Importance of X rays
Healthy-looking tooth
My God! Look at that big hole!Ms S came in today with toothache, dull throbbing ache in Q2 to be exact. I couldn't find anything wrong so I took a radiograph and saw a big radiolucent area on the DO of 26. Unfortunately for Ms S she came in 6 months too late. She ended up spending $900 on root canal because the other alternative is extraction.
I looked through her record. She'd never have any radiograph taken. If she had one done when she came in for her last check up a year ago this wouldn't have happen. This reminds me of some of my patients who refused to have any radiographs because "my teeth don't hurt why should I've x-ray" or "I don't want to spend more money" yadda yadda yadda all sorts of excuses. Most of the time they think we are out there to cheat their money with x-rays. What they don't know is that early decay is actually reversible and doesn't hurt! You need x-rays for a proper examination as we dentists are mere homo sapiens and can't see through what's underneath those amalgam fillings or in between the tight contacts of teeth.
Too bad for Ms S, now she has to fork out another $1500 after RCT for a crown. My boss is laughing his way to the bank.
I looked through her record. She'd never have any radiograph taken. If she had one done when she came in for her last check up a year ago this wouldn't have happen. This reminds me of some of my patients who refused to have any radiographs because "my teeth don't hurt why should I've x-ray" or "I don't want to spend more money" yadda yadda yadda all sorts of excuses. Most of the time they think we are out there to cheat their money with x-rays. What they don't know is that early decay is actually reversible and doesn't hurt! You need x-rays for a proper examination as we dentists are mere homo sapiens and can't see through what's underneath those amalgam fillings or in between the tight contacts of teeth.
Too bad for Ms S, now she has to fork out another $1500 after RCT for a crown. My boss is laughing his way to the bank.
posted by Dentist Down Under at 2:08 am
7 Comments:
Darling, u must help me take xray of my teeth. I dun wanna get tooth decay!!eeeeeks. Hao2 Er3 Xin1 worr.
rob: Yeah that's actually the price at the cheaper practice I'm working at. I did a root canal on 15 (2 canals) at the other practice for $800! The government hospital here doesn't offer premolar or molar endo so it's either private practice or exo.
flatfeet: If you want to get xray done now it'll cost you $52 or you can wait for a while for me to set up my own practice. :p
that's freaking cheap for RCT and crown.. gosh.. prices here in NZ privates aren't like that anymore..
Xrays.. tell that to the paranoid parents who don't want their kids to be xrayed :P
Sabrina: If it's so expensive in NZ private practice why the hell does the kiwi dentists come over here??? I don't understand. :\
simple: higher pay. but of course, depends on which area LAH.. there are also practice that has dentistry and foot massages.. :D
Sabrina: Doesn't make sense, if the fees are higher in NZ and they receive a commission (like here) won't they earn much more down there? :\
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