The secret to cheap dental care

By Connie Thompson

You may be able to cut hundreds of dollars off your dental bills, even if you have dental insurance.

Some folks around here call it a best kept secret. But this money saver is available to just about everyone.

When Marie Meadows needs dental care, she heads to the
University of Washington School of Dentistry. She's been going for years.

"I've had experiences where the dental work is not anywhere near as good as I get here," she said.

Linda Crumpacker is a new patient at the same office. She heard about it from a friend.

"And the financial end of it is so much more accommodating," she said.

As associate dean of clinic services, Dr. Daniel Chan oversees dental school operations.

"A children's dentistry, we have orthodontics to straighten out teeth. We have root canal service." said Chan.

Chan says contrary to what some people think, the dental fees are not based on a sliding scale. The costs are just lower than most typical dental offices because it's a teaching clinic.

Patients say they save 40 to 50 percent or more compared to the regular dentist, and dental students get hands on training they need.

"They're learning, but they're very good and the professors oversee the work that they do," Crumpacker said.

Meadows thinks the students are great. She says the dental school took care of all her children's needs when they were young. Now they're grown adults.

"All these years I've never really had any bad experiences, never," she said.

The biggest trade-off to dental school clinics is time. The dental students are closely supervised by experienced dentists who are School of Dentistry faculty members. Their work is double checked, and that means longer time in the dentist chair.

"You go to a dentist, and maybe the appointment will take one hour. And maybe here it will take twice as long, maybe three hours long," Meadows said.

But Meadows, Crumpacker and thousands of other patients say the added time is worth the savings.

In fact, the school treats more than 60,000 patients a year.

Like other dental offices, the UW School of Dentistry takes insurance. But because they deal in comprehensive care, you have to qualify as a "teachable" case, someone who'll be a long term patient for ongoing dental care, just like you would at your regular dentist.

"So when you come in, we don't just do one specific treatment. We look at you as a whole patient and we'll treat you from beginning to the end. And we hope you can come back every year," said Chan.

Are Dental Hygiene Clinics Doomed to Fail?

Dentists' expenses are increasing, leaving many dental practices struggling. About one in four practices have raised their dental fees due to the current economy, finds a dental management survey by The Wealthy Dentist.


San Francisco, CA, January 18, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Only 2% of dentists said they had ever seen a successful, private, independent dental hygiene clinic. When asked why, 76% of dentists think it's not a profitable business model, whereas 22% think hygiene practitioners' hands are tied by state laws, found a poll by dental marketing resource The Wealthy Dentist.

Dentists are protective of their role as the gatekeepers of health care. "In California, only a licensed dentist can diagnose and treatment plan. So all hygiene would be by dentist prescription or referral," said a California dentist. "Bad for the public, good for hygienists. How much more are we willing to give up? We are health care providers. not just a good business model!" seethed a New York prosthodontist.

The biggest obstacle is money. "Financially, I don't see how a hygienist clinic could pay for itself," said a general dentist. "Instead of using our equipment and waiting room and parking lot, l think it's a splendid idea for dental hygienists to rent their own space, buy their own chair, supplies and equipment, and then sign up for a few insurance companies and make a fraction of each dollar," an Alaska dental office manager said sarcastically.

Many worry the independent dental hygienist could compromise dental care. "The whole concept is flawed," opined a Connecticut dentist. "They cannot diagnose and read X-rays, and this will definitely lower the standard of care. It will also make it cost more since the doc will have to charge more to do dental exams."

The fact is, dentists can charge more for their time than hygienists. "I don't see how hygiene offices make sense," said a Nevada dentist. "You need the possibility of a higher revenue procedure base, like if hygiene is set up as the front end to feed the dentist in the back. Could a dentist set up 10 hygiene salons with the purpose of referring patients to his office? That would be smart. Otherwise, it is dumb from both a practical as well as professional model."

Traditionally, dental hygienists have been a crucial part of every dental practice. "Within a health-centered practice, a dentist wants their practice to serve the entire oral needs of their patients," said a California dentist. "A hygienist is an invaluable team member due to close and continuous communication, which is not able to happen in remote hygiene settings. Even in a traditional dental practice that sees hygiene as a means of patient circulation that keeps the work coming in, it is more effective to have the hygienist on premises."

"Dentistry and hygiene go hand-in-hand," said Jim Du Molin, dental patient marketing expert and founder of continuing dental education resource The Wealthy Dentist. "Trying to separate the two will only lead to higher costs and reduced care. The money's just not there to support an independent hygiene practice."

Du Molin invites readers to visit his blog at http://www.thewealthydentist.com/blog/654/dental-hygiene-clinics/ and comment on this survey.

NYS Can Save Millions Creating Healthier Toothier New Yorkers

Submitted by Sally Stride on December 17, 2008 - 5:08pm.

New York State's Governor Patterson is proposing extensive tax increases to offset revenue shortfalls. But I have a better idea. Stop fluoridation.

This win-win decision would save multi-millions of dollars and benefit every New Yorker – except maybe legislators beholden to special interest groups.

