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I'll trust the dentist if he or she tells me something I want to hear. If however, they tell me I need $2-5000 worth of work done then I'll kindly leave their office and never come back. By all means continue being suckered into paying for unnecessary work because your insurance covers a portion of it, and not even the whole thing.
I'll trust the dentist if he or she tells me something I want to hear. If however, they tell me I need $2-5000 worth of work done then I'll kindly leave their office and never come back. By all means continue being suckered into paying for unnecessary work because your insurance covers a portion of it, and not even the whole thing.
Personally, I'd rather trust a dentist to tell me the truth, whether I want to hear it or not.
I'm in the middle. I have had good, ethical dentists, and incompetent dentists, and "crook" dentists. I think it pays to be skeptical, and check things out. If that means another opinion, so be it.
I went to two different Dentists after the first one in a new town told me I had 12 cavities and needed four crowns. The second one told me I needed half that much work and the third one told me I only needed four fillings and nothing else. I went to the third one who said I needed the least work but maybe the first one was the best and was being completely honest. Who knows.
When my dentist tells me I need work, he shows me the x-rays and points out the trouble spots, and explains exactly what it is I'm looking at. He answers any and all questions I have, and doesn't rush me for a decision unless it's an emergency situation (like an abscess, of which I've only had two in my life anyway).
You should probably learn a little about reading x-rays. You don't need to be an ace-interpreter of them, but at least having some understanding of what a trouble-spot looks like, what normal looks like, can go a long way in helping promote communication and trust between you and your dentist.
You could ask for a service that my dentist performs as a matter of course. He takes pictures of my teeth with a regular digital camera and immediately posts them for me to see. I was shocked by what I saw--old fillings were crumbling and appeared ready to fall out and/or get swallowed with food. It made me wonder why the former dentist had said nothing about this, esp as I had gone to her originally, complaining of pain in that area and she told me it was fine and she couldn't tell why I still had pain. The only reason I can think of is that it was old amalgam, and without the proper equipment, they don't like messing with those. My new dentist has all the proper equipment and it is costing bucks but I think it will be worth it.
Or you could do what my one friend did while in Macadonia--get your dental work done there. He had a lot of work done and it set him back $200 and it was a modern clinic. It probably helps that he knows the language though.
You could ask for a service that my dentist performs as a matter of course. He takes pictures of my teeth with a regular digital camera and immediately posts them for me to see. I was shocked by what I saw--old fillings were crumbling and appeared ready to fall out and/or get swallowed with food. It made me wonder why the former dentist had said nothing about this, esp as I had gone to her originally, complaining of pain in that area and she told me it was fine and she couldn't tell why I still had pain. The only reason I can think of is that it was old amalgam, and without the proper equipment, they don't like messing with those. My new dentist has all the proper equipment and it is costing bucks but I think it will be worth it.
Or you could do what my one friend did while in Macadonia--get your dental work done there. He had a lot of work done and it set him back $200 and it was a modern clinic. It probably helps that he knows the language though.
It also helps if you can afford to return to Macedonia if there's any problem once you're already home, or if the visit requires follow-up. And of course it also helps if you have a couple of days to waste in Macedonia during the recovery process, when you might need pain meds that make you too loopy to actually enjoy a vacation.
It also helps if you can afford to return to Macedonia if there's any problem once you're already home, or if the visit requires follow-up. And of course it also helps if you have a couple of days to waste in Macedonia during the recovery process, when you might need pain meds that make you too loopy to actually enjoy a vacation.
he'd probably still save a ton of money even if he had to go back to macedonia for a follow up and come back.
I never trust anyone to do something against their self interest. Why would a dentist advise you to fill a cavity, for instance, for $150, when he can charge you $700 for a root canal and then $2000 for a crown? Where precisely is the incentive for him or her? If a dentist can sucker someone into getting $2700 worth of dentistry done then he's going to do it. Never put your faith in what your dentist tells you.
My dentist does a root canal about every 6 months.
He says he wonders about dentists who do them more often.
He thinks aggressive preventative maintenance is the right way to take care of people's teeth.
If your patients are getting to the point of root canal left and right, you are doing something wrong.
I have known him for 25 years and he has not steered me wrong.
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