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Medical Forum / General / Dentistry / March 2008Consumers book on dentistry
There have been books written to help dentists sell dentistry. It has been a long time since one was written to help the consumer to know when to look out. Open Wider: Your Wallet Not Your Mouth is such a book. It became avaliable on Amazon.com 3 weeks ago. 100% of patients who have read it loved it. I have had over 1100 negative messages from dentists. This tells me those who overtreat do not like it. My guess is 20 to 30% of crowns that are done leave the patient less well off than if the tooth were not touched. Only about one buildup in 20 is needed but they cost up to $300. 90% of buildups are done by 5% of dentists. Some dentists with eleastic ethics will charge for two buildups for each crow. This is impossible. Only about one third molar, wisdom tooth, in 7 need to come out. This is a three billion dollar a year business. Some people die from the anesthesia, one in 300,000 to 700,000 about 1 in 1,000 end up with a numb lip. You have a greater chance of having breast cancer or prostate cancer but we do not remove either from our 16 year olds. this is a very easy read. It is written in people talk not dentist code. There are 400 pages packed with information the smart dental consumers need. For more information go to http://openwideryourwallet.blogspot.com or http://openwider.org Fred On Feb 22, 7:11 pm, fr...@comcast.net wrote: > There have been books written to help dentists sell dentistry. It has > been a long time since one was written to help the consumer to know [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Fred The negative responses from dentists is now over 1400. I think we hit a a sore point with over treating over charging dentists. Fred On Feb 26, 1:09 am, fr...@comcast.net wrote: > On Feb 22, 7:11 pm, fr...@comcast.net wrote: > The negative responses from dentists is now over 1400. I think we hit > a a sore point with over treating over charging dentists. > > Fred Last time I looked, it was 1276 (not over 1400) *replies*. This is not the same as "negative responses". A lot of posts within the thread weren't direct responses to the book, and the majority of posts were written by a handful of individuals (not all of them were dentists, either). My worry is that, while there is a need for a consumer's guide to dentistry, the book is likely to use similarly twisted "statistics" and sweeping generalisations, which ultimately don't help patients. Don't get me wrong, I reckon the idea itself is great - but a more objective re-write, taking into account some of the criticisms leveled at the current version, would be appreciated. He's probably adding in the ones on the Internet Dental Forum, but none of them have said, "Atta boy Fred", so I'm sure they are all considered by him to be negative. There certainly are crooks in the dental field. Some of them have been fostered by the dental insurance companies themselves. Some would be crooks on their own. However, most dentists are trying to do right by the patient and the dental profession. The lack of knowing your dentist as a person, and the dentists knowing their patients has led to a depersonalization of dental care, yet it is a very personal encounter. The same thing has happened with eye care, pharmacy, medicine, you name it. Services are viewed more as commodities, yet there is no correlation at all. It's much easier to cheat someone that you don't know. The patient sometimes doesn't pay the bill, and the professional sometimes charges too much, or delivers too little. Sign of the times I guess. :-( Steve > Last time I looked, it was 1276 (not over 1400) *replies*. This is not > the same as "negative responses". A lot of posts within the thread [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > objective re-write, taking into account some of the criticisms leveled > at the current version, would be appreciated. > He's probably adding in the ones on the Internet Dental Forum, but > none of them have said, "Atta boy Fred", so I'm sure they are all [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Dartos (Steve Fawks) has made some valid points. It is unfortunate, as Dartos states, that this is the sign of our times. We seem to be regressing instead of progressing as a society in areas such as honesty, integrity, empathy, responsibility etc. It is my hope that the professions that take care of human beings such as the medical professions do not follow the lead of greed but instead treat all patients as they would treat themselves and their families. > There have been books written to help dentists sell dentistry. It has > been a long time since one was written to help the consumer to know [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > Fred Fred: If you're looking to inform patients, why would you "guess" how many crowns hurt patients? Are your criteria included in the book? What is the source of your assertion that "90% of buildups are done by 5% of dentists? For that matter, what is your basis for stating that "only 1 (wisdom tooth) in 7 needs to come out"? Few people are more cynical about what motivates people than I am, and that includes cynicism about my own profession. But there's a fine line between informing and yellow journalism. BTW, since you claim many dentists overtreat (I don't know, but I'm inclined to think you may be right), I think it may be pertinent to clear up an item in your bio. You state that you have done "quality reviews for 15 years". These reviews may of course be in your capacity as faculty for U. Washington. But might there also be a connection to (for example) any insurance companies? And what are the rules in Washington about announcing yourself as a dental anesthesiologist (and why would your page state that dental anesthesiology "is not a specialty of the ADA"? Just wondering, Steve  SignatureMark & Steven Bornfeld DDS http://www.dentaltwins.com Brooklyn, NY 718-258-5001 > Fred: > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Just wondering, > Steve I do see that you are a diplomate of the anesthesiology board. Forgive my misreading of your qualifications. Steve SignatureMark & Steven Bornfeld DDS http://www.dentaltwins.com Brooklyn, NY 718-258-5001 On Feb 26, 9:51 am, Mark & Steven Bornfeld <bornfeldm...@dentaltwins.com> wrote: > fr...@comcast.net wrote: > > There have been books written to help dentists sell dentistry. It has [quoted text clipped - 53 lines] > Brooklyn, NY > 718-258-5001 The ADA requires that we place the disclaimer because dental anesthesiology is not a specialty of dentistry. I did complete a one year resideny in 1964 and am a diplomate of the American Board of Dental Anesthesiology and the National Board of Dental Anesthesiology and I am a fellow of the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology. I am also a member of the American Society of Dental Anesthesiology. This membership is only open to those who have completed a residency. I did a one-year residency that was accepted because it was done in 1967. It no requires a full two-year residency for membership. This does qualify me to be a dental anesthesiologist so long as I note that ADA does not have an anesthesiology residency. I do quality reviews for about 5 union and employer welfare trusts. They are different from insurance companies as they are not sold to businesses or individual. They are well funded and only want their funds to be well spend. Fred > The ADA requires that we place the disclaimer because dental > anesthesiology is not a specialty of dentistry. I did complete a one [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Fred I was indeed surprised to check and find you were correct--that the ADA does not recognize the specialty of dental anesthesiology. I do remember when oral/maxillofacial radiology was included. I am well-acquainted with union welfare fund benefit plans. Thanks for the clarification. Steve
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