How can you trust doctors and dentists when they earn money by performing more operations?
Some of you who read my blog may know that I went to dentist on Thursday.
I was told that I have a gum abscess and that I need a $286 tooth extraction.
I was given antibiotics.
I am not in any pain whatsoever but there is a tiny lump in the middle of my face near my cheek.
Source: Giphy.com
I guess that is the abscess.
The tooth that is supposedly under the abscess is only half there because the bottom half fell out randomly about 6 months ago.
I am a server in a restaurant and so I don't really have any extra money available.
I can tell you this though..... the tooth does not hurt.
Everything that I have read about abscesses seems to indicate that you go to the dentist when you are in extreme pain and can't take it anymore.
There is no pain and even though I only have half a tooth in there the tooth seems strong and I don't know why it needs to be pulled.
After checking around it also seems that $286 is an exorbitant amount of money to pull such a small tooth.
I'm going to try calling a couple of different dentists in the morning to see if I can get a better price on that.
It really sucks having to go through this while I'm also going through a lot of different other things.
How can you trust doctors and dentists when they earn money by performing more operations?
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I feel for you as I've been in a similar situation. You have to weigh the risk/reward. Some people will say, don't get surgery unless it's absolutely necessary. Others will say, get the surgery now and it will save you more costly trouble in the future. Since you're still unsure, the best advice I would give is to get a second opinion. Of course, that would cost money, too. While most of the debate seems to be on health insurance the health industry, as a whole, has a lot to fix.
I had an idea today. I called that dentist and told him I wanted to work out something with him since I couldn't afford the $286. That was a lie but I wanted to see if he would say operation wasn't necessary. He told me that it wasn't life threatening and it could wait a couple of months if I didn't have the money. That is in contradiction to what he said before so I have to assume it's not as necessary as he made it out to be. These guys are all out to get paid. It really sucks because of the true contradiction between them making money and the oath that they took.
It's difficult to trust anyone who makes their money when people are injured or ill. I'm glad that you aren't in pain. I hope that you're able to find a more affordable option. Good luck!
Thank you. I'm investigating options..
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