Dentistry’s gold digging techniques

We have a nice dentist, but like everyone, he’s under intense pressure to extract more money from his patients to feed his small organization. We’ve seen him trying to sell us more services, but unlike many of his patients, we can see through his tactics and resist the pressure to buy.

Just like we’re all wary of our car repairman or of our plumber, we should even be more worried when we’re laying down, helpless on a dentist chair and are getting advice from him. That person has us literally as a hostage, with a business to run, some expensive equipment to amortize and a staff to keep busy, not to mention the cost of office space whether rented or owned.

Even if our dentist is the world’s most honest individual, there is the relentless pressure to increase revenue, something that can’t be just done by reducing expenses, but essentially by increasing revenue, thus profits. To accomplish that, dentists are given a “tool-box” of ways to induce patients to spend more.

For instance, they must sell patients to accept extra treatment instead of letting them walk out their door without it. To achieve this, they must make compelling case presentations, using their "team” to build up the dentist’s credibility so the patient is “educated” or “inspired” to want the needed treatment.

People will always find a way to pay for what they want, but not necessarily for what they need. Patients decide to do dental treatment based on emotion, not education. Dentists are asked to offer more services, like adding another treatment room, another hygiene room, adding more staff, or another dentist or hygienist.

That’s another good way for them to increase revenue. At the same time, they’re encouraged to get the education – if needed – so they can recommend high profit procedures, like porcelain veneers, implants, periodontics, endodontics, crowns and bridges, as well as plenty of x-rays, all examples of procedures that typically have a higher profit margin.

They’re also told that a higher fee does not necessarily mean more profits. A root canal, for instance, that takes three hours to complete isn’t a profitable procedure. This is all good and well, but for those of us who see healthcare as a human right, patient beware!

Still it’s disheartening to see that an essential health service like dentistry fall into the rut of mercantile manipulation.