This Is Why Dental Insurance Should Be Abolished....

[rsmith6621]

Dentist accused of paper clip use in root canals

http://news.yahoo.com/dentist-accused-paper-clip-root-canals-121231462.html?fb_action_ids=10150613713331282%2C10150613709111282%2C2589835348072%2C2589525060315%2C2587460528703&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline&code=AQC-nfRTmosne-wiJq5pEuMe0ZH83Bs2HgscE4XuqZpEfT_1XyPLAMRSfNWOi1ybtz_tPhpPU6v6o5IeVlWLpf3gvBxv-rbxhN_wXsylE_Rk-PU1GHIQmAHiZpb6dVWpLTJdd63VnnZB2eZOe1w7-pNdD1Ql17UDpBkNkP_KTY2Ms6irX3uojBtQS5310SDVbzo#_=_


They say if you dont take care of your teeth it can cause issues with the liver and kidney and cause coronary heart disease so with that in mind why is dental care separate from standard medical insurance. Dentist abuse insurance and do a lot of unnecessary procedures. Many do a lot of work to create more work for themselves.

The last time I checked my teeth are connected to my body.

Oral care should be covered under standard medical insurance as if it were your heart or fingers or foot.

[msongs]

1. umm what does one corrupt dentist have to do with "dental insurance" being abolished? nt

[Tansy_Gold]

2. I believe the OP meant dental insurance AS SEPARATE FROM medical insurance

IOW, dental care should be included as part of normal health care, not separate.

[unblock]

8. i think the question is how would unified insurance had made a difference in this case?

is there anything about unified health + dental insurance (as opposed to separate dental insurance) that would have encouraged the dentist not to try to save money by using paper clips?

[rsmith6621]

5. um read again...

The last time I checked my teeth are connected to my body.

Oral care should be covered under standard medical insurance as if it were your heart or fingers or foot.

[Hugabear]

3. What is the rational for separating dentistry from standard medical insurance?

I have never understood this. Same thing goes for vision.

Yes, dentistry is a specialized field. So is OB/GYN, cardiology, neuroscience, etc. Yet women aren't required to purchase separate OB/GYN insurance, and so forth.

Last time I checked, the mouth and eyes were part of the human body, why should they be covered separately? As the OP points out, dental problems can cause serious health problems.

[JNelson6563]

9. +1

[dipsydoodle]

10. Teeth are subject to general neglect.

As such I could understand their complete removal for other health reasons but not their repair or replacement.

[Hugabear]

12. And the rest of the body isn't?

There are plenty of ways one can neglect their body - poor diet, smoking, etc.

[Tansy_Gold]

13. Maybe if they were covered under standard health care

they wouldn't be neglected.

Smoking-related illnesses are routinedly covered, even though smoking is an actively unhealthful behavior. Many problems with dental health begin when the patients are minors and have no "dental" insurance even though they may have "health" insurance.

[dipsydoodle]

14. Are you by any chance under the impression our NHS fully covers dental work ?

There is limited cover. Children get free treatment anyway. Adults get 6 month checkups for c. £16, fillings and crowns are subsidised as are extractions.

[Tansy_Gold]

15. I didn't know the discussion even concerned the NHS.

Since "we" have nothing here. . . . .

[dipsydoodle]

16. Often

what you've got is compared with what we get - hence the mention.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Why would you want to abolish dental insurance

just because of the occasionally fraudulent practices of a few dentists? Do you think doctors never abuse medical insurance?

Dental insurance is a very good thing to have. I don't necessarily agree that it should be merged into ordinary medical insurance. As stand-alone insurance it's usually fairly inexpensive and the deductibles are manageable, and as such people are more likely to buy it - which means they are more likely to get their routine dental problems taken care of. If it were part of the typical (that is, high deductible) medical coverage, I think people would be inclined to put off having dental work done.

The down side of typical dental coverage is that you can run through it pretty fast if you have to have a lot of work done in one year.

The obvious solution, of course, is comprehensive single-payer coverage that takes care of everything.

[BadgerKid]

6. Don't dentist generally try to do a good job?

Obviously there are unscrupulous ones, just as there are anywhere else. Corporate dentists have quotas to fulfill, so you have a greater chance to encounter unnecessary services with them.

This article suggests it's maybe Medicare insurance, which doesn't pay great. Dentist, like other doctors, don't always accept Medicare (preaching to the choir, etc.).

[Bluenorthwest]

17. You are incorrect, as Medicare offers no dental at all. None.

Which is sort of repeating the point of the OP. Medicare should and does not include dental work.

[BadgerKid]

22. I think you are incorrect -- Medicare.gov indicates otherwise.

for example:

All Dentistry Specialties
Show only those providers who accept the Medicare-approved amount as payment in full.
16 Dentistry Physicians within 20 miles of 21244

Accepts Medicare-approved amount on all claims
This provider accepts the Medicare-approved amount as full payment for covered services.

http://www.medicare.gov/find-a-doctor/provider-results.aspx?loc=21244&specgrp=Dentistry&specids=&pref=Yes&ptype=PHP&gender=Unknown&dist=20&lat=39.33635&lng=-76.76828

[RC]

7. As should eye exams.

Hearing exams. Any exam having to do with the functioning/malfunctioning of the various body parts.
Notice all these are in the easy to locate head. The brain of which malfunction symptoms are also often treated separately.

Neck down, medical. Neck up, farmed out to highest bidder.

[REP]

11. Agree. Dental care should be part of the total insurance package

If it were, I might not be missing 5 teeth. If I hadn't married 5 years ago (which put me on my husbands dental insurance), I'd surely have fewer left.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. How nice for those of you allowed to marry!

Equal rights for equal teeth!!!!!

[REP]

20. I'm for equal rights for everyone, too

If I'd married someone without dental insurance, I'd be in the same shape I was before, though

[LanternWaste]

19. why not simply abolish dentistry as whole-- then we can guarantee no dentist will ever do that...

As we're flailing at the most absurdly tenuous connections here, why not simply abolish dentistry as whole-- then we can be guaranteed no dentist will ever do that again.

Or we can tilt at the windmills behind us, and demand that haircuts are covered by insurance too-- you see-- hair is connected to my body...

(Bong water is nasty, nasty stuff...)

[Curmudgeoness]

23. Really????

Why are you opposed to having dental work included with other health issues under the same insurance policy?

And the day that hair that is not cut can cause other major health problems, maybe we should have the discussion about covering haircuts. Until then, you are going nowhere with that argument.

[lynne]

21. Makes no difference to the doctor where the payment comes from -

- dental insurance, health insurance, or cash-on-the-barrel head. How payment is received does not impact the ability, knowledge, ethics or morals of a doctor. They either have them or they don't.