Can you trust your dentist?

In Canada dental treatment is so expensive. For example, a check up including X-ray, scaling, polishing, fluoride, and flossing would cost you over $250. The more advanced treatments such as fillings, root canals, crowns, and extractions would cost you a lot more. Not many people can afford these treatments, but let’s imagine the following scenario.

 A patient visits two different dentists with the same complaint. One of the dentists gives the patient a $500 cost estimate and the other dentist quotes the patient almost more than $1400. How’s that possible? Imagine yourself as a patient visiting the second dentist. How would you feel when you found out that you’ve been ripped off $900 by your own dentist?


As a patient you have different treatment options; however, what if your dentist does not tell you all the options you have!! For instance, when you have an amalgam filling in your tooth for a long time, you need to change it because of mercury that been used in the filling, and the damages that caused by the filling to the tooth.


Now available treatment options from the cheapest to the most expensive ones:


1.     You can extract the tooth approximately ($200 to $300 )


2.     You can change it with a new amalgam filling approximately($60/surface = $200 )


3.     You can go with composite filling  approximately ($100- $300 or even more )


4.     You can go with onlays/inlay approximately ($700)


5.     You can go with crown approximately ($1100 or more)


6.     You can do root canal and then put the cap on it approximately ($2100 or more)


How does it work?


A dentist gets 60% to 70% of, and dental office gets 40% to 30% of the total amount that a patient pays at the end.


So obviously the more a patient pays, the more a dentist and dental office would make.


Now the problem starts when a dentist wants to make more money by not telling his/her patients all the available options.     


I believe most dentists are honest people, and they would offer all the options for their patients; however, this is a sad truth that not all dentists do.


This story was told by a dental assistant that sees these examples on daily basis and there is nothing that a dental assistant can do about it.


Please note that all prices were close to the actual cost, and the story is just an example in order to show readers how some dentists are taking advantages of their patients.