[sameoldtune]

When I started working at Amazon in 2014 I had a number of coworkers from India and Taiwan whose dentists had convinced them that they needed professional teeth cleanings every 3 months.

I didn’t say anything as I am not a dental expert, but it felt like my coworkers were being taken advantage of. Like you I had an experience as a child with a dentist who my parents later found out was full of B.S.

[jvanderbot]

While in LA, we shopped around for dentists. Several of the smaller places took advantage of the fact we had good insurance and insisted they had found several cavities (11 in once case). Having never / rarely had cavities, we were skeptical and tried other places.

Since moving back to MN, where lack of insurance is less common, we do not have this problem.

The only remaining scam is xrays.

[sroussey]

X-rays are the universal scam. Even the government recommends against them for the last decade at least.

[BenjiWiebe]

My annual xray noticed I had a spacer (little rubber ring) embedded in my gums that the orthodontist missed.

[alistairSH]

I haven’t heard this… what’s the scam? They don’t show anything they isn’t visible with the eye?

[sroussey]

No, that they do X-rays every year.

[dec0dedab0de]

Atleast a professional cleaning has an immediate positive impact, even if it is superficial. If I could afford it I would do them monthly.

But I also have felt like I was being taken advantage of by dentists who had bills to pay. I also am pretty sure one caused pain on purpose because I had missed an appointment and rescheduled. With 15 years more life experience, if that were to happen again I would just leave.

[nox101]

Sounds like a great idea for a new startup. Teeth Salons. We've got Dry Bars that people pay for so why not? I'd consider going once a month if it wasn't too expensive and didn't take more than 20-30 mins.

[CharlieDigital]

    >  Taiwan whose dentists had convinced them that they needed professional teeth cleanings every 3 months

Thing is, Taiwan's NHI covers dental care. If my insurance covered professional cleanings every 3 months here in the US, I'd go every 3 months, too.

[z0r]

I'd get a professional teeth cleaning every 3 months if my insurance covered it

[Suppafly]

>I'd get a professional teeth cleaning every 3 months if my insurance covered

Same, especially if I could get just a cleaning and not deal with the exam. I've often thought it'd be nice to be able to just pop in and get them professionally cleaned without the whole dental appointment around the cleaning.

[toast0]

Ask your dentist about it. This is something they can do. Typical insurance covers an exam and cleaning 2x a year, so you'd pay for the other 2 cleanings (maybe with a discount), but they can absolutely do a cleaning with no exam, or usually just an unbilled quick look if the dentist has a minute. While cleaning your teeth, obvious problems will be obvious, and non-obvious problems can wait until the next exam.

At 3x a year it gets weird. Insurance companies are starting to at least 6 months between exams, rather than covering two per year.

[Suppafly]

>Insurance companies are starting to at least 6 months between exams, rather than covering two per year.

Medical insurance has always been like that, which is annoying when you have kids that need them for school and activities because they sometimes want them to be dated within a certain timeframe. Everytime you are off a week or two, it pushes the appointment further and further from the 6 months, by the time your kid is in their teens, the 6 months have lapped each other.

[elif]

Ask if they have a cash rate for extra cleanings past insurance.

Many doctors, not just dentists, will do this. Usually about 1/3-1/2 the rate.

[IncreasePosts]

Well, how much did it cost, and how much time did it take?

If I could pop in for 20 minutes for a professional cleaning and it was under $50 I might do that 4x/yr.

[elif]

4x cleanings and 2x cleanings are really not much different.

Within 4-8 days of cleaning, plaque bacteria will be back at their healthy population levels.

You really need to attack them on a 12 hour timeline to keep populations in check.

[fennecfoxy]

Going to the hygienist is more to strip the tartar off tbf, as well as a general check/look around your mouth.

It takes time for tartar to build up, atm my dentist recommends I go at minimum once a year, preferably twice (so I'm going twice).

[tivert]

> When I started working at Amazon in 2014 I had a number of coworkers from India and Taiwan whose dentists had convinced them that they needed professional teeth cleanings every 3 months.

I have a friend from China whose dentist convinced him to do that. On the other hand, he'd never been to a dentist in his life until he came to the US, and there was something about deep gum pockets.