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In the UK there's a an obvious principle agent problem. My uncle told me how in the 70s the school dentists were paid by the government, 5 quid for every fillin
by nonrandomstring 3y ago
In the UK there's a an obvious principle agent problem. My uncle told
me how in the 70s the school dentists were paid by the government,
5 quid for every filling they did. The perverse incentive to drill away
healthy kids teeth was overwhelming, as you can see in the crooked
smile of everyone of that generation.
- beardyw 3y agoI am a victim from the 60s. Not at school but same principle.
- foldr 3y agoCrooked smiles are more to do with fewer people having orthodontic treatment, not fillings. Also, dentists in most countries are, in one way or another, paid for the work they do, so this perverse incentive exists pretty much everywhere. Whatever problems may be specific to the UK can't simply be explained by the fact that dentists get money in return for performing dental procedures.
- nonrandomstring 3y agoLet me be clearer: Multiple Brits now in their 70s and 80s have told me how school dentists in the "old days" routinely performed surgery that was unnecessary, and ultimately harmful.
- foldr 3y agoSure, that may be true. My point is that if that happened to an unusual extent, it's unlikely to be merely because the dentists were paid for doing the surgery. Most dentists in most countries get paid for their work and can get more money by doing more of it.
- nonrandomstring 3y agoThere's a name for this paradox/mode-of-failure, where the incentive to help/care produces harm. It's "Iatrogenics" [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iatrogenesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iatrogenesis