Delaying Dental Care Due to Cost…Why it Doesn’t Make Cents

According to a recent survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, cost is the number one reason, amongst readers polled, for delaying dental care.

The complete report is available to subscribers in the February issue of Consumer Reports.

One of the most interesting conclusions revealed by the Consumer Reports study was how most people were satisfied with their dental care.

Take it from the stalwart consumer community defender, not us:

Going to the dentist is no one’s idea of a good time, but the 51,768 Consumer Reports subscribers who told us about their oral health were nevertheless overwhelmingly satisfied with their dental care.

In fact, they rated it higher than most other services and on a par with the care they got from their doctors.

What’s more, few readers reported experiencing anything beyond mild pain—even for the infamous root canal.

No Pain for a Root Canal?

We had to check our hearing for that one…you mean to tell us that for something as necessarily off-putting as a root canal, we can actually feel no pain?

Techmology is wonderful isn’t it?!?

But it’s ultimately our trusted local dentists that deserve the kudos, so let’s all do ourselves a favor and not ignore them like we ignore our own optimal oral health from time to time.

Just as Consumer Reports defends and informs their subscribers, our local dental enforcement teams diligently protect the teeth and gums of their surrounding communities from the incessant invasion of ever present cavity creeps.

Ignoring our dentist is bad for our bank account, and bad for our overall health.

These are indisputable facts we will be happy to debate with any anti-dentite out there.

 
It’s simple; we go to the dentist and yes, it costs us money – sometimes above and beyond what our insurance or employers cover.

Alternatives to High Cost Dental Care?

Is there really no  room in our budget for oral health…maybe we need to think about that next time we’re lining up for a $5 cup of coffee, or paying $100 each month for an all-encompassing super terrific smartphone plan.

Here’s the choice…we as Americans love choices right?

1.       Go to the dentist and practice preventative maintenance.

2.       Ignore the dentist; brush, floss, and hope…a wish in one hand…

Door number one reveals optimal oral health and relatively manageable dental healthcare costs.

Choose number two your own peril, and then be prepared to pay out the nose when the plaque really hits the fan!

And don’t worry…your dentist will revel in the “I told you so” rhetoric as you endure that painless root canal from the comfort of their dental chaise.

What Lindsay Lohan’s Visit to the Dentist Can Teach Us

Have you seen Lindsay Lohan’s new teeth?

How embarrassing it must be to have your sappy, somewhat discolored smile, splattered across the tabloid headlines from here to Timbuktu.

With the speed at which information (read: gossip) travels these days, we all could have witnessed this Hollywood transformation in real-time.

We all could have eye spied Lindsay’s brighter, whiter smile come streaming across the screen of our mobile phones even before she was frantically hitting the ‘close door’ button on the elevator, in attempt to evade the paparazzi outside her dental office .

No matter your perceived presupposition toward the subjects in discussion, one Ms. Lindsay Lohan & dental hygiene; that kind of publicity is difficult to swallow, even despite the accompanying positive PR spin opportunities available.

Just think how Lindsay’s recent foray across the tabloids and dental blogs could actually do some good this October by advancing dental hygiene awareness!

With just one astutely timed, strategically hashtagged tweet, Lindsay could let all her followers know how good her dentist is with visual before and after proof!

Photo Courtesy of HollywoodLife.com

Lindsay – or her various stable of proxies could refute all the piling on so intrinsic with Hollywood and the media in general, by educating the rest of us on just how dangerous smoking cigarettes combined with poor oral health habits can be.

Lindsay could even get some social local dental-centric sharing started by letting all her Facebook fans know the truth…

Taking care of our teeth and gums need not be expensive, inconvenient, or uncomfortable!

Even with all the dental pain management procedures now making a root canal feel like a walk in the park, not adhering to a simple daily hygiene regimen will guarantee us pain in the future… to our wallets!

Here are some more daily hygiene tips, courtesy of KnowYourTeeth.com & The Academy of General Dentistry: 

Hygiene tips for a stellar smile:

• Brush with the radio on – dentists recommend brushing for the entire length of a song.
• Use fluoridated, antimicrobial toothpastes and mouth rinses. They help to make the tooth structure resistant to decay.
• Keep oral hygiene products at work. Studies show that the chance of a person using them during the day will increase 65 percent.
• Talk to your dentist about new products you’re using, as all products are not suited for all people.
• Skip the caffeine. Avoiding caffeine before a dental appointment can make you less anxious.
• Communicate. Use hand signals to inform the dentist that you are uncomfortable, and talk to your dentist about your specific fears.

