Managed-care plans purportedly reduce dental-care costs by inducing economically pressed dentists to provide services at low fees. Dentists vying for patients in this competitive climate may indeed agree to work for less pay — but they may also try to make up for the lower pay by increasing the number of patients they see per hour.

Obviously, this requires spending less time with most of the patients they see — and speed is the death of quality in dentistry. Hurry-up dental “care” is often incompetent. It often results in short-term failures that lead to other short-term failures (at mounting expense) and, ultimately, to disaster. In the long run, it is careful, deliberate treatment that saves money and maintains health.

Managed-care plans also provide dentists with powerful incentives to render inappropriate services. For example, the fees paid for fillings under “per time” managed-care plans are typically low; the fees allowed for extractions are much higher. Thus, a dentist might be tempted to extract a tooth — a procedure that usually takes a few minutes — because the extraction would bring in more money than doing a difficult and time-consuming filling to save the tooth.

How to Succeed in Dentistry Without Really Succeeding
To compensate for low managed-care fees, some dentists resort to bait and switch, encouraging patients to accept treatments profitable to the dentist that the managed-care plan does not cover. Not only must the patient pay for such treatments directly; too often they are not treatments of choice.

Many dentists try to compensate for low managed-care fees by over reporting treatments on insurance forms. This is so common that some forensic experts no longer consider dental records reliable for identifying corpses! And some dentists have turned to a surefire, age-old moneymaker — quackery. The main euphemism for dental fraud is “holistic dentistry.” So-called holistic dentists can:

• remove sound silver fillings, purportedly to resolve medical problems;
• use unscientific methods such as aromatherapy, acupuncture, auriculotherapy, homeopathy, craniosacral therapy, iridology, reflexology and “muscle testing”.
• provide dubious nutrition counseling and sell harmful, overpriced and unnecessary dietary supplements;
• allegedly adjust jaw joints, claiming that their misalignment causes many diseases;

Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, sexual problems, “immune system deficiency,” depression, headache and malaise are among the many conditions “holistic dentists” purportedly treat. None of these health problems are within the scope of scientific dentistry.

When to Leave Your Dentist The dental consumer cannot depend on organized dentistry, managed-care programs, or the law for protection against dental incompetence, over treatment, and fraud. So considerable skepticism is in order. We offer a few general suggestions:
The most important ingredient of quality dental service is time. Beware if your dentist rushes through his work or shuttles from room to room, or if his waiting room teems with patients coming and going.

If, over the years, dental problems are common despite good oral hygiene and good nutrition — if, for example, fillings fall out, bridges fail, toothaches persist and teeth are lost — bad dental “care” is probably to blame.

When the treatment your dentist proposes is more expensive than you expected –the crowning of many teeth, for example, or extensive gum surgery — request an explanation. A “second opinion,” perhaps from a dental school, may help. Asking for a written, signed treatment plan may also help. Most quacks and incompetents would probably balk at such a request.

If your dentist proposes to treat a medical (nondental) condition, write him or her off. If the dentist proposes to do so with one of the unscientific methods mentioned above, leave the office at once and never return.

Read insurance forms carefully before you sign them. Do not permit dentists to misrepresent work. And do not sign the form before the dentist has completed the treatment.

Most of individuals want to choose for effective teeth whitening kits as they need to do their smile look beautiful. Learn about various ways to whiten your teeth.

While savoring delicious candy bars and scarfing down potato chips, the effects these things are having on their teeth never crosses the minds of most people. You might be shocked to learn which foods are bad for your teeth and which foods are even worse. Tooth decay is caused by bacteria, nasty organisms that live and thrive in your mouth. Unless you care for your teeth properly, bacteria will gorge themselves on plaque, the sticky substance that often remains on your teeth after you eat or drink anything. Some foods tend to deposit more plaque than others, while some foods actually fight the bacteria that cause tooth decay. To keep your teeth in great condition you must brush and floss regularly, but you should also eat certain foods and avoid others, whenever possible.

Many people believe that candy is the primary cause of tooth decay, but in reality any food that contains carbohydrates will cause plaque on your teeth. Potato chips can contribute largely to tooth decay. Potato chips leave plaque on teeth which bacteria feast on voraciously. Candy, along with any food that contains sugar, can promote tooth decay, but bacteria love carbohydrates. Of course, sugar is one type of carbohydrate, but potato based items provide the primary source of carbohydrates. If you do not brush your teeth each time you have potato chips or candy, the bacteria will have the opportunity to produce harmful acids in your mouth. If you do not stay away from foods that contain lots of carbohydrates, you will most likely have some type of tooth decay. You can fight bacteria by conscientiously brushing your teeth, but unless you take your toothbrush with you everywhere, bacteria will always be munching away.

Soda and coffee are thought by some experts to be instrumental in causing tooth decay. Although that may be true, the only thing that studies have proven with regard to coffee and sodas is that they WILL cause tooth stains unless proper care is taken. It is possible to purchase teeth whitening products that will help lighten the stains. And any over the counter product should provide similar results. It has never been simpler to whiten your teeth at home. Aside from causing stains, soda has not been shown to be any worse for your teeth than candy.

You can avoid tooth decay if you are very selective about the things you put in your mouth. If you take good care of your teeth and are vigilant about what you eat, you can be  certain that cavities and gum disease will never be issues for you. I realize that you will never totally give up candy and potato chips, but if you can limit the amount of these foods that you eat, you stand to benefit substantially. If you find it impossible to avoid them, your teeth whitening efforts will have to be diligent.