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Comment by Black101 | Hacker News Reader

Please get those crooked dentists out of work, as much as possible.

You're a rabid anti-dentite. Next thing you know you're saying they should have their own schools.

I remember when this episode aired. I brought it up with my dentist on my next visit and for some reason she wasn't amused.

Crooked dentists? Is this some sort of conspiracy theory? Dentists are medical professionals, who have been needed since the dark ages, and nowadays have very complex equipment and technology to ensure the best long-term and life-like suitable treatments for people.

What are you on about?

To be fair, dentists do engage in what really looks like price fixing (at least where I am, and to an outside eye). Every dentist here charges the exact same amount, regardless of whether they’re in the middle of a high-income metropolitan area or in bumkinville.

Also every once in a while you see some real horror stories of dentists doing unnecessary procedures on sedated patients, and although the extreme cases are absolutely the exception, I always do have to wonder if I actually need the (often expensive) treatments they recommend.

In the UK it is price fixed... By the NHS centrally. (Private practices exist too.)

Iirc, a check-up is £22, incl. anything relatively standard they need to do (cleaning, sealing, I think even the cheap non-white or whatever fillings, etc.). Certainly not an amount to be annoyed at the lack of reduction through competition.

>Every dentist here charges the exact same amount, regardless of whether they’re in the middle of a high-income metropolitan area or in bumkinville

In the USA? If so, that's probably moreso a result of the reimbursement structures imposed by dental insurance companies, rather than active collusion among dentists.

> Crooked dentists? ... What are you on about?

Like any profession, dentistry has it share of charlatans:

The Truth About Dentistry https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/05/the-tro...

What became of the criminal case against Lund?

There are crooked dentists. I've moved around a lot and been to a lot of dentists. There's a few that I trust, but also slightly more than a few who have tried to rip me off.

I've had dental offices that try to sell/bill me for extra cavities (7 at one place!), preventative crowns, sneaking in fluoride treatments and other add-ons to a cleaning, and periodontal cleanings.

In all of these occasions I'd get other opinions, often more than one, and would be told by other dentists that I didn't need these treatments.. I've found that dentists are more variable than car mechanics, meaning that if you go to three dentists you might end up with three different treatment recommendations.

I've also had two hygienists tell me they would never go to a corporate/franchise/national dental chain, after having worked at these places and seeing first hand how they've taken advantage of people, going as far as recommending implants that weren't needed. Based on my experiences I would concur.

Ehhh... dentists (even the not-obvious-scam ones) are notorious for overprescribing expensive and invasive unnecessary treatments.

They are medical professionals of course, and few are recommending completely nonsense, but it's like, if go to a plastic surgeon... they are probably going to find plastic surgery to perform. Not that it's _wrong_, just that it's really not necessary when you balance in the cost.

Last time I went to the dentist for a chipped tooth that didn't hurt, I was told that I needed a root canal... 6 visits later and 2 root canal treatment on the same tooth, my tooth is now sensitive to heat and pressure (and I had to pay $1600 for this shitty treatment)... The previous time I had a tooth issue, I had a similar experience (both in the US but in different states).

I will try Mexico next time.

Let me guess..dentists should provide their valuable services free of charge because...?

being honest and competent would be enough...

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