so most dentists are totally trustworthy
and honest but they're upset about a
small minority of dentists within the
field that are taking advantage of
patients I spoke to eight different
dentists and ask them what sorts of
things patients should be looking for to
see if they might be getting ripped off
one big red flag is a lot of people will
go into a new dentist and he or she will
say oh we have to rip out all your old
silver fillings they're falling apart or
they're leeching mercury into your body
and we need to take them out there's no
truth to the idea that mercury and old
silver fillings is actually leaching
into people's teeth you might have one
or two fillings that are cracked or
wearing down but in most cases you don't
need to get all of your fillings
replaced at once another thing to look
out for our dentists that advertise
especially if they're offering free
deals like a free cleaning free
whitening a lot of the time they're just
doing that to get you in the door so
they can prescribe more treatment all
the dentists I spoke to said the best
way to find a dentist is through word of
mouth for children
sometimes these fluoride treatments can
be helpful but for most adults
especially if you're not getting tons of
cavities you don't need prescription
fluoride toothpaste those are things
that are commonly not covered by dental
insurance and they're also things that
are not necessary for most adults
throughout the course of our lives we
all grind our teeth a little bit some
more than others a lot of people you
know might do a little bit of grinding
and then stop for several years and then
do some more and it doesn't mean that
you need a $700 night guard it's a huge
markup item you know both that in the
fluoride toothpaste they're products
that the practice sells directly to you
so they're getting that markup so
veneers are basically these artificial
tooth services they go on top of the
tooth and they look really big and white
and beautiful but they cost thousands of
dollars and ultimately they're a
cosmetic choice if you don't like the
color of your teeth but the shape is
fine you can just go for whitening
when you get x-rays done it's your legal
right to have those files and if you
tell a dentist okay can I please see the
x-ray I want to go get a second opinion
and there's someone reluctant to let you
do that that could be a sign that they
might be ridden off but it's a field
where if you need to make a little more
money you know you just air a little bit
on the side of aggressive treatment
rather than conservative treatment and
no one is going to know with all these
claims it's before remember if you're
having some kind of pain a problem then
I probably do need work done if you go
in in your mouth feels great you just
wanted a cleaning and the new dentist
tells you you need to have seven new
fillings done it's probably good reason
to go get a second opinion