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Routine dental X-rays are not backed by evidence

(arstechnica.com)
352 points keithly | 12 comments | 14 Oct 24 21:37 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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gregwebs ◴[15 Oct 24 10:32 UTC] No.41847088[source]▶
You might be surprised that treatment recommendations vary dramatically from one dentist office to the next. [1] I am glad to know this about X-rays as well- it’s probably a useful indicator that if X-rays are not overprescribed the dentist will more likely not over treat. And if they react defensively to being told you want to follow the ADA guidelines that’s probably a sign they don’t think about whether they are over treating.

[1] https://www.rd.com/article/how-honest-are-dentists/

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FollowingTheDao ◴[15 Oct 24 11:19 UTC] No.41847348[source]▶
Two stories.

1) Just yesterday I went to a an acclaimed dental school (UNC) for low cost dental care. They not only gave me a panoramic x ray but also a full set of bite-wing x rays. I read this and I want to break the world apart this morning.

2) When I was a child I kep needing root canals. It turned out our dentist was making these all up and was later found passed out from laughing gas in his office.

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ein0p ◴[15 Oct 24 11:43 UTC] No.41847500[source]▶
I strongly suspect my dentist is making shit up, too. I had to refuse a couple of expensive treatments. The main goal seems to be to “use up” my dental insurance more than anything.
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1. fazeirony ◴[15 Oct 24 11:46 UTC] No.41847521[source]▶
this is it right here - 'use up your dental insurance'.
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2. FollowingTheDao ◴[15 Oct 24 12:16 UTC] No.41847768[source]▶
And it is the biggest reason we need universal healthcare.
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3. ap99 ◴[15 Oct 24 13:19 UTC] No.41848286[source]▶
I would say education is a more appealing solution to this problem than universal health care.

People similarly get unnecessary work done on their car to boost dealership profits.

Do you want to create a government agency to budget how much we can all spend on car repairs and then take it out of our taxes?

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4. ambicapter ◴[15 Oct 24 14:13 UTC] No.41848831{3}[source]▶
The difference here is we're talking about a person's health, not their motor vehicle, so a different calculus is in play.
5. FollowingTheDao ◴[15 Oct 24 15:06 UTC] No.41849403{3}[source]▶
This is not about education, it is about morality. So maybe they do need an education, but let that be in empathy and moralilty.

And why can't we have education AND universal healthcare? I want a government agnecy (the people) to control the morality of corporations and private equity. Like we have laws against fraud already that protects us from "unnecessary work done on their car to boost dealership profits".

Adding still, why would anyone be against universal healthcare? I mean it is the biggest insurance pool you can create and that immediately lowers costs.

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6. jjeaff ◴[15 Oct 24 15:19 UTC] No.41849522[source]▶
I actually don't see how universal health care would help in this situation. Bad actors are going to try and milk whatever system pays the bills. Capitalism "should" be pretty good at taking care of this kind of stuff. I'm not sure why insurance companies aren't better at reining in these kind of abuses.
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7. jrs235 ◴[15 Oct 24 15:35 UTC] No.41849665[source]▶
Seems it would be best to say you don't have insurance, get a better cash price, then submit reimbursement to insurance oneself.
8. unregistereddev ◴[15 Oct 24 15:37 UTC] No.41849679{3}[source]▶
> I'm not sure why insurance companies aren't better at reining in these kind of abuses.

I think they are working on it. My dentist has cameras shaped roughly like a toothbrush. Before and after performing work, they record images of the affected area. He says insurance likes them to thoroughly document their work to help justify the cost.

9. rootusrootus ◴[15 Oct 24 16:55 UTC] No.41850544{3}[source]▶
There is already an opaque bureaucracy that stands between me and my doctor. We do not have a free market in healthcare, so I cannot just choose another bureaucracy. I don't see how delegating this responsibility to a government agency can make it any worse for me.
10. dh2022 ◴[15 Oct 24 17:19 UTC] No.41850792{4}[source]▶
ooh, dentists are very well educated in empathy and morality. They even have to take an ethical oath before they get their license. So is not lack of education, is greed and maybe a ton of student debt (or both).
11. DowagerDave ◴[15 Oct 24 17:54 UTC] No.41851155{3}[source]▶
In my current environment there's the opaque and not really shared dental "fee guide" by the regulatory body, the actual fees each dentist charges, and then the % of the guide that the insurance pays, so if the insurance company keeps pressure on the governing body they don't really care what any dentist actually charges you.
12. Reefersleep ◴[16 Oct 24 19:04 UTC] No.41862625{3}[source]▶
Seems to me like capitalism is pretty good at incentivising this stuff.