<story><title>I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)</title><url>https://www.rd.com/article/how-honest-are-dentists/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ransom1538</author><text>&amp;quot;The experts are great until they have a case that is unusual. &amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;I was so pissed by this I created a way to find experts.  People that actually studied the issue, have actual publish papers on the topic. What I found was no one cared. No one wanted &amp;quot;experts&amp;quot; - they want a specialist that is in their network and close.&lt;p&gt;Example of searching for mohs surgury. 
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.opendoctor.io&amp;#x2F;research&amp;#x2F;?research_papers=mohs&amp;amp;zip=32766&amp;amp;search=search&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.opendoctor.io&amp;#x2F;research&amp;#x2F;?research_papers=mohs&amp;amp;zip...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>basisword</author><text>&amp;gt;&amp;gt; I’m not a conspiracy nut. I believe in listening to experts (but ultimately making an informed decision). I believe in modern medicine. But that experience shook me and forever changed my trust in the dental industry.&lt;p&gt;Ask anybody who’s experienced a “chronic” illness about the “experts” and they’ll tell you a tale or two. The experts are great until they have a case that is unusual. The don’t have the time or knowledge to treat you properly. You get passed from “expert” to “expert” each time having your hopes dashed. You start feeling like a conspiracy nut chatting with other patients online sharing what’s anecdotally helped. After running into this issue more than once I’ve lost all blind trust in medical experts. I’ll verify what they tell me as best I can and get second opinions if necessary. In one case I was passed up the chain of experts until I finally found the right one myself after a year, and it still blows my mind that this wasn’t the first referral. The system is at the same time incredible and awful.</text></item><item><author>Waterluvian</author><text>My son when 3 had a fall and a few teeth were bent. Went to our local dentist who mostly had a wait and see opinion. But then calls a day later and says they’ve decided they should just come out.  Two top front teeth. Would have no top front teeth for years.&lt;p&gt;I went into engineer mode and while I acknowledged I didn’t have domain expertise, I asked questions and probed the whole situation. Very unsatisfactory, meandering answers.&lt;p&gt;This was a deeply distressing experience. For the first time ever I did the “call in a personal favour” thing and asked my dad to reach out a family friend, a former cosmetic dentist and former head of the province’s dental association for a second opinion.&lt;p&gt;He saw my son a few hours later and he was just &lt;i&gt;livid&lt;/i&gt; about the diagnosis. That it was possible they’d have to come out but it’s impossible to know this for at least a few more weeks or more.&lt;p&gt;In a few months the teeth returned 100% to normal and firmed right up as the ligaments healed.&lt;p&gt;I’m not a conspiracy nut. I believe in listening to experts (but ultimately making an informed decision). I believe in modern medicine. But that experience shook me and forever changed my trust in the dental industry.&lt;p&gt;My feeling is that the nature of dentistry leaves a lot of room for subjectivity and COVID left a lot of dental chairs empty.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>susiecambria</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve often been struck dumb by the passive nature of so many people when facing health problems. My dad had multiple myeloma and was satisfied with local hosp. Nope. Made him go to Yale and the Dana Farber. He got the best care possible.&lt;p&gt;I struggled with back pain and told to go to a neurologist and informed my GP where I would and wouldn&amp;#x27;t go. The doc I was referred to was a no-go since I know him personally and he&amp;#x27;s a lying piece of shit in his personal life, I&amp;#x27;m not trusting him with my back! Docs could NOT understand. &amp;quot;But he&amp;#x27;s so nice.&amp;quot; Screw that.&lt;p&gt;Time and again, family and friends settle. I understand the insurance component, but even then, can you not find better?&lt;p&gt;And thank you for your work. It&amp;#x27;s very cool.</text></comment>
<story><title>I went to 50 different dentists: almost all gave a different diagnosis (1997)</title><url>https://www.rd.com/article/how-honest-are-dentists/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ransom1538</author><text>&amp;quot;The experts are great until they have a case that is unusual. &amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;I was so pissed by this I created a way to find experts.  People that actually studied the issue, have actual publish papers on the topic. What I found was no one cared. No one wanted &amp;quot;experts&amp;quot; - they want a specialist that is in their network and close.&lt;p&gt;Example of searching for mohs surgury. 
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.opendoctor.io&amp;#x2F;research&amp;#x2F;?research_papers=mohs&amp;amp;zip=32766&amp;amp;search=search&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.opendoctor.io&amp;#x2F;research&amp;#x2F;?research_papers=mohs&amp;amp;zip...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>basisword</author><text>&amp;gt;&amp;gt; I’m not a conspiracy nut. I believe in listening to experts (but ultimately making an informed decision). I believe in modern medicine. But that experience shook me and forever changed my trust in the dental industry.&lt;p&gt;Ask anybody who’s experienced a “chronic” illness about the “experts” and they’ll tell you a tale or two. The experts are great until they have a case that is unusual. The don’t have the time or knowledge to treat you properly. You get passed from “expert” to “expert” each time having your hopes dashed. You start feeling like a conspiracy nut chatting with other patients online sharing what’s anecdotally helped. After running into this issue more than once I’ve lost all blind trust in medical experts. I’ll verify what they tell me as best I can and get second opinions if necessary. In one case I was passed up the chain of experts until I finally found the right one myself after a year, and it still blows my mind that this wasn’t the first referral. The system is at the same time incredible and awful.</text></item><item><author>Waterluvian</author><text>My son when 3 had a fall and a few teeth were bent. Went to our local dentist who mostly had a wait and see opinion. But then calls a day later and says they’ve decided they should just come out.  Two top front teeth. Would have no top front teeth for years.&lt;p&gt;I went into engineer mode and while I acknowledged I didn’t have domain expertise, I asked questions and probed the whole situation. Very unsatisfactory, meandering answers.&lt;p&gt;This was a deeply distressing experience. For the first time ever I did the “call in a personal favour” thing and asked my dad to reach out a family friend, a former cosmetic dentist and former head of the province’s dental association for a second opinion.&lt;p&gt;He saw my son a few hours later and he was just &lt;i&gt;livid&lt;/i&gt; about the diagnosis. That it was possible they’d have to come out but it’s impossible to know this for at least a few more weeks or more.&lt;p&gt;In a few months the teeth returned 100% to normal and firmed right up as the ligaments healed.&lt;p&gt;I’m not a conspiracy nut. I believe in listening to experts (but ultimately making an informed decision). I believe in modern medicine. But that experience shook me and forever changed my trust in the dental industry.&lt;p&gt;My feeling is that the nature of dentistry leaves a lot of room for subjectivity and COVID left a lot of dental chairs empty.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>atlas_hugged</author><text>Wow this is awesome. You should post this as it’s own show HN thingy.</text></comment>