> This might sound stupid but I refuse to go to dentists that have "too nice" of an office.
That is a very good heuristic, and I've come to the same conclusion.
> Over the years I have lived in several places and had a variety of dentists and one common theme that sticks with me, the nicer and higher tech the office is, the more procedures they are going to recommend you. They need to pay for the equipment and office somehow.
This is exactly my experience. When I first moved to a new city, I booked an appointment with a new dentist that had an office right next to my apartment building. My previous dentists since I was a kid were trustworthy, so I was kind of naive and trusting.
Their office was new, overlooking a large pond/small lake. Very nice.
After the first visit, the dentist said I needed 4 new fillings, three because his diagnodent (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4282000/) went beep on those teeth (one was legitimate and IIRC I spotted it in the xray myself). He also said I should replace my existing amalgam filling because it was "wearing out." Because I was naive, I got the five fillings over two appointments. Then every visit after that, they tried to sell me on Invisalign.
Eventually I got sick of the place (some obnoxious hygienist was the last straw), went to a new dentist, told him about my last one, and he said you should never diagnose a cavity based on just a single diagnodent reading. If you use it at all, you need to track increasing decay readings. He doesn't use one. I've been going to that office for 10 years, and haven't once had a filling. They're watching a few areas, but that's it.
That dentist still has a CRT TV in the waiting room (and had a Nintendo 64 with another CRT in a forgotten corner until COVID).
That is a very good heuristic, and I've come to the same conclusion.
> Over the years I have lived in several places and had a variety of dentists and one common theme that sticks with me, the nicer and higher tech the office is, the more procedures they are going to recommend you. They need to pay for the equipment and office somehow.
This is exactly my experience. When I first moved to a new city, I booked an appointment with a new dentist that had an office right next to my apartment building. My previous dentists since I was a kid were trustworthy, so I was kind of naive and trusting.
Their office was new, overlooking a large pond/small lake. Very nice.
After the first visit, the dentist said I needed 4 new fillings, three because his diagnodent (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4282000/) went beep on those teeth (one was legitimate and IIRC I spotted it in the xray myself). He also said I should replace my existing amalgam filling because it was "wearing out." Because I was naive, I got the five fillings over two appointments. Then every visit after that, they tried to sell me on Invisalign.
Eventually I got sick of the place (some obnoxious hygienist was the last straw), went to a new dentist, told him about my last one, and he said you should never diagnose a cavity based on just a single diagnodent reading. If you use it at all, you need to track increasing decay readings. He doesn't use one. I've been going to that office for 10 years, and haven't once had a filling. They're watching a few areas, but that's it.
That dentist still has a CRT TV in the waiting room (and had a Nintendo 64 with another CRT in a forgotten corner until COVID).