That’s the thing. I use the floss pick things around the incisors where my teeth aren’t tight because stuff gets in there all the time. But I’ve never seen gunk come out where they’re jammed tight together.
FWIW it’s not an article, it’s wikepedia - a compendium of studies.
Thanks I’m looking at these now. I wish they made one with tape instead of floss. If they do I can’t find it. I bought a couple brands and bought a sonicare toothbrush too.
Regular floss is really difficult to get through some of my teeth gaps that are really tight. My dentist uses tape when she does my teeth.
Meanwhile in a parallel universe forum they’re using similar logic because everyone they know has been sick all the time after getting the vaxx.
https://twitter.com/kenzianidiot/status/1619119339256573953
https://twitter.com/LeviFetterman/status/1619194089194536961
https://twitter.com/kmelkhat/status/1602321167939141637
https://twitter.com/kmelkhat/status/1602423130852536320
I love this stuff.
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I read a pretty interesting article about this about 30 yrs ago. It really stuck with me, since I remember it. Some journalist set out to prove that dentists are frauds. So he went to some reputable dental school and got a panel of dentists to examine his mouth and tell him what was wrong and what he needed to do. They agreed almost nothing wrong, but because there is some subjectivity involved, the most someone could come up with would be under $1000 of “necessary” dental work and they gave him a list of what those things were.
After that he went to numerous dentist’s offices around the country for an initial consultation. A few told him what the dental school folks did, but he got a very wide range of recommendations to fix all sorts of things that were wrong with him, most of which weren’t on the list. He received many estimates that were several thousand dollars. The highest one was $30K of work (and this was circa 1990).
Obviously this wasn’t a rigorous study and there are potentially some flaws in how he went about it. But I’m sure there was some kernel of truth there.
It seems likely that a huge % of one’s overall tooth/gum health comes down to genetics. Excluding meth mouth, eating disorders, never brushing, etc.
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It’s got to be diet too, right?
I had a crown done yesterday!
It’s true, but really I just wanted to participate in the conversation.
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My dentist has been painting my teeth purple with a dye to show where I’m missing.
I’ve completely changed how I brush over the last 18 months. Hoping my upcoming visit shows I’ve cracked it.
That’s how I got a crown.
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Don’t chew ice. It’ll fuck up your molars. And then it will fuck up your crowns. Trust me.
LOL, Realtors’ jobs about to get even EASIER.
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My dentist is 100% chill and never complains, never upsells, and is an artist with pain management. His staff all know and love me (I basically get a “Norm” when I enter the office.) Otoh, I’m in the middle of getting 4 implants for $20k after two bridges he put in broke this year after like 10 years. Dental work is like my highest discretionary expense. Note that his office is in a strip mall in an unfancy part of town. The chairs are weathered and the decor is blah. I told him to get office wifi and he hasn’t. At Xmas my brother gave me info for his dentist who he thinks would charge me $2k less per implant. I am tempted to schedule an appointment for an estimate.
I am below average with personal dental care, but my mom was great with it and had like $60k+ in dental work over her life.
I think I would tell a dentist off if he tried to sell me something. I have actively avoided any dental groups that try to maximize corporate income. If you’re gonna fuck me do it honestly.
Btw, dentist is like the highest median income job in the US or something.
My brother, a dentist, knows and will tell you about all the dental scams. There are a ton of upsells and unnecessary work that can be done. My favorite was the story about the dentist who replaced a patient’s gold fillings with porcelain. The literal only reason to do this is cosmetic, as gold is gold and porcelain is white. Otherwise, gold is more durable and longer lasting and just a better dental material in general. But the dentist got paid for the swap and got to keep the gold.
As it should be. Must be one of the worst jobs imaginable.
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I have heard of someone having this done for a “gold allergy”. That sounds at least theoretically possible.
My dentist seems to like his job. For the right sort of person it’s a good, rewarding job and patients are appreciative. For solos it’s probably better than a family doctor these days in terms of not being pressured/controlled by external forces (if you’re not in a corporate dental group).
Last year I went to an ENT doctor at an “allergy clinic” because my nose runs like a faucet a good portion of the time. The first time I went I met with a “provider” who pitched a procedure called ClariFix before even examining me. I researched that, and no thank you. I went back for a skin allergy test, which was aborted because my skin is so sensitive it reacts even when there’s no allergen. So they sent me for a blood test. Then they did a nasal endocscopy at their office and sent me for a CAT scan on my sinuses. After all that they recommended surgery for a deviated septum. At no point is this process did I ever see or speak to a doctor - it was all my “provider”. I was skeptical so went to another ENT for a second opinion and met with an actual doctor, who was appalled that someone was trying to do surgery on me.
So it’s not just dentists.
Yours seems like more incompetence than scamming. For a lot of the things you describe it’s not clear that the test or whatever that was recommended directly financially benefits the person recommending that thing.