Lack of trust in dental professionals and inadequate communication regarding treatment plans and risks

Signals over time

4 observed signals across 1 sources, tracked for 1 days. Confidence: low.

What people are saying Observed

• “My wisdom teeth were stolen when I was a mere 16 years old. Being a minor child, I literally had no choice in the matter. My parents just shuffled me in there. They trusted our family dentist, and they would obey anything he recommended for us. He was generally quite trustworthy, although I am certain that my family helped out a lot with that shiny Porsche he drove. After a long period in adulthood with no dental care at all, I was in need of some endodontic work, and so I signed up for, not insurance, but a "dental discount program" and found a local guy who saved my bacon. He did the endodonty and the crown, and I had some subsequent crowns that were probably needed, and some fillings, and he also drilled out all my "old" amalgam fillings, replacing them with resin, which seemed to be a good deal. But he kinda kept going with that momentum, and I began to feel kind of pressured. He caught on to the fact that I would do anything he recommended, and my parents would step up and pay for anything I asked, and so we had this chain of no-questions-asked. At my final visit last year, his minions took no fewer than 18 X-ray images. Yes, 18 images of one mouth. I thoug”

  Hacker News · frustration

• “My dentist in Seattle really wanted to pull my wisdom teeth. They didn't bother me so I figured why mess with it. Every visit over several years they would ask, and each time I would say I'd rather wait. The only reason to pull them early is that recovery is easier when you're younger, but I was/am in my twenties. Then, a few years ago my dentist took an x-ray. They saw a mass somewhere. They mentioned it's probably benign but might be dangerous. They would like to do a biopsy. "Oh, and by the way we'd need to put you under for the biopsy. Might as well do your wisdom teeth now, right?" I agreed since I figured if I was already going under might as well get it all over with. I tell my dentist to make sure the surgeon is on the same page. The weekend of my appointment -- they have a dedicated guy who spends his Saturdays doing this I guess, I meet the dentist (surgeon?) who would handle the operation. He talks through the procedure, they'll take out my four wisdom teeth, etc. He didn't mention the biopsy so I asked. His response: "oh, I'm not going to do that, that's nothing". I was already there. So, I just let t”

  Hacker News · frustration

• “I had multiple similar experiences and I’ve had deep mistrust of dentists since. I had an amazing dentist while I lived in Japan, never upsold. There was a complication after a root canal (which I heard is just inherent possibility) and then they took full accountability and fixed the issue without charging me a dime. Now I’m back from Japan and the first dentist tries to sell me some toothpaste and toothbrush wtf”

  Hacker News · complaint

• “I'm typing with stitches still in my jaw after a surgery to remove a wisdom tooth. I feel the same about dentists, I've never found a dentist where I said this is the one. They all seem to wing it as they go. Story short, I went for orthodontic treatment to a dentist that I thought had an orthodontia specialty as well, she said nothing and suggested a few works and a couple fillings before the orthodontic treatment, I said fine why not. But among which, removal of 2 remaining wisdom teeth to "create space" even though I haven't found on the internet any scientific evidence saying wisdom teeth contribute to a crowded mouth. Anyway, she removed an upper one (with difficulty), then 2 weeks later removed a lower one with only a panoramic xray that doesn't show much about the roots and the alveolar nerve's position in relation to the root. As soon as she started pulling it, the crown snapped right off and left the roots in there almost level with the gum line. She did another xray of the remaining roots and ONLY THEN she realized the alveolar nerve is so close to the root it's almost touching it. At that point I felt she freaked out for how close ”

  Hacker News · complaint