2. Dental assistants know everything. Dentists know nothing.
You would not believe! I come in, the DA takes my x-rays, cleans my teeth, shows me my x-rays, talks to me about wisdom teeth and why we should remove them, gives me a reference to the dental surgeon.
The dentist comes in, and gives me a grandfatherly handshake, asks me how I’ve been (like he’s seen me before) and asks me if my teeth have been hurting me. The DA has already pointed out 6 cavities to me, and the dentist wants to know if my teeth have been hurting. Then we talk about the weather.
**Then** he talks with the DA about my x-rays and my cavities, et cetera. She speaks demurely and quietly to him, as if he knows everything and she is a mere underling. Then he turns to me, tells me I have great teeth for a decade interlude (6 cavities notwithstanding), and that I don’t really need to worry about the wisdom teeth. After the dentist leaves, the DA and I continued our conversation, including scheduling my fillings and negotiating payment.
There are about 50 DA’s in the office, and only about 6 dentists. The DA’s do all the work and the dentists get all the money. What’s up with that? Who goes to college telling themselves, “I want to be a dental assistant and take lots of orders”?
3. Why do Dental Assistants wear pajamas to work?
4. I went 10 years without visiting a dentist because neither I, nor my parents had insurance. All my life I have been one of the forsaken, the unwashed, the uninsured Americans. You’d think I’d have voted for Kerry. Yet Kerry’s healthcare plan scared me to death. Why? Here’s one reason.
Rotten Teeth notwithstanding, government medical care costs a whole lot, and most of that cost is exacted, not on the rich, but on the healthy poor. For the most part, I happen to be the healthy poor.
Insurance is a great benefit. It’s pretty cool to get that stuff covered under the radar of the IRS. But honestly, if I understood the numbers correctly, my company is paying around $5,000 a year for each employee’s insurance. I’m getting married in 8 months. Give me $5,000. Please. I’ll take the risk. I can pay for the honeymoon, the car, and everything else, and still have plenty left over to worry about a few fillings. FLEX medical spending accounts are way better. They allow me to spend on my health *precisely* what I think it’s worth. Hello? Distributed responsibility!!
There are some advantages to some government involvement in health management. But a robust government-sponsored HMO is not it.
neumatikos 
LOL, sounds like you went to my dentist! I went a few weeks ago for a cleaning and the only time I saw the dentist was while we were checking out and he stopped by the front desk to get a patient’s file and he paused to say hi to our 13 month old son.
As for insurance, I don’t think most people even realize what insurance is anymore. Most people now believe that it is a right, not a privilege. Insurance is designed for the “in the event of” scenarios, not the “because I can.” In the event of a drunk smashing you head on and you survive the car wreck, insurance is there to pay the $100,000 in medical and $10,000 for your car as well as the $26,000 to repair the storefront that got busted. In the event of a heater malfunction and your home burning down, insurance is there to replace your clothing so your not naked and to set you up with a place to stay and help you get another home. In the event of a medical condition, insurance is there to make sure you can get the heart transplant you need to stay alive.
Health insurance was not originally design for you to go to the doctor to get an antihistamine from your doctor for your runny nose. While I have a comprehensive medical, dental and vision plan from my work, like you I would much rather have the close to $10,000 per year my company pays in insurance premiums placed into a medical savings account linked to a mutal fund. The $2000 (at most) of medical expenses my entire family uses would leave close to $8000. Then, I could get a major medical plan to insure against serious medical problems for around $2000 per year. This leaves $6000 in the fund growing at a decent 8-12% per year.
As for Kerry’s plan for universal healthcare, look at the 2 countries that his (actually Hillary Clinton’s with the dust knocked off) plan seeks to pattern itself after. First: Cuba. Yeah right. Sure every cold is easily treated and babies are birthed for free, but don’t hold any hope should you need a liver transplant. Doctors pat you on the back and tell you to die happy as they push you out the door. Next, Canada. I just read a newspaper article from Ottawa just 2 days ago where they were reporting that Canadian officials are now looking for a way to overhaul their failure of a healthcare system and they are now looking to the USA’s current system for inspiration. In Canada you will get the medical care you need, just hope that that tumor doesn’t progress too fast, because most surgery rooms have a 1 year waiting list. Rich Canadians fly down to the states for medical care. Those in the middle that can scrape together the funds are flocking to fly-by-night black market surgery centers scattered throughout the country. As for the Doctors in Canada, many are packing for the states simply because the government doesn’t pay them enough for them to afford their high malpractice insurance rates, expensive student loans from 10 years of med-school, and trying to provide a modest life for their family.
The article concluded mocking Kerry for wanting to implement a system like the Canadians when Canada is now looking to scrap that system for the US system. Then he praised Bush while not supporting him for at least not wanting to kill healthcare throughout the entire continent.
Anyway, I am sure that I have not said anything you don’t already know, but I’m bored and have a lot of time on my hands at the moment…
AmbianceForce
http://www.ambianceforce.com
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Good lord. When you start a weblog, you start a weblog!
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Thanks. It wasn’t as hard as you may think. With all the open source freeware content managment systems out now, all I did was install phpNuke and got the theme form Xtrato Designs, one of many theme makers on the net. Most came preinstalled and only needed to be given a little polishing for my personal taste. The hardest part was adding the Gallery module for posting pictures and video. It was a 4 hour project, mainly because I did it over a dialup line rather than wait until I was at home and use the DSL connection.
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Guess what I’m still researching on.
Actually, your dentist sounds like our “pediatrician.” OK, for one, general doctors should not be pediatricians. No, wait, let me change that. PAs that assist general doctors should not try to be pediatricians. Especially when they like to give bad advice and treat you like crap for your parenting choices. Not bitter, no. But, they do talk to us more than the doctor has. Nice guy, but apparently busy.. spending 5 minutes with each person.
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