[Twounwhe]

> Frontline did an episode a while back were dentists were performing unnecessary major dental work on poor people when the government had a program to pay the dentists for such work

I haven't seen this episode and so don't know what qualifies as "major dental work." However, as someone who has had government dental insurance, I wanted to chime in with a possibly irrelevant anecdote.

This dental insurance covered few things, one of which was having teeth pulled. When I was having major pain and other issues with a molar, the only covered treatment was to have the tooth pulled. Anything else would have to be paid 100% out of my own pocket. So the only viable option for most people in my situation would have been to have the tooth pulled, which certainly seems like "unnecessary major dental work on poor people", through no fault of the dentist.

[WalterBright]

Google:

Frontline Dollars and Dentists season 2012 episode 13

and see for yourself.