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Maybe you don't need those exrays? Or the implants.
My dentist divorced me because I refused exrays - just wanted my teeth cleaned.
So I found one and he needed me to take X-rays too. So I did - an aweful full mouth business . He hardly looked at it or if he did he did not even discuss it with me.
Until I develop x-ray vision or install an x-ray machine in my house for myself, I accept that periodic imaging of my teeth is a necessary evil and stop whinging about it. Sort of in the category of paying for a place to live, feeding myself, maintaining a car, paying taxes. It is a lot easier, less painful, and less expensive to take care of decay sooner than later. I choose to not wonder or agonize over my teeth day in and day out so take care of them. Dental concerns generally stay in the background of my life.
Funny, all my dentists have been reasonable to deal with. My dental insurance coverage isn't any better than most people's. I don't feel I've been cheated or ripped off much at all. I don't have any ongoing dental issues either. Maybe patient attitude has something to do with it. I get my teeth cleaned every year or so. I get imagery every couple of years depending on the dentist's practice policy. If I don't agree with the policy I go somewhere else.
But, that's me. A helpless pawn. Walking around being victimized by the dental profession.
Last edited by Parnassia; 05-04-2019 at 02:13 PM..
Funny, all my dentists have been reasonable to deal with. My dental insurance coverage isn't any better than most people's. I don't feel I've been cheated or ripped off much at all. I don't have any ongoing dental issues either. Maybe patient attitude has something to do with it. I get my teeth cleaned every year or so. I get imagery every couple of years depending on the dentist's practice policy. If I don't agree with the policy I go somewhere else.
But, that's me. A helpless pawn. Walking around being victimized by the dental profession.
When you go for your physical does your doctor want an x-ray of your whole body every two years regardless of whether you have problems or not? Often they can treat you without ANY x-rays by examining you, asking you questions.
X-rays are not harmless. To subject your patient, who has a healthy mouth, to x-rays without reason, and refuse to treat them if they don't comply is exploitative.
Not everyone has dental insurance. Medicare does not cover dental care.
Sure you can choose to be a pawn or choose be an intelligent consumer.
Maybe you don't need those exrays? Or the implants.
My dentist divorced me because I refused exrays - just wanted my teeth cleaned.
So I found one and he needed me to take X-rays too. So I did - an aweful full mouth business . He hardly looked at it or if he did he did not even discuss it with me.
Completely agree. Common dental procedure and practice is far more aggressive than that which benefits the typical patient. Practicing with a focus on the best interests of patients/consumers would result in far less $$ changing hands.
I am convinced that modern dentists attend seminars at their conventions with subjects like "Maximizing Patient Dollars", "Upsell Like a Pro" and "Effectively Countering Objections to Treatment". I never gave it a thought until I overheard part of an office meeting at my dentist before they started with their first patient of the day (me) and they were discussing the previous week's dollar volume and getting pumped up to do even more in the current week. It was like the sales meetings in Glengarry Glen Ross. All of their repeated recommendations for deep cleaning, x-rays, fluoride treatments, crown replacements fell into place at that moment. I've never trusted since that my dental health is more important than the amount of my bill.
I am convinced that modern dentists attend seminars at their conventions with subjects like "Maximizing Patient Dollars", "Upsell Like a Pro" and "Effectively Countering Objections to Treatment". I never gave it a thought until I overheard part of an office meeting at my dentist before they started with their first patient of the day (me) and they were discussing the previous week's dollar volume and getting pumped up to do even more in the current week. It was like the sales meetings in Glengarry Glen Ross. All of their repeated recommendations for deep cleaning, x-rays, fluoride treatments, crown replacements fell into place at that moment. I've never trusted since that my dental health is more important than the amount of my bill.
Always Be Closing. Yep, I like that analogy and reference.
I know one and only one dentist in my area worthy of my trust and he an oral surgeon - doesn't do general dentistry. He is in his late 70s, but fortunately he chooses to continue to practice now and then in the office that used to be his alone. It's good to know he's there if/when I need another extraction.
