[barbazoo]

> Dentists make money not from preventing disease, but from performing procedures when disease has already progressed to the point of no return.

I find that hard to believe as dentists wouldn't be the group of people I'd imagine developing those new ideas and products. How would that work?

[yunohn]

Nobody wants to go to the dentist until it’s too late, because it’s so expensive nor covered by health insurance.

Even if it’s not intentional, dentists aren’t R&D specialists. They’re a service, at a premium price, whose livelihood depends on people going for treatments.

[barbazoo]

What lever do they have to prevent new products from being developed that help people take care of their teeth?

[wmeredith]

They don’t have one. There is no lever. This is conspiracy theory nonsense, but even if there was a lever they wouldn’t need to pull it.

I move in social circles with a lot of people from the dental care industry and I can tell you that no one is worried about running out of treatment opportunities.

I’ve met hundreds of dentists over the last 18 years and they all spend their days asking patients to brush and floss. It’s a simple thing, it's pretty cheap, and prevents almost all oral diseases regardless of diet or genetics. It's easier than changing your diet. It's a LOT easier than changing your mouth biome. It's practically a miracle cure when done regularly with decent technique.

And… the vast majority of people simply don’t brush and floss like they should. I'd guess that the group that does is about the same size as those who actually get enough exercise, which is about 23.2% in America[1]. People consume mind-boggling amounts of refined sugars and generally don’t take care of their teeth.

There is no sinister cabal keeping people in cavities and gum disease because, it’s simply not needed.

[1]https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm

[yunohn]

The lever is the lack of funding and motivation brought about by the previous factors. It’s not an individual choice, rather a medical industry wide systemic issue.

A popular example: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/goldman-sachs-asks-biotech-re...