is really happening, and let you decide.
A 65 year old woman goes to the dentist because of dental work done on her, by another dentist, which is now breaking down, and she feels it is time to have all of her remaining teeth removed, and get dentures.
The first dentist she sees is just a regular dentist. As he is looking in her mouth, he mentions a couple of white patches, which he says, just in passing, more or less talking out loud to himself, “its not up to me to say what they are, (the white patches) that would be a pathologists job” ……now, the woman hears this, and it gives her pause, to stop and wonder, what he meant by the statement in passing,, however she does not question him on it.
In her limited knowledge of the medical profession, she does however know that a pathologists job is to study and test tissues for certain diseases , one of them being cancer. She goes on to think to herself , “Did the dentist possibly see something, that in his mind, needed to be tested for cancer?” and if he did,, why did he not refer her to a doctor who would do such tests.??
Instead, the said dentist, referred her to a colleague, who would be the one that would make the dentures for the woman. He told the woman, that this dentist would be able to take impressions of what was remaining of her teeth, so he could better build the dentures to fit her mouth.
The woman goes to the appointment, with this dentist, telling her he has little to work with, as far as making impressions, and he is going to refer her to an oral surgeon, to have what remaining teeth she has removed, and then she would come back to him, for him to make her dentures, at a cost of $2600, with a follow up visit in 6 months costing $675.
At no time, where the white patches brought into question by this dentist. Either he didn’t see them (how is that possible).or he chose to ignore them, (more likely).
The entire time, the unspoken question of the white patches are on the woman’s mind..
The woman goes to her appointment for the oral surgeon, and he agrees to extract the remaining teeth, at a cost of $3400. Again, no mention of the white patches. And yet again, did he choose to ignore them??
The woman has her teeth extracted, pays the $3400, has the other dentist make her dentures, pays him the $2600, and within two to three months, discovers she has mouth cancer, and her dentures end up in a garage sale within 5-6 months, because the woman is 6 feet under.…………….where, along this chain of events, should someone have told the woman she should see some sort of medical doctor to find out what the white patches were??? or was it up to her to ask? Should it have came from the first dentist who saw the white patches as being something that should be looked at??