Science shows ending fluoridation saves teeth, money, preserves health and will reduce the carbon footprint, to boot, but it would irk organized dentistry. That’s the rub.

After 60 years of water fluoridation (adding cavity-preventing fluoride chemicals into water supplies) and over 50 years of fluoridated toothpaste, tooth decay is epidemic in the United States because 80% of dentists refuse to treat Medicaid patients and over 108 million Americans lack dental insurance (1). Children have died from untreated tooth decay. (2)

Diverting attention from their greed and heartlessness, dentists focus too-willing legislators on fluoridation, as if that would solve the problem. (3)

Far from fluoridation putting dentists out of business, as was once predicted, today’s dentists work fewer hours and days doing less critical work but make more money than many physicians. (4)

Seventy-two percent of NYS is fluoridated even though statistics show it’s failing to thwart cavities. (5) New York City, alone, spends approximately $14 million or more yearly on fluoridation chemicals, equipment and manpower.(6) Yet, NYC residents have among the highest cavity rates in the nation. (7)

Unfortunately, organized dentistry’s PAC money and political might speaks louder than science.(8)

One might argue that stopping fluoridation will cause higher dental costs. But studies show that, when fluoridation ends, cavities actually go down. (9) And the most highly fluoridated states have the highest rates of tooth loss. (10) Cavity crises are occurring in most fluoridated cities and states (See: http://www.FluorideNews.Blogspot.com )

Modern science shows that fluoride ingestion confers no benefits as early fluoridationists thought. Besides, today fluoride is in virtually all foods and beverages, (11) almost all toothpastes, some medicines, many dental products and is now a known component of air pollution.

No one disputes that too much fluoride is a bad thing. And there’s loads of evidence showing that Americans are over-fluoridated. For example, the Centers for Disease control reports that 48% of 12 - 15 year-olds have dental fluorosis – white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted enamel – from too much fluoride ingestion when their teeth were forming. (12) We can’t see what fluoride is doing to their bones. (13)

For this reason, both the CDC and the American Dental Association advise that infant formula NOT be mixed with fluoridated water.

The National Kidney Foundation also advises kidney patients to avoid fluoridated water as malfunctioning kidneys can allow a toxic build up of fluoride in bones causing them to weaken and break. (14)

New York State is not spending the money to get this information out. Fluoridation is outdated, unnecessary and harmful. It must be stopped.

Contact your local and state legislators and tell them wasteful, ineffective fluoridation must stop

On the National level, tell Congress you want fluoridation stopped and to hold hearings about why federal officials continue to promote fluoridation in the face of growing evidence of harm and ineffectiveness here: http://congress.FluorideAction.Net

END

References:

1) http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/news/pressreleases/pr_oral_52000.htm

2) “For Want of a Dentist,” by Mary Otto, The Washington Post, February 27, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022702116.html

3) How California Deceptively Passed a Statewide Fluoridation Mandate http://www.edhtelegraph.com/detail/89290.html

Louisiana Mandates Fluoridation Despite Evidence of Harm http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Louisiana-May-Mandate-Fluoridation-Despite-Evidence-of-Harm-20853-1/

4)”New Drill - Tale of Two Docs: Why Dentists Are Earning More,” by Mark Maremont, The Wall Street Journal, Monday, January 10, 2005
http://www.flapsblog.net/2005/01/new-drill-tale-of-two-docs-why.html

5) NYS Department of Health statistics show that fluoridation fails to reduce tooth decay. See chart: http://tinyurl.com/NYSchart

6) Fluoridation Does Not Save Money or Teeth
http://fluoridedangers.blogspot.com/2005/11/fluoridation-does-not-save-money-or.html

7) Evidence that Fluoridation Has Failed New York
http://www.freewebs.com/fluoridation/fluoridationfailsnewyork.htm

8) “Open Wide for $25K” NY Daily News, by Elizabeth Benjamin, July 12, 2008
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2008/07/open-wide-for-25k.html
“In Rift Among Dentist Groups, a Tale of Political Clout.”
By Sam Roberts, New York Times, June 23, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/nyregion/23dentist.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

9) When Fluoridation Ends So Do Cavities
http://thyroid.about.com/cs/relatedconditions/a/flushot.htm

10) More Fluorde = Less Teeth
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1002581/posts

11) USDA Fluoride Database 2005 http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=6312

12) http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/figures/s403a1t23.gif

13) http://groups.google.com/group/Fluoridation-News-Releases/browse_thread/thread/20b328821b24dcc4/9882f8d2ce4caad5?lnk=gst&q=fluorosis+fractures#9882f8d2ce4caad5

14) National Kidney Foundation, “Fluoride Intake in Chronic Kidney Disease,” April 15, 2008
http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/Fluoride_Intake_in_CKD.pdf

States Can Save Millions Creating Healthier Toothier Americans

Posted by: SallyStride

New York State's Governor Patterson is proposing extensive tax increases to offset revenue shortfalls. But I have a better idea. Stop fluoridation.


