Are all Dentists Scam Artists?

So I was inspired to get this off my chest in light of my visit to the dentist today. How is it that every time you go to a new dentist, you miraculously have a mouthful of cavities or dental work that is going to cost at least $500 or more like you never take care of your teeth? I’m guessing if you have really good insurance they get away with doing unnecessary work more often than not. But when you have not so good insurance like me, more of a “group discount” than insurance, you have to be mindful of them.

Now my visit today was really to find out if they would pull my two wisdom teeth, one of which is stuck on bony material, which is allowing food to get caught back there. This is becoming increasingly more and more difficult to keep clean, in spite of the fact I do a good job of it. How is it you ask that I, a 30-year-old woman, still have wisdom teeth? I’m tempted to give out my parents’ phone numbers and email addresses for you to bombard them with this question that I myself still have. Nonetheless, I still have them and 2 of them have popped through the surface.

So before I made the appointment I called and asked if any of the dentists there pull wisdom teeth. This matters because of how much I will have to pay. I’ve already been referred to a specialist once, which they said would cost $60 just to find out how much he’s going to charge me. When I called they told me that they would pull some, depending on this that or the other. So I had to at least try, since I figured that these teeth being above the surface made my odds better. Apparently I’m doomed to go to pay a specialist if I’m going to get this food trap removed from my mouth. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!! You Guys are Awesome!!!! I take this as proof that my brother was the favorite. His were out in high school, while still under their responsibility and insurance.

Back to my mistrust of dentists: I had a dentist that told me I needed over $1000 worth of work. This included him pulling my wisdom teeth. But that wasn’t the expensive part. I wasn’t sure I believed him that I needed a crown, so I had him do 2 fillings to fix the immediate pain problem I was experiencing. I didn’t trust him not to mess with my teeth further while under anesthesia for my wisdom teeth extraction, so I switched dentists. Apparently, he’s the only one in town that will pull my wisdom teeth, and I trust him the least. The reason being is that no dentist since, has mentioned anything about me needing a crown on that tooth. So he must have been trying to scam me out of more dental work and more money than necessary.

My theory is that dentists can get away with it more, because unless we are dentists ourselves, we know very little about our teeth and mouth area. We just know if it’s sensitive, something’s wrong. So they can give us a whole list of things, whether we’re sensitive or not, and we blindly trust them. Because after all, they went to dental school and are now classified as “doctors” of Dentistry. Interesting how DDS stands for Doctor of Dental Surgery, and no one with a DDS will pull my wisdom teeth. Except for sneaky Pete whom I vehemently distrust more than anyone else in the world. Yes, so we blindly trust them and hand over our money and our mouths to these “experts” we know nothing about.

Hmmm. I’m seriously tempted to have them all pulled and pay for a nice set of dentures. I’m done after that. You can’t tell me I have 5 cavities every time I come in, you can’t tell me I need a root canal or a crown. Heck, I don’t even have to come in unless my doctor tells me to because of some other problem he/she can’t fix. Because I can take my teeth out and let them soak over night and they’ll be ready to go first thing in the morning. How nice would that be?

I know not all dentists are bad. In fact I’m going to switch back to my last one after I decide whether or not to get rid of these wisdom teeth now or later. Oh if only I could hit the lottery, then I wouldn’t have to worry about what the oral surgeon is going to charge me. Oh well, such is the hard life of being an adult. If I had one wish today, it would be to be 17 again long enough to get my wisdom teeth out on my parents’ dime. I mean it would be to win the lottery. I forgot.

Help a poor state worker; click some ads to help me pay to remove my wisdom teeth. Sniff sniff. Pretty Please….