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I had one isolated incident -- a dentist told me I needed a root canal, and she referred me to a specialist of the same nationality. I didn't like the guy's attitude on the phone and didn't feel like driving across town to his office, so I called & asked her for a copy of the XRay to take to another specialist. She said it would cost me $25. I wasn't in pain at the time, so I decided to do nothing. Several months later, I went to another dentist and mentioned the suggested root canal, and he told me there was nothing wrong with that tooth.
I see 2 separate issues here. One is that it is very common for older dentists to "coast" into retirement by doing minimal treatment. The patients are happy and keep coming back because they always get a "clean bill of health" from their dentist. So he keeps collecting fees for the routine cleanings. Then he sells the practice and the new dentist notes patients are coming back with small cavities that have been "watched" for years. By the time a cavity hurts, the fix is expensive. The older dentist was just doing those expensive treatments when they got to that point. Some call this neglect. Then the new dentist comes in and shows what is really going on and they get suspicious because the old dentist was waiting until something hurts, but they patient doesn't know that. Very common.
The second issue is that most patients approach dental "insurance" like medical insurance....they only want treatment that is paid by insurance and they balk if they have to pay anything out of pocket. This is a poor choice because dental "insurance" companies are there to make money by collecting your premiums and not paying it out to a dentist. Patients often confuse "the insurance doesn't pay for it" with "I must not have a problem if the insurance company doesn't want to pay for it."
If you don't like what your dentist has to say, pay the money to get another opinion. Dentists are on every corner. Find one you like. Or brush your teeth 2 minutes a day or gargle oil an hour a day or whatever other voodoo makes you happy.
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