This win-win decision for all states would save multi-millions of dollars and benefit every American – except maybe legislators beholden to special interest groups.


Science shows ending fluoridation saves teeth, money, preserves health and will reduce the carbon footprint, to boot, but it would irk organized dentistry. That’s the rub.


After 60 years of water fluoridation and over 50 years of fluoridated toothpaste, tooth decay is epidemic in the United States because 80% of dentists refuse to treat Medicaid patients and over 108 million Americans lack dental insurance (1). Children have died from untreated tooth decay. (2)


Diverting attention from their greed and heartlessness, dentists focus too-willing legislators on fluoridation (adding unnecessary fluoride chemicals into water supplies in a failed effort to prevent tooth decay), as if that would solve the problem. (3)


Far from fluoridation putting dentists out of business, as was once predicted, today’s dentists work fewer hours and days doing less critical work but make more money than many physicians. (4)


Seventy-two percent of NYS is fluoridated even though statistics show it’s failing to thwart cavities. (5) New York City, alone, spends approximately $14 million or more yearly on fluoridation chemicals, equipment and manpower.(6) Yet, NYC residents have among the highest cavity rates in the nation. (7)


Unfortunately, organized dentistry’s PAC money and political might speaks louder than science.(8)


One might argue that stopping fluoridation will cause higher dental costs. But studies show that, when fluoridation ends, cavities actually go down. (9) And the most highly fluoridated states have the highest rates of tooth loss. (10) Cavity crises are occurring in most fluoridated cities and states (See: http://www.FluorideNews.Blogspot.com )


Modern science shows that fluoride ingestion confers no benefits as early fluoridationists believed. Besides, today fluoride is in virtually all foods and beverages, (11) almost all toothpastes, some medicines, many dental products and is now a known component of air pollution.


No one disputes that too much fluoride is a bad thing. And there’s loads of evidence showing that Americans are over-fluoridated. For example, the Centers for Disease control reports that 48% of 12 - 15 year olds have dental fluorosis – white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted enamel – from too much fluoride ingestion when their teeth were forming. (12) We can’t see what fluoride is doing to their bones. (13)


For this reason, both the CDC and the American Dental Association advise that infant formula NOT be mixed with fluoridated water.


The National Kidney Foundation also advises kidney patients to avoid fluoridated water as malfunctioning kidneys can allow a toxic build up of fluoride in bones causing them to weaken and break. (14)


New York State can’t afford the money to get this information out. Fluoridation is outdated, unnecessary and harmful. It must be stopped.


The remedy: Dentists have unfairly influenced our legislators to pass laws that benefit themselves (15) while neglecting those that need them the most. In return, Dentists must be required to treat a certain percentage of patients for free, on a sliding scale basis or accept Medicaid payments.


Tell your local and state legislators you want fluoridation stopped.


Tell Congress you want fluoridation stopped and Congressional hearings held about why federal officials continue to promote fluoridation in the face of growing evidence of harm and ineffectiveness: http://congress.FluorideAction.Net

Why an NHS dentist is as rare as hen's teeth

By Cassandra Jardine
Last Updated: 1:46PM GMT 12 Dec 2008

My children hardly ever go to the dentist any more. This is not because they have good teeth – as half of their genes come from me, they may be destined to a life time of shoring up and pulling out yellowing stumps. Of course I take them if they ever complain of any pain, but they aren't getting regular check-ups for the simple reason that our dentist has stopped working on the NHS.

Millions of people are in the same position. The latest figures show that 1.2 million fewer people were seen by an NHS dentist last year because they are all going private. In fact, I was quite surprised to see that just over half of the population had managed to make an appointment with an NHS dentist at all because, around my area of south London, they are as rare as hen's teeth.

I feel cheated by the health service's failure to look after the nation's teeth. The Government doesn't has a responsibility to give us all sparkling California-style gnashers, but it should at least provide a service which will prevent decay, pain and further complications. There is a strong link between gum disease and heart disease – yet three out of four adults suffer from gum disease because we aren't going often enough to dentists and dental hygienists – mostly because we can't afford to. A specialist periodontal examination at my local once NHS, now private practice cost "from £150" – an open-ended proposition that leaves me faint with financial anxiety.

Even on the NHS, free dentistry long ceased to feel like the payback for our National Insurance stamps. Long before our dentist went private, he was charging over-18s for 80 per cent of their treatment, with the Government only picking up a tiny slice of the bill. Treatment for children was theoretically free but, if I upgraded from a mercury amalgam filling to a white one – desirable on both cosmetic and health grounds – it was time to get the cheque book out.

I have a solution, of sorts. Near us an eminent dental academic, keeps his hand in by practicing informally at weekends. He charges, but modestly. The reason he can do so is that he has dispensed with a lot of the flummery that inflates dentists' costs. He operates two chairs simultaneously and dispenses with the services of a dental nurse who would be, in my experience, sitting around doing nothing all day except for pressing a button on the computer and, occasionally, stirring up some filling mixture.