Why dont Dentist adhere to the hypocratic oath like medical doctors, people need dental care as badly as med?

Question

I live in the Chicago suburbs, the dentists here mostly are not compassionate and do not offer help to poor or indigent people.I even have medicaid and cant find a Dentist to do the work from a root canal i had to fight for. I cant get a crown. The information to go to Dental schools is false. teh Univ of Chicago Dental school wanted $865.00 for a molar crown. That was as much as ANY DENTIST IN THE WHOLE CHICAGO AREA.
We cannot take care of our own dental issues , and it seems that dentists are in a monopoly with services, price and wont break away to help others who cant afford regular services.
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I ask you to contact me if you are a dentist or make crowns.
Thank you

Answer 1

Let me preface this editorial by saying that I do charity care, but I pick and choose for myself who gets it and how much they get. Many dentists do the same.

You know, I took an oath to do no harm and to try my best to help people. I don't remember the part about doing it for free. It is my duty to remain available to my community to provide needed health services. If I were to do it for free, several things would happen.

1. I would have to work 24/7 to serve everyone who thought their story was worse than the next guy.
2. I would not be able to pay any staff to help me provide the excellent level of care than even the charity cases deserve and demand.
3. I would not be able to purchase supplies or pay lab bills for services needed to serve my patients.
4. I would not be able to pay the electric company, the water bill, the mortgage for my building, yada, yada, yada, to remain available to my patients.

I was a bit surprised to read someone's message about "all you people" looking for free care, but in my heart I admit that I agree. I may be wrong, but anyone who even KNOWS ABOUT THE INTERNET, let alone has a computer to go there, does not know the true level of poverty of some of the patients that we all treat for free.

Answer 2

Maybe we are asking the wrong question. Maybe (and I'm not an advocate of Socialism at all), we should wonder why the most prosperous nation ever to inhabit the planet cannot take care of the basic medical needs of its citizens.

If you don't have a job that provides dental insurance, you'd better have a few thousand dollars lying around to pay for treatment if you need major dental work.

Dentists spend a ginormous amount of money on their education. After graduation, they have to buy equipment, pay a staff, continue to keep their skills current, and pay the phone bill.

Imagine the arrogance of a dentist asking to get PAID to perform a root canal!! Have you considered that it actually costs in the neighborhood of $865 to do a root canal and that's why the price is constant?

May I ask you this? If your sink springs a leak and there is water all over your kitchen, do you berate the plumber for trying to make a living by fixing it? Maybe you would like a "super cheap" plumber to do the work for less than half the price, regardless of the materials or skill level?

Sorry if this sounds like a rant....no, wait, I'm not really sorry.

Answer 3

Good answers already. I am sorry about your situation. What I see in my practice goes something like this:
Someone doesn't have any money because-
1. It gets spent on drugs.
2. It gets stolen by a family member or friend to buy drugs.
3. It gets spent on multiple children with not a father in sight.
4. They never took the initiative to get an education in order to earn more money.
5. They have "meth-mouth" and guess what-no money!
6. Choices always have consequences.
I AM NOT SAYING ANY OF THE ABOVE APPLIES TO YOU. I AM SAYING THESE HAVE BEEN MY OBSERVATIONS OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS.
Yes I also do charity cases just like every other dentist that I know.
Lastly, if you can't afford to keep the tooth, you can have it removed for a fraction of the cost. With charity cases, the patient gives up the right to decide which treatment to go with.
My sincere thoughts are that you are able to get some type of treatment.

Answer 4

From the stand point of a dental assistant: Dentist get asked every single day to do free or reduced dental work. Trust me, you are one of thousands of people who can not afford it. They simply have to draw the line somewhere, or else how do you expect them to pay their bills, which by the way, includes my salary. I have a family too. I have bills, a mortgage, and have kids to feed and clothe. If my dentist took on every "charity" case he was asked to, he would never be able to give me a raise, a bonus, and might have to cut down on the number of staff members he has. You are probably speaking to dentists who have been hit up by many, many others this month. They can't accept them all. Dental materials are very expensive. Trust me, I know cause I am the one in my office who orders them. It is very easy for me to spend $1500.00 in about 5 minutes. And this happens every week, if not more often. This does not include what laboratories charge us, office supply companies, computer support , and numerous other things we have to buy to operate. Im sorry but they hear stories like your every single day.

Answer 5

I just felt compelled to respond to the above comparison of a plumber's services and the need for a dentist-there is NOTHING that can compare with the need for a dentist or doctor. For example, I make lifestyle choices in which a plumber, a mechanic, and a whole lot of other service people are unnecessary. I can live without any of them. However, when something happens with my teeth, my gums, my health and I am in pain-I can either pay the price or jump off a bridge in agony. So, you see, plumbers are a choice one can easily live without, whereas medical/dental professionals aren't. See the vast difference???? Choice versus dire need-effects well-being.

Answer 6

The fact is we do take an oath not to harm and to treat patients ethically. However, the fact that a crown is not a life saving procedure leaves you without much of an argument. I recommend preventative care like brushing to prevent what is an otherwise preventable disease - DENTAL DECAY.

Answer 7

The government ought to be paying doctors and dentists like they do in Europe, and most other countries that care about their people, instead of using tax dollars to drop bombs and start wars. There are third world countries that have better access to dental/health care then this one. It's a sad sad commentary of this society, isn't it! Really messed up priorities!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

Actually, they do take the oath. But for the entire medical profession, it doesn't seem to matter. Medicine has stopped being a vocation and is now a profession. I'm so sorry to say this, because I'm also a doctor, but it seem this is the situation.