On 08/31/09 14:43, andrel wrote:
> Yet I simply don't want the dentist to pull my teeth if not absolutely
> necessary. Moreover preventive medicine is also insured. In fact you can
> pretty much get away with not insuring for extensive dental work because
> a checkup every 6 months or so will prevent that from happening in most
> cases.
> Another factor that you did not include is the professional standard of
> doctors. In general they won't do unnecessary procedures. Those few that
> do and are found out are kicked out of the profession. Not because of
> the fraud, though that is a factor, but for unprofessional conduct.

	Over here, it's not rare for dentists to do unnecessary procedures. I 
hadn't gone to a dentist in about a decade, so I thought my teeth may be 
in bad shape (no symptoms, though). The first dentist I went to said I 
needed 10 cavities filled. I did 2. Then I went to another dentist. He 
looked at the X-Ray and said I didn't need any more.

	Mine is not the only story when it comes to dentists. That I was 
covered by insurance may well have been a factor...

	And I do know of doctors doing lots and lots of "unnecessary" tests. 
The thing is, they're not really unnecessary in that the patient has 
symptoms, and it may be a certain condition (albeit an unlikely one), 
and they decide to do a test to rule it out. I hear this happens more 
with Medicare (government paid) patients than with private insurance 
patients. The insurance companies have some muscle and can simply say 
"No" to excessive testing. My guess is that the oversight for Medicare 
is not as good (I wouldn't know, though).

	Dentists are probably more famous for this. I don't know the prevalence 
for (other) doctors.


-- 
DOS means never having to live hand-to-mouse

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