Dental Treatment Scams, Dangers, and Ripoffs

Upselling. Creative diagnosis. Driving the reward engine. Maximizing profits. Revenue quotas. Monetizing a patient. High volume dentistry.

These phrases should NEVER be associated with a dentist or dental services practice.

When a dentist is highly motivated, or corporately pressured, into getting as much money as possible out of a patient and their family, something is WRONG. Unnecessary treatments and overpriced services can result from such emphasis on the dental patient as a cash cow.

I will now list some of the patients that I have seen in my office after diagnosis and/or treatment from dubious "fast food" type dental treatment chains and corporate dental organizations.

CASE #1 -- I had a patient who was seen by a dentist who listed that she had 14 cavities in her mouth. She recently received dental insurance through her employer and hadn't been to the dentist for a couple of years. She desired a second opinion and I informed her that she had no cavities.


CASE #2 -- I had a patient come into our office who had lost a front tooth and had an implant placed by a dentist in a local corporate dental office in Peoria. The implant was improperly placed too far forward and was not in the proper position for the crown to look good aesthetically. She did not want to go back to that office again or remove the implant and place a new one in the proper position. I made a crown to look as good as possible for this patient.

 

CASE #3 -- I recently saw a young lady that was told that she needed all her teeth removed and needed full dentures. This lady needed about 5 fillings, one crown, and one or possibly two teeth removed. This was a lot better than full mouth dentures.



2ND OPINIONS -- I have had a few patients request second opinions on the treatment plans that they were presented at the corporate dental office. In the patients that I examined, the treatment was often not necessary and excessive.

Several patients had treatment plans costing over $4,000.00 and it would usually be about $1,500.00 or less in our office. I have had patients told that they needed several crowns on their teeth, when upon my examination the teeth were asymptomatic -- and did NOR need crowns or fillings replaced.


DON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN

I believe some people go to these corporate dental offices because of all the advertising that they see in the media.

I have talked to a few specialists about the referrals they receive from these corporate dental organizations.

The specialists state that they usually see the patient after something had gone terribly wrong with the treatment. In some cases, these disasters are difficult or IMPOSSIBLE TO REMEDY.

Most of the patients should have been referred much sooner.

Often these patients have used up any dental benefits before being referred to the specialist.

I know every business needs to make a profit, but I see too many patients dental health compromised for the profit of these corporate dental organizations. I think our American Dental Association needs to address these abuses and support the dentists that have the interest of the patient's health first.

READ MORE


http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/dentist-ripping-you-off


http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/viewpoint/my-view/2013/october/creative-diagnosis

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/health-science-technology/dollars-and-dentists/dentalworks-chain-misdiagnosed-for-money-dentists-say/

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/03/11/14395/dental-chain-may-be-booted-medicaid-program

http://www.publicintegrity.org/health/dollars-and-dentists

http://www.insurancefraud.org/article.htm?RecID=3398#.VeeK3dLpeko

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/01/09/dental-billing-fraud-is-more-common-than-think/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/health-science-technology/dollars-and-dentists/patients-pressure-and-profits-at-aspen-dental/

Dangers of High Volume Dental Service Chains

You've probably seen TV commercials and online advertisements for businesses offering what seems to be cheap, fast dental work. These places lure low income people in with splashy promotions that make dental work seem more affordable.

They also try to appeal to patients who have not seen a dentist in many years, in hopes of convincing them that this negligence has caused them to need a lot of dental work.

The old proverbial expressions "buyer beware", "look before you leap" and "you get what you pay for" are  relevant here.

Remember when you were young and bought an old jalopy at a really low price. You were so happy to have a vehicle to get around in. You didn't have to pay much money to acquire it. Life seemed wonderful. You felt  like a really smart person.

Then the car started breaking down. You had to replace this, fix that, and worry about what was going to go wrong next. You hoped you wouldn't be left stranded on a lonely stretch of road in the middle of the night.

You eventually came to a dismal conclusion. You realized that buying that cheap old junk car wasn't a good idea. It may have ended up costing you more than you would have spent on a nicer, newer set of wheels.

Don't let this happen with your teeth.

If you go to a cut-rate dental services provider, you may end up with worse problems due to mediocre work or inferior products in your mouth. And your overall health could suffer.

An ethical, totally professional dentist may cost a little more than these "fast food" type dental clinics, but in the long run, you'll save money and have better results.

Your traditional, mainstream dentist will stay on top of dental technology, spend time explaining things to you, and work with you on payment options that fit your budget.

Here are some hazards associated with high volume, discount dental service chains.

(1) They tend to pressure their dentists to put profits over people.

It doesn't matter if this alienates customers, because they try to replace each disgruntled patient with 10 new victims. It's a numbers game for these businesses. Individuals don't matter, only high volumes.

(2) Their dentists are often encouraged to perform the maximum number of dental procedures on each patient, even if the procedures are technically not necessary.

(3) They set profit goals and quotas, to get their dentists to care more about how much money is rolling in, rather than quality care for patients and what is in the best interests of these patients.

(4) Sometimes they focus on children under Medicaid, and give the kids work that is shoddy or unneeded just to exploit the Medicaid system.

(5) Elderly patients may be taken advantage of through scare tactics, to make them think they need dental work that is not relevant to their actual needs.

(6) Hard-sell tactics may be used to bully patients into getting loans or using credit cards to pay for over-priced and unnecessary treatments.

(7) Since dental school is sometimes more expensive than medical school, new dentists can have large debts. Being unable to start their own practice, they are easy prey for high volume dental chains, who lure them in and hire them with promises of fantastic pay and big bonuses -- if the new dentists go along with their dubious program.

(8) They may take advantage of the fact that most people don't question what a dentist says. Few people seek a second opinion from a different dentist, like they might do when it comes to major surgery. They may even look into a healthy mouth and find all kinds of things that are "wrong" or "bad" and need fixing, so that they can make maximum profit from each patient.

Don't let these predatory businesses take advantage of you or your family.

Seek a qualified dentist.

Contact orthodontist offices -- even the receptionist or secretary will know which dentists in your area are doing good work at reasonable rates.

Regular, mainstream dentists will work with you to find a way you can pay for their services, even offering monthly payment plans.

If you are in the Peoria, IL area and want a free consultation, contact my office today.