Impressions
employee , he must not understand what a small business owner must pay in overhead expenses . He must think that $ 1,200 goes right into the pocket of the dentist . Huyler does not see the costs of rent , employee salaries and benefits , materials and equipment , not to mention the cost of the education to become a clinician . Working in a hospital , Huyler should know that just because the fee for the root canal was $ 1,200 , by no means was the dentist reimbursed that amount by insurance .
Maybe Huyler ’ s hospital could establish a dental clinic adjacent to the ER to see these dental patients . The hospital could fund a clinic , purchase equipment and hire staff and a dentist to perform these sorely needed procedures and remove the burden from his emergency room schedule . If they paid a dentist the same salary as Dr . Huyler ( along with a handsome benefits package — including medical and dental insurance — generally not provided to self-employed dentists ), there would surely be a list of applicants for the job .
At the Kornberg School of Dentistry at Temple University , nearly 50 patients line up each day for emergency dental care . Between 10 and 15 patients will receive an exam , X-ray and initial root canal therapy , a pulpectomy . After the pain has gone away , less than 10 percent will return to have root canal treatment completed . Why ? For one reason , emergency treatment costs $ 92 and to complete the root canal treatment and have a crown will cost $ 700 . For another reason , many patients don ’ t really want to fix their teeth , they just want to get out of pain . So are extractions for the poor an “ ethical disgrace ?”
Patients are told about the importance of keeping their teeth . Not to blame the poor for their problems ; there are a host of reasons that people can ' t or won ' t follow through on dental treatment , just as there are many reasons that disadvantaged people often don ’ t follow up on medical care . Many individuals with good incomes and good insurance live in the same world of denial and don ’ t fix their teeth until they hurt , and then when the problem is too advanced , the only option is to extract . This is a universal problem unrelated to income levels .
I would disagree with Dr . Huyler ’ s statement that the dental profession is an “ ethical disgrace .” Did he not have enough time or room to write about other ethical disgraces ? A Google search of free dental services will show many programs available across the country throughout the year . Thousands of dentists and dental auxiliary give their time to help the poor . I am proud of my profession and what it does for the less fortunate . It ’ s not dentistry ’ s fault ; it ’ s everyone ’ s and no one ’ s . It ’ s life and life is not always fair !
— BRT
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July / August 2011 • Pennsylvania Dental Journal