 

 

 

 

 

Who’s Going to Win the Dental Attendance Award in 2011?

We’ve heard all sorts of reasons for people canceling their dental appointment – from the dog at my car alarm clicker and I can’t get in, to we just had an earthquake. Canine and tectonic forces aside, we seem to think the following four reasons are the main causes for people not keeping up with their regular dental visits. Which, by the way – should be every 6 months thank you very much!

Because you want your car to run efficiently, you take the time and care to change the oil every 3000-4000 miles. Because we love and cherish our pets as members of the family, we are diligent in maintaining their health and veterinary visits. Don’t cheat yourself into thinking your teeth aren’t as important. You’re incisor is connected to your cheekbone, and your cheekbone is connected to your neck bone, and your neck bone is….you get the point.

We’ve taken this time (and yours) to list our once again purely unscientific data supporting what we believe to be the top 4 reasons people don’t keep up their normal dental visits. Please feel free to share your thoughts – we know responsibilities and real life get in the way of a lot of things, we’re just trying to take a humorous jab at our motivations for missing dental appointments. We’re all guilty, the hope is to not make it a pattern of neglect.

Convenience/Schedule/Time

“I don’t have time to go the dentist. I have the kids to drop off at practice, I have the cable guy coming at 4, and I still don’t know what to make for dinner.” Sound familiar?

It seems with advancing technology, our time is always at a premium. We agree, and often times fall victim ourselves to the same daily perils of having a family and a career to worry about. But, shouldn’t our health be held at a higher premium than our time? Just think about it….our time will really be limited when we’re not healthy. Get the picture? And don’t think dentistry doesn’t add up to overall health – we know you’re smarter than that. Information is too easily accessible these days to keep the blinders on, take control of your health. And technology has, and will continue to make it easier for all of our trusted doctors to share info and formulate a complete picture of our personal health and wellness. The time issue doesn’t hold water, we know you health is more important than spending how many hours per week on Facebook…?

Comfort

Now here’s one we can get behind – comfort. Nobody likes being uncomfortable, it’s like sitting through a root canal….OR….rather what is USED to be like sitting through a root canal. Times have changed as we all know, take a look around. This applies to sitting in the dentist chaise lounge as well. From soothing earth tones to warm wooly blankets, sleep dentistry, aromatherapy, new age music, massage therapy…the dental office visit is becoming more like a relaxation therapy session, than tooth mechanics. And it’s not just fluff – root canals, the most dreaded of all dental procedures – have even become passé. Things like diagnostic lasers, intraoral cameras, and earlier detection of dental problems (judging you keep up your visits) now even make root canal anxiety a thing of the past.

It’s Gonna Hurt

A tax audit hurts. Stubbing your toe hurts. There are varying degrees of hurt – but what hurts more? The thought of what could happen on your normal dental visit, or the dread of what needs to happen since you haven’t been to the dentist in 12 years? What we’re talking about here really is fear – you’re afraid to go to the dentist, admit it. It’s called Dental Anxiety. Next time you’re feeling that way – think about this, which fear is worse….the fear of having to sit through a cleaning and polishing on your next dental visit, or the fear of having to sit through an extraction, root planing, gum scaling, drilling and filling, on your first visit since Fonzie jumped the shark:

Nothing is Wrong/It Doesn’t Hurt….yet

Yeah, now this is good solid old-school reasoning we can agree with. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it – simple. The only problem with this age-old axiom is that it does not apply to dentistry, or healthcare…or auto mechanics. Again back to the car analogy, however unromantic it is to compare your precious dental health to that of a four barrel big block – preventative maintenance is the key to limiting future pain (and expense). If it does in fact hurt, it is already too late, time to suck it up and do the right thing. It will only be worse – hurt more, cost more – if you continue the ongoing pattern of neglecting your teeth, or engine sludge.

There you have it, a completely unscientific view of our most popular reasons for not seeing the dentist on the regular. You have something to add? Please feel free to post comments to our wall, or drop an email – we can’t wait to hear what keeps you from the dental chaise. And by all means share this important info with your friends and family!