Your response to my comment regarding heartless dentists is patronizing and condescending. I don't know who you are, but I can assure you that I have done my "research". I am a teacher, I have a masters degree. I am not aware of what level of education you have achieved, but assuming that I've been negligent in obtaining the best dentistry possible is rather presumptuous. The sad reality is, you would be hard pressed to find a single person who does not have a dental horror story. If any other profession had the failure rates of the dental industry, or functioned in a consistently self-serving manner, there would be an national outcry. I have spent thousands of dollars on root canals that have failed - that were performed by endodontists who teach at universities. In every single case, the response was, "It happens. Too bad." If a mechanic fixes your car and it breaks down a week later, they are legally bound to rectify the matter. This is how it is in nearly every service, profession, or industry. But not dentistry.
You write that patients hold dentist "accountable." How? Can a person demand a dentist re-do a procedure or issue a refund? No, they cannot. All a patient can do is find a new dentist to give their money to. You mention "state boards." You mean the colleges of dental surgeons who function primarily to protect their own colleagues from litigation? "Insurance companies"? How do you suppose that insurance companies hold dentists accountable? Their most salient concern is billing: they do not want to pay for services unrendered. Whether or not someone is unhappy with their dentist has absolutely no connection to the insurance industry whatsoever. Is it your job to censor people's comments on this site? If so, I will deactivate my account right now. I did not come to these conclusions about dentists easily; they are the result of one heart-breaking, costly experience after another. I don't need a lecture from you, or anyone, regarding my opinion of dentists.
Every root canal I've ever had has failed. Thousands of dollars in treatment, followed by crowns, only to end up yanking the tooth. I despise the entire dentistry profession as it answers to no one; they are accountable to no one.
You can spend tens of thousands of dollars without a single guarantee - and they will never do anythnig for free even when you've spent a fortune. Read "The Root Canal Cover-Up" by George Meinig, or "The Hidden Dangers of Dental Care" by Hal Huggins. After a root canal, there is ALWAYS bacteria still present; always. And it sits trapped in your mouth like a ticking time-bomb and it can lead to heart disease.
Need a root canal? Don't do it. Pull the tooth and get on with your life. Dentists will tell you that a missing tooth is going to cause a ton of problems, super-eruptions, shifting teeth, it's-the-end-of-the-world, etc. but it's a crock. If you can live without a kidney, an eye, a lung, a leg, believe me: You can live without a tooth.
I have two teenagers with pretty bad acne; I feel so sorry for them. It's something I never had to go through. You're right about the negative reviews - they have terrified me. Did you experience depression? Just curious.
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