My father is a periodontist turned attorney. AFAIK, he actually started the specialty of dental malpractice. I grew up seeing a lot of destroyed mouths and peop

My father is a periodontist turned attorney. AFAIK, he actually started the specialty of dental malpractice. I grew up seeing a lot of destroyed mouths and people suffering. I’ve learned from him that over treatment and bad quality work is shockingly common. Part of the reason is how dentistry is taught in this country: people take out very expensive loans for dental school, so they want to start practicing right away while also over-treating to pay down loans. It used to be cheaper and people would apprentice — that is now rare. You see this in medicine too where they pack as many people as possible into a day, who cares if the quality is low per person. The vast majority of dentists he sues are general dentists. They often don’t have the training and/or equipment to do surgery, and it results in things like drilling into nerves which cannot be undone. A lifetime of burning pain is the consequence. Again: no undo. My best advice is to always see a specialist, even for a teeth cleaning. They have additional schooling and demonstrate a desire to go deeper in the profession. Prosthodontists will do cleanings, and their inspection will be far more valuable than a general/family dentist. They’ll also know which specialists to send you to for various procedures and won’t attempt to do something outside of their training.