Teeth- Not Just for Chewing With

An article by Brad    No Comments

Seeing as I am a dentist, and my website is notjustaboring dentist, and my twitter name is angry dentist, it dawns on me that I should write a blog about dentistry.

I know people don’t like going to the dentist.  I don’t take it personally anymore.  people just don’t like the dentist.  Why?  The needles.  The perceived pain.  The nosies.  All of the above.  A dozen different reasons.  But I want to tell you why its important to visit your dentist when he or she tells you.

First off, what good are teeth?  Several reasons:

1. Eating.  With teeth, eating is easier.  Simple.
2. Talking.  Without teeth, talking,  and being understood, is much more difficult.
3. Smile.  Keep you teeth, nice smile
4. Face structure.  Ever see granny not wearing her dentures?  Sure you have.  its ugly.  The whole face sags.  Without teeth, your face is quite scary

So there it is.  Why bring this up now.  Because of a certain type of patient I see too often.  Here’s the scenario.

Patient comes in, first cleaning in a while.  He has a lot of cavities.  None into the nerve, none requiring root canal, but many that are close.  I sit down and explain the situation: “You have a lot of deep cavities and you need to get them filled.  It will cost x amount of dolalrs. If you don;t, and any one of them needs root canal, and then a cap, it is going to cost you 15x that much.  Yes.  15x.  For the cost of doing a single root canal and cap, you can have every tooth in your mouth fixed.  If a tooth starts to hurt and you can not afford a root canal and cap, it will have to come out.  Guess what?  Having a tooth extracted costs the same amount as having a filling.  Except you no longer have that tooth in your mouth.  And it hurts a whole hell of a lot more to have a tooth taken out.  So please, schedule at the front desk so we can start filling these cavities before they start hurting and need more extreme treatment.”

Sounds good, right.  And you would figure any sane person would do as instructed.  Because teeth Do NOT heal, they only get worse.  So you are going to pay now or you are going to pay later.

So what bothers me?  When these people don’t come back to have their fillings done.  You know what?  I don’t mind doing crowns and root canals.  I get paid more.  But my first job is to try and make it so you don’t need expensive, invasive work.  And when people start throwing excuses at me…  I know people have other things going on in their lives, but finding one afternoon, or morning, to get these things done, should be a priority.

I know dental work can be expensive.  But people don’t seem to respect why.  My education, first off.  My loan payment every month is a small mortgage.  My schooling wasn’t free.  Materials are expensive.  Lab bills are expensive.  Stamps needed to send letter and postcards asking patients for payment is expensive.  Competent help is expensive.  Do we get paid well?  Yes.

But I spend my day inside people’s mouth, maintaining oral health.  So they can continue to eat right, and talk right and look good.

So if your dentist tells you you need work, get it done.  And if need be, get a second opinion

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