Most dentists are perfectly capable of providing the correct diagnosis. Unfortunately, even if and when they are, there are obstacles:
- Weak incentives to provide an accurate diagnosis
- Strong incentives to provide a particular inaccurate diagnosis
Giving a correct diagnosis often means investing more resources, as well as continuously investing in education and tooling. If the patient doesn’t see the difference between a correct diagnosis and “probably correct diagnosis” then they will react the same in both cases.
This situation where every diagnosis is perceived as the same, an examination is one of the least profitable services provided by dentists and, naturally, falls into the problem of “adverse selection.”
Some dentists recognise the opportunity of giving the wrong diagnosis to get a higher benefit. Be it by keeping or winning over the patient or by leaving room for the ability to recommend costly treatments.
The results of this are:
- Patients on average get a less correct diagnosis
- Dentists earn little to nothing for their diagnostic work