Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Max Roscoe" data-source="post: 1364042" data-attributes="member: 17845">I used to always decline the dental xray, but Im not surprised it has become a requirement.&nbsp; I always found it an odd way of examining teeth.&nbsp; After my last dentist died and the new guy doubled the rates and cut down on the cleaning time, I began looking elsewhere.My advice is to either get dental cleanings done abroad when traveling, or look into your local dental school.&nbsp; I am a patient at my dental school, and while they do require an initial one time x ray (after all they are teaching the students,&nbsp; who will one day be pushing x rays on their patients all the time, so they at least need to be able to read the x-ray films) they do not ever ask again.&nbsp; The main benefit is you will get excellent cleaning by someone who is methodically taking their time and the cost is very low.&nbsp; Plus you are not directly supporting the for-profit health care system which I have a big problem with.&nbsp; The health system in the US is first and foremost a sickness management system which tries to treat symptoms.&nbsp;&nbsp; I think the worst thing about the system is its &quot;fee for service&quot; model which means the more services one performs (drilling teeth, taking x rays, doing pap smears, colon screenings, blood tests, flu shots, covid tests) the more money someone makes.&nbsp; This isn&#039;t a critique of the doctors as much as the institution itself, which has been corrupted like so many others in our nation.&nbsp; You get what you pay for, and if you pay by the service, you will get a lot of services.&nbsp; Why would you reward a health worker that way?&nbsp; Most other countries do not.I had a friend who was in school to become a doctor.&nbsp; What he absolutely loved more than anything was working as an emergency medic in an ambulance.&nbsp; But working the emergency room in the hospital, doing the same work he was doing in the ambulance, paid about 6 times as much money.&nbsp; As he earned his credentials, he started phasing out the ambulance work because while it was his passion, he couldn&#039;t afford to make that his career.&nbsp; I believe he earned around $12 an hour.&nbsp; For saving people&#039;s lives.&nbsp; And he was paid this flat (low, but flat) salary when the stipulation that &quot;during this shift, you will save each life that you can.&quot;&nbsp; That flat fee or salary is the opposite of the fee for service pay model, and it is how we hire life saving medics throughout the country.I&#039;ve had doctors try to push me into an expensive and life-altering surgery that I somehow had the mental clarity and strength to decline, but I&#039;ve gotten to the point where I often cannot trust medical advice from a doctor because he has a financial conflict of interest.&nbsp; So I do medical tourism abroad or go to the dental school.Dentists are not immune to this conflict.&nbsp; If a dentist charges $60 for an x-ray and sees 16 patients a day (one every half hour), he can bill an extra $4,800 a week just by requiring them all to get x-rays.&nbsp; That&#039;s $250k a year.&nbsp; And the dental industry tells them it&#039;s a safe procedure, so they can tell you it&#039;s harmless.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Max Roscoe, post: 1364042, member: 17845"] I used to always decline the dental xray, but Im not surprised it has become a requirement. I always found it an odd way of examining teeth. After my last dentist died and the new guy doubled the rates and cut down on the cleaning time, I began looking elsewhere. My advice is to either get dental cleanings done abroad when traveling, or look into your local dental school. I am a patient at my dental school, and while they do require an initial one time x ray (after all they are teaching the students, who will one day be pushing x rays on their patients all the time, so they at least need to be able to read the x-ray films) they do not ever ask again. The main benefit is you will get excellent cleaning by someone who is methodically taking their time and the cost is very low. Plus you are not directly supporting the for-profit health care system which I have a big problem with. The health system in the US is first and foremost a sickness management system which tries to treat symptoms. I think the worst thing about the system is its "fee for service" model which means the more services one performs (drilling teeth, taking x rays, doing pap smears, colon screenings, blood tests, flu shots, covid tests) the more money someone makes. This isn't a critique of the doctors as much as the institution itself, which has been corrupted like so many others in our nation. You get what you pay for, and if you pay by the service, you will get a lot of services. Why would you reward a health worker that way? Most other countries do not. I had a friend who was in school to become a doctor. What he absolutely loved more than anything was working as an emergency medic in an ambulance. But working the emergency room in the hospital, doing the same work he was doing in the ambulance, paid about 6 times as much money. As he earned his credentials, he started phasing out the ambulance work because while it was his passion, he couldn't afford to make that his career. I believe he earned around $12 an hour. For saving people's lives. And he was paid this flat (low, but flat) salary when the stipulation that "during this shift, you will save each life that you can." That flat fee or salary is the opposite of the fee for service pay model, and it is how we hire life saving medics throughout the country. I've had doctors try to push me into an expensive and life-altering surgery that I somehow had the mental clarity and strength to decline, but I've gotten to the point where I often cannot trust medical advice from a doctor because he has a financial conflict of interest. So I do medical tourism abroad or go to the dental school. Dentists are not immune to this conflict. If a dentist charges $60 for an x-ray and sees 16 patients a day (one every half hour), he can bill an extra $4,800 a week just by requiring them all to get x-rays. That's $250k a year. And the dental industry tells them it's a safe procedure, so they can tell you it's harmless. [/QUOTE]

Verification