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Comment by loocsinus | Hacker News Reader

I am a dentist. The article and some of the comments here make me sad. sorry for the bad apples in my profession. I am sure most of the dentists are honest. If you have questions about procedures you don't understand, you can ask me.

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I hate to say it, but I do not believe that most dentists are honest. Have you heard of the Readers Digest dentist investigation? In any other field it would have been a come-to-Jesus moment, prompting total reform, but the industry escaped with a mountain of PR and no change. That was nearly thirty years ago. Since then, median gross dentists' billings have increased significantly. Support for evidence-based, low-intervention dentistry is practically nonexistent in the US.

This is the same country that thinks it’s okay to dock tails on corgis, to remove foreskin on babies who aren’t lucky enough to be born in a west coast blue state, and pushes “ferberization” on hundreds of millions of children to remind them that their parents don’t want to take care of them if they cry when it’s inconvenient. I’m not even bringing up the literal scams of chiropractors or “naturopathic” doctors.

We are a disgusting, cruel people. Finland or Sweden would lock up (in cushy prison camps) the white coats for a fraction of what they get away with here in the USA

my dental school is pretty big on evident based dentistry. Many dentists I works with often refer to researches and guidelines. Even dentists arguing with each other on the internet quote researches. So I think it is getting better.

> I am sure most of the dentists are honest.

Honest but incompetent. For example most wisdom tooth removals are not necessary, but because (I think) it was taught at dental school most would recommend it.

To be fair this is not a dentists' only problem, it's true for every profession.

they didn't teach us to remove every wisdom teeth in dental school. also your assertion that "most wisdom teeth removal are not necessary" does not fit my observations.

> every wisdom teeth

Did I use the word 'every'?

>most wisdom teeth removal are not necessary" does not fit my observations.

This does not fit in with the anecdotes I have and personal experiences.

Also 2 people user here has commented on wisdom tooth removals :

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42019210 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42017899

So where do you think is the discrepancy in what you have observed and what 3 users on this forum have commented on?

I respect your opinion. The fact that I have extracted (and not extracted) more wisdom teeth than 3 of you means nothing to this argument is what worries me the most: Dentists have lost patients trust. I am no longer a trustworthy expert. So sad.

How frequently is jaw surgery required to fix bite issues? And if chewing and biting food are painless and not too cumbersome, how likely is the situation to devolve over time to the place that surgery becomes necessary?

jaw surgery is needed if the malocclusion is due to skeletal issue. meaning braces alone would not be enough to fix the bite.

Given that most of us can only afford to go to the dentist twice a year when our insurance covers it, what advice do you have for sussing out bad apples?

word of mouth. just ask your friends and relatives for referral.

I'm with you. The dog pile of negative comments here has me thinking just one thing. Time to log off for the day.

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