(the article I am referencing is found at:http:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/environment\/2014\/09\/dentist-ripping-you-off)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I will admit to being particularly sensitive to news or articles that are negative to the field of dentistry, or cast it in an unflattering light.\u00a0 It’s human nature to protect and defend things close to us;\u00a0 obviously dentistry is a large part of my life, so I am always wary of criticism leveled at my profession.\u00a0\u00a0 Especially when it is unfair or grossly exaggerated.\u00a0\u00a0 Even worse when some of the criticisms are true.<\/p>\n
I recently had someone ask me about a blog article they were directed to titled “Is Your Dentist Ripping You Off?”\u00a0 Some of these issues in the blog have been raised before; I remember a Reader’s Digest article from the early 90’s with a similar theme.\u00a0\u00a0 This blog, however, really seems to imply that the field of dentistry is experiencing a crisis of “creative diagnosis”- unnecessary care.\u00a0\u00a0 Let’s look and see if this article is raising a legitimate alarm or is merely blowing smoke.<\/p>\n
The author states she became interested in the topic when her own dentist commented on how he could improve her smile (presumably with veneers) and then wanted to do a “deep cleaning” on her husband.\u00a0\u00a0 The clear implication of the first paragraph is that these were unnecessarily prescribed, and, indeed, they might have been; the author provides no evidence that can elucidate the issue either way.\u00a0 The suggestion of improving the author’s smile is cosmetic in nature;\u00a0 esthetic improvements are often offered or suggested in the healthcare field, mainly because people are interested, but, yes, cosmetic procedures are “unnecessary.”\u00a0\u00a0 As for the “deep cleaning,”\u00a0 the author never provides any evidence to the contrary that her husband needed this special type of cleaning.\u00a0 From my experience, the majority of patients who are diagnosed with a need for a periodontal scaling and root planing, or “deep cleaning,” are unaware they need it.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve seen people who are about to lose all their teeth think everything is healthy and normal.<\/p>\n
The author then looks into dental continuing education, where she finds what we are apparently supposed to believe are shady or even dishonest courses designed to help dentists with prescribing unnecessary care.\u00a0\u00a0 She found a ” lecturer at a privately operated seminar called\u00a0The Profitable Dentist<\/a>\u00a0($389) aimed to help “dentists to reignite their passion for dentistry while increasing their profit and time away from the office.”\u00a0\u00a0 I’m not quite sure what is questionable there-\u00a0 it seems like a lecture aimed at two common goals of all businesses:\u00a0 more profit and less time invested.\u00a0\u00a0 How evil!\u00a0 Then she aims her sights at organized dentistry (with similar results).\u00a0 The author says she uncovered that the “ADA’s 2014\u00a0annual conference<\/a>\u00a0offered tips for maximizing revenue: ‘Taking time to help our patients want what we know they need,” notes one session description, “can drive the economic and reward engine of our practice.'”\u00a0 Again, not sure what is so incriminating here- a class to help dentists increase patient acceptance of what “they need,” to increase income and satisfaction at work. \u00a0 Horrible!<\/p>\n The author’s next few sections hold a little more merit.\u00a0\u00a0 She begins by discussing the student loan debt of new dentists, which is ultimately a concern of anyone graduating these days in many professions.\u00a0\u00a0 She then focuses on corporate dentistry, and it is here where I think her arrows finally find the mark.\u00a0\u00a0 It is true that many corporate, chain dental offices have performance marks their dentists have to meet.\u00a0\u00a0 It is true that many chains can turn practitioners into salespeople rather than diagnosticians.\u00a0\u00a0 Have I seen this type of care?\u00a0 You bet.\u00a0 Is it common?\u00a0\u00a0 I wouldn’t say that, but common enough at these corporate chains to make it a legitimate concern.<\/p>\n So, what is the lesson?\u00a0\u00a0 What is our takeaway from all this info?\u00a0 Ultimately, in any profession, there are both honest, hardworking people and others who lack the moral compass to act in the best interest of those they serve.\u00a0\u00a0 I wish dentistry could be free from professionals who do poor work, don’t act in the best interest of their patients, who have decided to treat dentistry as more sales than healthcare.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, this will never be;\u00a0 dentistry, like every other profession, must have a certain percentage of practitioners who behave poorly simply because a certain percentage of the general populace does the same.\u00a0\u00a0 This has always been true, and always will be.<\/p>\n What can patients do?\u00a0\u00a0 My best advice:\u00a0 beware corporate, chain dentistry.\u00a0\u00a0 It seems harsh, and may indeed be unfair to many offices, but there is a large enough body of evidence to suggest that chains rely on\u00a0 loss leaders, up selling, and bonus commission structures that degrade the quality of care you receive.\u00a0\u00a0 Dentists are professionals, not used car or furniture salespeople.\u00a0 We diagnose disease, not follow monthly sales quotas.\u00a0 My experience with patients who have been treated at corporate chains is almost always negative, as I have heard stories of deceptive billing and have seen unnecessary treatment.<\/p>\n As for Dental Health Associates of Streetsboro, we strive to provide the best possible care honestly, never forgetting that we are treating people, not just teeth.\u00a0 If you ever have a concern about a diagnosis we have offered, please don’t hesitate to voice your concerns. \u00a0 Don’t hesitate to get a second opinion. \u00a0 Ultimately, we are here to serve you. We treat families, not checkbooks.\u00a0 We treat you, not a wallet.\u00a0 We take your trust very seriously, and thanks for being a patient.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Matthew Kremser, DDS<\/p>\n Owner, Dental Health Associates of Streetsboro<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (the article I am referencing is found at:http:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/environment\/2014\/09\/dentist-ripping-you-off) I will admit to being particularly sensitive to news or articles that are negative to the field of dentistry, or cast it in an unflattering light.\u00a0 It’s human nature to protect and defend things close to us;\u00a0 obviously dentistry is a large part of my life, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dhastreetsboro.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}