Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My dentist recomends a DEEP cleaning, costing $900. Seems much too high in this suburb in the midwest. My uppers are all new denture implants she put in and are nice. Bottom are 2 bridges and a few original stained teeth. All this cost me over $30,000 out of pocket.
Last deep cleaning was 4 years ago by another dentist, who I left because of his mistakes.
Dental insurance and my discount plan do not cover this. No implants. I looked into that.
Have you done this recently. Was it pricey, here in U.S.?
"Deep cleaning" is clearly a scam...I just got done researching this because my wife's dentist insisted on it BEFORE he would treat an obviously bum tooth.
A Cochrane study found only two studies done well enough (controlled/prospective studies) to consider for evaluation for using deep cleaning as a preventative measure-- both showed there was no improvement in outcomes compared to just regular brushing....
...and they found that it is considered "the gold standard" for treating peridontal disease with absolutely ZERO studies comparing it to other treatments/no treatment to deserve such a position in the dental care armamentarium.
"Deep cleaning" is clearly a scam...I just got done researching this because my wife's dentist insisted on it BEFORE he would treat an obviously bum tooth.
A Cochrane study found only two studies done well enough (controlled/prospective studies) to consider for evaluation for using deep cleaning as a preventative measure-- both showed there was no improvement in outcomes compared to just regular brushing....
...and they found that it is considered "the gold standard" for treating peridontal disease with absolutely ZERO studies comparing it to other treatments/no treatment to deserve such a position in the dental care armamentarium.
Antibiotics can help reduce swelling caused by periodontal disease, but unless you get under the gumline and eliminate the built-up tartar there, it'll just keep getting infected. And as we all know, antibiotics are really a BAD thing to keep using over and over again, if you can avoid it by doing something else.
The process of scraping the tartar under the gumline and treating it at the site, is a deep cleaning. If you don't have periodontal disease, you probably don't need it. But if you do, it'll help prevent it from getting worse. Periodontitis leads tooth and bone loss, and even heart and lung disease, if not treated.
If you have deep pockets, it means your gums are pulling away from the teeth, risking exposure of the tooth root, and the jaw bone. It means tartar has built up under there, making it impossible for the "pulling away" to stop happening. If you don't get the tartar out, it'll just get worse, until you start losing teeth, and suffer bone loss.
Periodontal scaling is unfortunately "sold" to people who might not necessarily need it, at "dental mills." But a responsible dentist won't recommend it unless it's actually necessary. And sometimes, it is genuinely necessary.
Interesting reports. Can they be generalized to U.S.? And everyone, or only certain ages or gender? Some studies cannot generalize to everyone. Well, it certainly raises doubts.
My dentist did not say I NEEDED it for specific reasons. She could always say I have gingivitis whatever that is or "calculus"
that reminds me of math. How do I know?
When I mentioned a cleaning to her--her eyes lit up and she smiled. She liked hearing that. According the the web, $900 is going rate for this, by the "quadrant" $200. Its still ridiculous. The hygienist does this, whose labor cost is a fraction of the dentist...if you follow me.
Interesting reports. Can they be generalized to U.S.? And everyone, or only certain ages or gender? Some studies cannot generalize to everyone. Well, it certainly raises doubts.
My dentist did not say I NEEDED it for specific reasons. She could always say I have gingivitis whatever that is or "calculus"
that reminds me of math. How do I know?
When I mentioned a cleaning to her--her eyes lit up and she smiled. She liked hearing that. According the the web, $900 is going rate for this, by the "quadrant" $200. Its still ridiculous. The hygienist does this, whose labor cost is a fraction of the dentist...if you follow me.
If you don't get the tartar out, it'll just get worse, until you start losing teeth, and suffer bone loss.
.
The point of the Cochrane Review-- NO evidence your statement is true...It may be true, but there is NO study proving it.... It's simply the standard of care...and why not ? It's a great money maker.
Bleeding with leeches was once high tech medical practice. Everybody did it...until someone did a controlled study...and it didn't work.
Interesting reports. Can they be generalized to U.S.? And everyone, or only certain ages or gender? Some studies cannot generalize to everyone. Well, it certainly raises doubts.
My dentist did not say I NEEDED it for specific reasons. She could always say I have gingivitis whatever that is or "calculus"
that reminds me of math. How do I know?
When I mentioned a cleaning to her--her eyes lit up and she smiled. She liked hearing that. According the the web, $900 is going rate for this, by the "quadrant" $200. Its still ridiculous. The hygienist does this, whose labor cost is a fraction of the dentist...if you follow me.
Did they do perio charting and advise the pocket measurements? That's how you would know if it's bad enough to need it or not.
The point of the Cochrane Review-- NO evidence your statement is true...It may be true, but there is NO study proving it.... It's simply the standard of care...and why not ? It's a great money maker.
Bleeding with leeches was once high tech medical practice. Everybody did it...until someone did a controlled study...and it didn't work.
Your report specifies *ROUTINE* scaling and polishing, and even uses "prophylaxis" as an alternative term, in the report. That's just a cleaning using a dental instrument to scrape the tartar off the surface of the teeth and down at the edge of the gum-line. This is not the same thing as a "deep cleaning," also known as "scaling and root planing" which goes UNDER the gum-line, down near the root of the tooth (which is why it includes the word "root" in the phrase).
The point of the Cochrane Review-- NO evidence your statement is true...It may be true, but there is NO study proving it.... It's simply the standard of care...and why not ? It's a great money maker.
That's a fair point to make. But the fact that its a great money maker doesn't mean that's why it is the standard of care, which you seem to be suggesting. It may be because, in their experience and the experience of others they network with, it "seems to work" better than not doing it in their clinics, in certain cases. And probably there are some greedy dentists who overuse it, so caveat emptor, get a 2nd opinion if uncertain, and all that.
But this kind of unproven "seems to work" medical recommendation isn't limited to deep cleaning, or even dentistry though, even in circumstances where there is little money to be made.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
