I used to be a big believer in freer markets in these areas, but all the places that are cheaper appear to use monopsomy power to drive down costs which is kind

I used to be a big believer in freer markets in these areas, but all the places that are cheaper appear to use monopsomy power to drive down costs which is kind of the opposite. Even if there is a widely competitive market you don't get to make informed choices, negotiate and leave for elsewhere when you have a bad hospital or surgeon in a priority case. It's also far easier for people to make irrational choices when dealing with their health. As far as filling cavities, many fillings literally amount to cutting a tooth open inserting a material and reattaching the piece that was cut. Common complications include hitting nerves. Allowing assistants to do this on fairly limited training seems to be a very poor idea -- I've changed dentists because of complications from a filing and the inability to fix it, and I wouldn't wish the complications on someone.