Reform of dental industry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of it goes back to the early 90s (?) when the AMA signed up to participate in HMOs while the ADA did not. Ever since, dentistry has been a major cash business with significant insurance involvement, but a whole lot of people don't carry dental insurance at all.

Everyone's got teeth, old young male female, and when they need to be emergently cared for, it's not optional. Dentists frequently do better than even MD specialists.

In other words, dentistry is an illegal anticompetitive trust.

I think at the time the ADA just recognized that it was going to be a bad deal for practitioners.

Modern conglomerate managed care certainly hasn't helped the bottom line of medical practitioners in terms of either compensation or lifestyle or even actual ability to deliver quality care, because they're no longer in charge of the terms of their own practice.

Dentists and oral surgeons don't have to deal with any of that oversight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest child ever had a cavity. When he was about to age out of our dental insurance suddenly the dentist claimed he had 10 cavities. We stopped going there and they spam us with calls and emails constantly.

And yeah, my adult child's new dentist found no cavitiies.

To be fair, that truly just sounds like a shitty dentist.

I guess my kids always had a great dentist, though, because my BIL is an orthodontist.

There was a dentist for a while in my town who practiced out of an addition to his house. My BIL said "don't go to that guy"

Bad lawyers good lawyers, bad dentists good dentists. People like a bargain if they have to pay out of pocket.

One thing about consolidating managed healthcare on the MD side is that once you become a potential liability, they will have no hesitation to cut you loose. And you can't suddenly order 15 new tests without overhead approval. Or maybe you can, but no one really has to listen to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't quote it because it's so large but I don't have outdoor cats

Actually half my cats are rescued from Turkey, they were street cats. They had to be vetted and vaccinated before they were flown here into the US. I have four of them. They live in indoor luxury.

I'm mostly talking about the dogs who have to be walked.

Immigrant cats !!!!

[Anonymous]

The scam is that for some reason, taking carae of your mouth/teeth isn't considered "healthcare" ... why is "dental insurance" something different? Same for vision -- I guess taking care of your eyes isn't part of your health either?

None of it makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why no one raises their voice against this industry? Their costs are astronomical and rules and regulations are really foggy which gives dentists charge as much as they want. Why isn't it part of medical insurance and why cash costs are out of control? Is there anyone here who can take up this cause and get government and industry to work on making it affordable for Americans?

Well, you can demand your electeds to include dental care in the ACA. Maybe the GOP can include this in their concept of a plan.

[Anonymous]

If you support this reform, write to people who can play a role in making it happen. Social media influencers can make noise to get more people interested in promoting such reforms.

[Anonymous]

Dentists are the biggest scammers in all of healthcare. They're the used car salesmen in health.