this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2024
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136
Dentists are pulling ‘healthy’ and treatable teeth to profit from implants, experts warn (www.newsfromthestates.com)
submitted 8 hours ago by Joker@sh.itjust.works to c/news@lemmy.world
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[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

I have a broken molar on my left side and I've been dealing with it for years because I couldn't afford to have all 8 teeth removed that the dentist wanted to pull because I lost a corner of one molar.
If was explained to me that without that one tooth, the teeth on either side of it would move to fill the gap and would cause other problems, and without the teeth on the bottom the teeth on top would start to drop down and cause more problems, so if i wanted that one tooth fixed I'd need to pay thousands of dollars to get all the teeth on my left side pulled.
Being the gullible idiot I am, I trusted the medical professional and decided that if it had to be done that way, I'd just have to live with it the way it was because I didn't have thousands of dollars to pay for the surgery and my job at the time didn't offer dental.

[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 27 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Growing up I had two molars removed to make room for my teeth to move backward with braces. The orthodontist said my teeth were too big for my mouth and that I needed the extra space. Literally every dentist I've been to over the 30 years since then has asked why I didn't have those molars. I always tell them, and they always say it doesn't make sense. I'm guessing my family got "up-sold."

[–] capital@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago

Fuck... That's terrifying.

I've discussed this with my wife. If any dentist tell us our daughter needs teeth removed we're getting a 2nd and maybe a 3rd opinion.

[–] Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world 39 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Yes, and mechanics are "fixing" perfectly fine cars out there. AC technicians are telling people they need to replace their entire system when a $30 capacitor blows. Lawyers are charging people for many hours they didn't work.

Welcome to the wonderful world of getting ripped off!

PS: have you ever played Eve Online? You'll never get ripped off there. Never.

[–] Llewellyn@lemm.ee 5 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

PS: have you ever played Eve Online? You'll never get ripped off there. Never.

Is that an irony? I really can't tell..

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 hours ago

Unless the rules have changed, scamming players wasn't only allowed but actively encouraged. The theme of the game is unregulated hyper space capitalism where players have little to no built-in protection from each other.

Groups can hide bases in space and players from rival groups would attempt to join up in order to find the coordinates and the best times to attack. Sometimes going as far as hanging out with the other players irl to gain their trust.

Market traders would claim to be running mutual funds that you could buy into and receive huge returns when in reality it was a Ponzi scheme.

Players would offer high paying contracts to ship an item to a player owned base. Once another player accepted the contract they'd be denied entry to the base forcing them to fail the contract and pay a cancellation fee.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 8 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I haven't played it, but I have a special place in my heart for Eve Online. It has the type of cartoonishly evil scams you just don't see anymore. For example, centuries past, a common scam was for people to set up fake banks. Get people to deposit money at your fake bank, then disappear into the night one day. Today, an era where it's a lot harder to just up and disappear, this type of scam is far less common.

But not in Eve! A few years ago there was a massive scammer who got a bunch of people to put all their money in his bank offering suspiciously high interest rates. The bank collected a huge amount of money. Then one day the bank operator just loaded all the cash into his spaceship and flew off into space! It would be like if Wells Fargo went bankrupt because the CEO just absconded to Switzerland with all the bank's holdings one night.

[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 hours ago

There’s a great Down the Rabbit Hole on EVE drama!

[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 7 points 5 hours ago

This has been going on for awhile. My wife was estatic with my familys dentist because he was so honestly concerned about oral health over profit. He retired this year though :(

[–] ChocoboRocket@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (3 children)

Honestly, unless this tooth repair gel thing works and becomes available soon, I'd rather have some of my teeth replaced with implants.

I've asked my dentist "can we just skip the endless filling replacements, caps, crowns, and eventual implants and just go right to implants?"

They always say no, and I ask is there a reason why "natural teeth" with fillings/caps/crowns are better than implants - they reply with "But it's your teeth! They'll last a long time before needing implants!"

Yeah, so I'll need implants eventually, can't I just get them now before I put more fillings, caps, crowns, and eventual implants? Ain't nobody got time for that.

"but your natural teeth will last a long time!"

Yeah, but they ain't so natural after 5 procedures, and I'd rather avoid the ha$$le and just get the implants now instead of implants and a lifetime of repairs.

They always say no, and it's probably because they make way more money fixing bad teeth than replacing it with something permanent

EDIT

Thank you everyone!

I've gotten better answers here than from my dentist, so thank you everyone for educating me on the reasons why.

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 5 points 4 hours ago

IDK how these implants work or if she had them but my mom had a bunch of teeth taken out and her jaw started dissolving because there were no teeth there and it was expensive for her to get it straightened out.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 26 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Implants aren't nearly as good as real teeth from a sensation perspective. If you can keep as much of the real ones as you can, do.

[–] Alwaysnownevernotme@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

Idk my father got a set of titanium chompers, he eats ice as a snack now.

[–] apocalypticat@lemmy.world 13 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Implants go bad too. What do you do after an implant goes bad? I bet your options would be very limited then.

[–] ChocoboRocket@lemmy.world 5 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (2 children)

I was under the impression swapping out an implant was far easier than installing the system.

And I'm also talking about teeth that have been repeatedly drilled, capped, crowns etc - not a normal, healthy tooth.

These teeth are basically anchors for crowns, at what point is a new implant better than a chiseled out tooth?

[–] Ageroth@reddthat.com 4 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

I have about 9 crowns currently, and my wife is a dental assistant with implant and surgery experience. I asked about this one time and got this explanation.

Implants are a highly invasive, long, and expensive process, like over 10k each expensive, and months of procedures and recovery. Granted, usually implants aren't done to healthy teeth, but they usually have to build up the bone material after extracting the tooth and let that heal, drill into the bone and set the post then let that heal, then fit the implant and adjust everything because your teeth have been moving while it's been healing.
One of the reasons the dentist doesn't want to just pull a tooth and do an implant is the even when root canaled, that tooth is a better support than the implant post would be, and the implant is a lot more work.

The process of fillings, then crown, then root canal and crown don't usually happen in sequence like that, and if you do preventative maintenance you can keep a tooth with a filling from ever needing to be crowned or root canal'd

You wanna know what's a hell of a lot cheaper and easier than getting any dental work? Flossing and brushing!

I have hated flossing my entire life because it hurts my fingers to wrap the floss enough not to slide, but a couple months back I discovered I could tie a figure 8 knot and make a loop to pull tension on and now find i can't stand the feeling of anything in-between my teeth so I end up flossing after every meal.

Moral of the story is: floss and brush your teeth and you won't need to worry about crowns or implants. Always before bed and especially after anything with sugar or starches

[–] pageflight@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

I got a little floss holder, it has drastically changed my willingness to floss. (I think it's "E-Z Floss".) I wish any dentist had ever recommended that.

But thanks for the info about implants, I didn't know that process at all. My grandfather used to say he wished he'd just gotten dentures.

[–] Fermion@feddit.nl 4 points 2 hours ago

While flossing and brushing are definitely best practice, they absolutely do not guarantee never getting cavities.

[–] apocalypticat@lemmy.world 8 points 6 hours ago

Implants can fail at the implant/bone interface. You have limited amounts of bone in the jaw.

I'm not a dentist or surgeon, but I have an education in biomedical engineering. With knee and hip implants, for example, a major consideration is the health and longevity of the underlying bone.