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A less cynical view of it is just that diagnosis of engine and dental problems is still pretty subjective so different providers will have different judgements

A less cynical view of it is just that diagnosis of engine and dental problems is still pretty subjective so different providers will have different judgements about what constitutes a problem that needs fixing. If one dentist says you have a cavity that needs filling and another doesn't it doesn't automatically mean the first dentist is crooked. It could be the second one is wrong or it could just be that what constitutes a cavity that needs filling is not very well-defined.

warner25 2y ago
True. I'm in the Army, so I typically see Army dentists. That means that they're on salary (edited to add: in a rigidly seniority-based promotion system, working in a clinic that isn't concerned with profit and loss), not getting paid under a fee-for-service model. It also means that I see a different dentist every time I go in, due to them working interchangeably on a team and all of us moving every 1-3 years. Anyway, despite them having no obvious incentive to influence their work one way or the other, I get told different things every time I go in. One dentist found a cavity during my annual exam, and when I showed up for my appointment to do the filling, the next dentist couldn't find the cavity. So, yeah, I think it's more art than science.
- lolinder 2y ago
  > One dentist found a cavity during my annual exam, and when I showed up for my appointment to do the filling, the next dentist couldn't find the cavity. I'm also suspicious that our teeth aren't as completely incapable of self-healing as we have long been taught. I haven't looked at the research that led people to the non-healing conclusion, but I've heard many anecdotes like yours, and I don't think it can all be attributed to fraud or mistakes. Intuitively it also just seems odd that we would have one part of our body—and a frequently abused one no less!—that is uniquely incapable of repairing itself.

warner25 2y ago

True. I'm in the Army, so I typically see Army dentists. That means that they're on salary (edited to add: in a rigidly seniority-based promotion system, working in a clinic that isn't concerned with profit and loss), not getting paid under a fee-for-service model. It also means that I see a different dentist every time I go in, due to them working interchangeably on a team and all of us moving every 1-3 years. Anyway, despite them having no obvious incentive to influence their work one way or the other, I get told different things every time I go in. One dentist found a cavity during my annual exam, and when I showed up for my appointment to do the filling, the next dentist couldn't find the cavity. So, yeah, I think it's more art than science.

lolinder 2y ago
> One dentist found a cavity during my annual exam, and when I showed up for my appointment to do the filling, the next dentist couldn't find the cavity. I'm also suspicious that our teeth aren't as completely incapable of self-healing as we have long been taught. I haven't looked at the research that led people to the non-healing conclusion, but I've heard many anecdotes like yours, and I don't think it can all be attributed to fraud or mistakes. Intuitively it also just seems odd that we would have one part of our body—and a frequently abused one no less!—that is uniquely incapable of repairing itself.