Most of the rest are shysters....and transparently so. That's why I never go near them. People can do an amazing job of maintaining and cleaning their own teeth, but it requires daily discipline and lots of motivation. I have it now, but sadly it took 5 extractions over 26 years to get there. Most of those extractions were the end result of over-zealous treatment when I was a kid.
Not everyone has dental insurance. Medicare does not cover dental care.
Sure you can choose to be a pawn or choose be an intelligent consumer.
I have one of the good dentists, as I continue to realize every time I read posts about the other kind (and that Atlantic Magazine horror story). He DOES do regular X-rays (and uses the thyroid protector!). Sometimes he finds something he wants to keep an eye on. He'll look at the last X-ray and see if it was there then. I've been with him for years and I think I can count on one hand the number of times he's found an asymptomatic problem and wanted to treat it immediately so he's not using it to drum up business.
And no, Medicare does not cover dental care and many private plans are pretty stingy. I suck it up and pay. It's part of keeping healthy. A lot of my diet is fresh fruits and vegetables. I need my teeth!
Always Be Closing. Yep, I like that analogy and reference.
I know one and only one dentist in my area worthy of my trust and he an oral surgeon - doesn't do general dentistry. He is in his late 70s, but fortunately he chooses to continue to practice now and then in the office that used to be his alone. It's good to know he's there if/when I need another extraction.
Most of the rest are shysters....and transparently so. That's why I never go near them. People can do an amazing job of maintaining and cleaning their own teeth, but it requires daily discipline and lots of motivation. I have it now, but sadly it took 5 extractions over 26 years to get there. Most of those extractions were the end result of over-zealous treatment when I was a kid.
It took me almost a lifetime to "wake up" and take care of my own dental health. Years of dental work in my mouth and years of bad bad carbs/sugar and that has finally changed. I had to change. I have not been in a dental chair for probably 8 yrs or so at this point.
OP: I've done my share of mouth xrays and just using a round number, at least 50, probably every visit to dental office, it was an xray and the older one is the more visits one does experience. When I started to refuse xrays about 10 yrs ago the dentist just looked at me in shock, and then later visits he had me sign a waiver. I eventually stopped seeing him and found after some calls a dentist who would clean my teeth and no xrays. We have a lot of dentists in our town. I don't know if there anything written anywhere that we have to get xrays each time in a dental office. It's just been so automatic all my life until I finally questioned it all. And looked at myself and what I was doing.
It took me almost a lifetime to "wake up" and take care of my own dental health. Years of dental work in my mouth and years of bad bad carbs/sugar and that has finally changed. I had to change. I have not been in a dental chair for probably 8 yrs or so at this point.
OP: I've done my share of mouth xrays and just using a round number, at least 50, probably every visit to dental office, it was an xray and the older one is the more visits one does experience. When I started to refuse xrays about 10 yrs ago the dentist just looked at me in shock, and then later visits he had me sign a waiver. I eventually stopped seeing him and found after some calls a dentist who would clean my teeth and no xrays. We have a lot of dentists in our town. I don't know if there anything written anywhere that we have to get xrays each time in a dental office. It's just been so automatic all my life until I finally questioned it all. And looked at myself and what I was doing.
Take care.
I can top that, Jam.
I haven't been in a dental chair for a routine visit since about '93 - give or take a year. Since then I've had 3 extractions and 1 crown re-cemented 'cause it came off. That's it.
My last extraction was a wisdom tooth filled long ago that cracked and fell apart in 2 or 3 steps. That was 2 1/2 years ago before I was on Eliquis (anti-coagulant). So now my situation is a lot more complicated since I would have to stop Eliquis before any dental work that would bleed. And that would put me at greater stroke risk. Can't have that.
So I do a lot of praying (maybe hoping is a better word since I'm not a religious man) that my current teeth will outlast whatever it is that would do me in. Of course, what I really hope for is that whatever it is that would do me in will never have the chance. Like Woody Allen, "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying".
My father didn't go to a dentist for nearly 30 years. All the while he had a beautiful blazing white smile from brushing, flossing and generally "taking care of his teeth" himself.
He also had severe periodontal disease and they had to peel his gums like a banana and stitch them back together when he finally did go.
So, yeah keep keeping on...
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