Is My Dentist Trying to Defraud Me

[Bestafter60]

When I was 19 a dentist told me I had 8 cavities. He said my mouth was full of decay. I went to another dentist and he said I had one cavity, which he filled. 43 years later at the age of 62 I have a grand total of 5 cavities in my mouth. I'm not going to the state my opinion about some dentists but I think it's obvious.

I had a similar experience. I moved, changed dentists, and my new dentist looked at my then 63 year old jaw with 6 amalgam fillings and said they had to be replaced by modern resin. I said ok and he did so. Two years later, with tooth pain, I went to the same location and instead there was a young lady dentist who had bought his practice. Using some cool tools she showed me a terrible image of one of my recently refilled teeth with a cavity smack in the middle! This was one of the teeth that had exhibited no problem for probably 50 years. She proceeded to tell me the tooth was so badly damaged that it would be malpractice to try to save it. Then she laid out two increasingly expensive alternatives. Her recommendation was toremove the offending tooth and replace it with a screw, and wait 6 months until it was ready for an implant to be mounted. Then she would grind the adjacent tooth into a post and somehow mold the two together into one big tooth. Then she said she wouldn't even consider doing the work until I had deep scale cleaning top and bottom.

We talked price. The cleaning was $800. The implant was $5k, and not covered by insurance.

I left and called my buddy the dentist at my old location. He saw me the next day and said he could easily replace the bad filling, which he did. He said there was no reason to replace amalgam fillings unless they were problematic. I asked about the other dentist's treatment plan and he said she was trying to turn a $500 repair into $5,000 of work, and probably had taken training to learn how to do so. He said if she got me for $5k, that reduced the number of bratty kids or otherwise undesirable patients she'd have to see to hit her revenue goals.

The moral of the story is of course "Buyer Beware", and do get a second opinion. There definitely are good dentists, practitioners to be found. And occasional crooks to weed out.

[Robert Santana]

Its not a dentist thing, its a service industry thing. Hard to find good honest work these days.

[Laidbackzack]

I actually have had the same issue. When I was younger and in my teens, I had very few cavities. I see the dentist every 6 months. Recently, I was told I have 10-15 cavities that need filling. I'm considering getting a second opinion, especially after having footed the bill for one root canal already.

[MattBraunstein]

Its not a dentist thing, its a service industry thing. Hard to find good honest work these days.

Totally agree. I’ve been to doctors that do the same thing. For instance, I saw a GI doc that turned a simple medication and time thing into an endoscopy. Have to pad those revenue targets with anyone willing to pay. Unfortunately, we tend to trust people who are in this sort of position. Best to educate yourself as much as possible. Also, be patient and do not rush into any procedures or treatments without taking some time to think about it.

[Jennifer Williams]

Upon changing dentists a couple of years back, I was told by my new dentist that I had “pre-cavity” teeth, and that next time he saw me he would likely need to drill. To date I am 43 years old and have never had a cavity. So, being the neurotic that I am, this freaked me out enough to do two things: 1) see another dentist for my next cleaning and check-up, and 2) research alternatives to drilling.

Having since seen two separate dentists, each 6 months from the last one, I’m told that drilling is not in the cards for me. I can’t imagine that first dentist stood to make too much money off of a drilling that he would misrepresent things, who knows. He did have a lot of fancy new equipment in his new practice.

Anyhow, with regard to 2, I learned that they do have a no drill method approved in Europe. Not that I would travel, but hopefully it will come here. Here the best they seem to have is lasers which removes less of the healthy tooth and results in less pain. And then there is the article below. Coming soon to a dentist near you?? I hope they hurry before I get a cavity!! 😱

Dental fillings for your cavities could soon be a thing of the past - Business Insider

[timelinex]

My wife's a dentist so I might have a few points to add.

Dentistry (and medicine in general) is not an exact science. While there are fundamentals everyone agrees on, there is alot open to interpretation with no 'right' answer. Dentists range from being overly conservative to overly aggressive. One dentist might see a little decay and would rather nip it in the butt with a small filling. This might save you big money in the long run when you don't need to crown the tooth once it's spread too far. While the other dentist might look at that same decay and leave it to see if it clears up. This can save you from having a filling, but it runs the risk of damaging the tooth more in the long run.. So either side isn't necessarily driven by money, but either side definitely could be. It depends on the person and his character. The money hungry conservative dentist might not want to waste his time doing filling that make him little money and just wait till your tooth is bombed out and make a ton by now needing to do a crown. The aggressive dentist might be placing fillings on teeth that would possibly have resolved themselves and is making a killing with quantity. Unfortunately there is little way for the consumer to know if the dentist has your best interest at heart or if they are being driven by money. But thats the way it is with literally every human ran industry.

Just because a dentist said you have a cavity and 30 years later the tooth is just fine, doesn't mean the dentist was wrong. More often than not, cavities turn into worse things. Just because yours didn't doesn't mean that statistically it isn't still safer to fix a cavity. There isn't enough actual data to know what is the right amount of aggressiveness.

I think the best thing anyone can do is find a dentist that they like as a person and that agrees with their preferred approach (aggressive/moderate/conservative). It won't necessarily dictate better outcomes, but you will be happier and at the end of the day you will get exactly what you wanted with no one to blame but yourself.

[gatorjdmd]

I'm a dentist and timelinex got it right. Diagnosing a cavity isn't always black and white. Judgement comes in. As a general rule I'm more aggressive in kids compared to adults.

It's true that sometimes it's better to place a small filling in a tooth with incipient decay than to wait and watch it become a monster. This happens most often with kids.

[Bradley Gish]

I'm a dentist and timelinex got it right. Diagnosing a cavity isn't always black and white. Judgement comes in. As a general rule I'm more aggressive in kids compared to adults.

It's true that sometimes it's better to place a small filling in a tooth with incipient decay than to wait and watch it become a monster. This happens most often with kids.

There is no doubt that I probably have a couple of cavities that probably actually “need” filling. Even considering that I’m not yet experiencing any issues. I’m saving up to have this done, and I’m just going to have to keep an eye on potential other cavities that aren’t as severe. I can probably get one filled every few months or so. Like I said previously, dental work is expensive with no dental coverage.