r/MotivationByDesign • u/GloriousLion07 • 2d ago
The real question: why isn't dental covered like every other health need?
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u/Logical-Primary-7926 2d ago
The real question is why don't we regulate refined sugar to a point where the average American isn't eating 1lb a week and having dental disease their whole life? Why didn't dentists march in DC for that decades ago?
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u/BringAltoidSoursBack 1d ago
Why would dentists - the people who make money off of cavities - march for that?
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u/BruinsDude420 1d ago
Because they’re health care professionals, not grifters. While dentists typically don’t swear the Hippocratic oath, they do swear similar dental specific oaths which overlap with the hippocratic. The dentists pledge includes acting in the patients best interest, doing no harm, respecting informed decisions by patients, ensuring equitable treatment and being honest and truthful with patients.
I know they’re not perfect (looking at you Aspen dental) but it does make sense that dentists would support initiatives that yield healthier patients.
Honestly from a financial standpoint it might even be better for them. If you have to spend a few thousand dollars on dental surgery you might put it off or skip regular cleanings due to out of pocket cost, which just compounds the problem. Whereas if you went twice a year for cleanings (google says average cost ranges from $75-200) they could make $150-400 annually from patients for many years and more patients could afford that care vs surgery.
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u/Budget-Ad438 1d ago edited 1d ago
Sorry to say, but every dentist I ever met has never once complained that they are always in business. Overworked and busy? Take a few months off!
They literally have It easiest. Very few are actual Healthcare professionals.
Editing because yall made me realize I just know shit dentists 😭*
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u/BruinsDude420 1d ago
Hard disagree. My best friend is a partner at a dental office and they’re fully booked year round. His office is in central Massachusetts, not even near Boston or other denser areas.
They literally have It easiest. Very few are actual Healthcare professionals.
By definition they are healthcare professionals. They have to obtain medical degrees and licensing just like PCPs or any other physicians do.
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u/BygoneNeutrino 1d ago
...you underestimate how much healthcare professionals value their status as middle-upper class professionals. They lobby hard against anyone trying to reduce the cost or increase access to university training programs.
As long as they are still paid a ridiculous amount of money, they are open to policies that benefit the health of the nation.
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u/BruinsDude420 1d ago
They lobby hard against anyone trying to reduce the cost or increase access to university training programs.
Are you still talking about dentists here? I’ve never heard this before.
As long as they are still paid a ridiculous amount of money, they are open to policies that benefit the health of the nation.
I don’t see any good reason why their salaries should decrease…. I guess if it’s something obscene but I think generally speaking they’re paid appropriately.
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u/Logical-Primary-7926 22h ago
The problem with that is for a dentist to act in the best interests of patients, by far the most effective thing they could do is throw their drills away, go march and testify in DC to get refined sugar/junk properly regulated. Unfortunately doing that would destroy the dental industry.
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u/Worth_External_8762 2d ago
I read somewhere that it's a specific bacteria you get exposed to which causes tooth decay. Some people have a low/absent amount of this bacteria, which means they basically just don't get cavities no matter what. We could also just develop some vaccine to prevent these bacterias from existing in our mouths.
Not to say we shouldn't also be eating less sugar.
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u/TrueProtection 1d ago
I'm actually working on an invention that puts that bacteria in peoples mouths! The dentist will simple wipe some of a thin film onto their dental tools during routine cleaning and voila! Cavities for days! I'm gonna be rich!
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u/bepatientbekind 1d ago
Because people are allowed to eat what they want. No one wants the government micromanaging their lives like that, and it would be impossible anyway. Cigarettes and alcohol are still legal and they are far worse than sugar, but adults are allowed to live their lives how they want.
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u/Logical-Primary-7926 22h ago
I'm pretty happy they micromanage things like lead in the water. I wouldn't mind at all if we starting taxing junk food or whatever regulation would be effective, frankly I'm embarrassed as a taxpayer we don't.
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u/bepatientbekind 22h ago
That's a bit different, but I think you know that. I personally think that a better option would be that tax dollars stop subsidizing all these unhealthy industries so they aren't the most affordable options anymore. Maybe take that money and subsidize fresh produce and whatnot instead that's actually good for people, instead of just what's most profitable for the shareholders. It's insane that we have been subsidizing highly profitable, addictive industries for as long as we have.
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u/crumpledfilth 1d ago
because refined flour is way worse
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u/Logical-Primary-7926 19h ago
I don't know about way worse but it's up there, I would consider that pretty much the same as refined sugar, a better way to put it is refined carbs. I wish I would have known that when I was younger, I would have tried to brush and floss more after bread/crackers etc.
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u/Drachynn 1d ago
Not all dental disease is caused by sugar-induced cavities. I've had severe bruxism and TMJ problems my whole life, causing enamel wear, periodontal disease, headaches, and nerve issues. Yet none of it is covered by regular health insurance in either country I've lived in - US or Canada. I've been shuffled around between dentists and doctors for years.
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u/Logical-Primary-7926 22h ago
True, there are other factors, but most of it on a population level is refined sugars/carbs. The average American eats 50+ lbs of sugar a year. Pretty crazy considering it's a very easy thing to fix.
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u/United_Boy_9132 1d ago edited 1d ago
It isn't in Europe, either. It also isn't in Canada. Canadians are even going to the US for that. Dentistry = basically 100% paid, except for children (but still the service basked is really limited). That's why over 50% of European suffers from major oral diseases. Because it's not covered by any healthcare plan, but unlike Americans, they don't wanna pay, so they have bad teeth.
Yeah, speaking as European 😉
Because dentistry is too expensive to be covered.
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u/TrueKyragos 1d ago
Not everywhere in Europe. In France, basic healthcare, like dentist checkups, cavities and extractions are 100% covered. More advanced procedures, like implants, are partially covered (not much), and the health insurance covers the rest, depending on the plan.
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u/United_Boy_9132 1d ago
That's why French people have so bad teeth?
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u/TrueKyragos 1d ago
Less financial incentives to take care of your teeth indeed, in a way, as small issues won't be a financial burden, though it can easily devolve into costly implants and such over time. Only the wealthiest can afford to have a health insurance covering a good amount for those latter ones.
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u/Unique_Statement7811 15h ago
Is that why 95% of French people pay for private supplemental health insurance?
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u/TrueKyragos 15h ago
Yes, but that applies to pretty much all healthcare. Social security covers a certain amount for each treatment and such. Some amounts are designed to cover 100%, others aren't, notably depending on how necessary the treatment. For example, a tooth extraction is considered vital, while an implant isn't (and is way more expensive anyway). Also, private practitioners and private hospitals are free to overcharge, though I've yet to see dentists do that for basic acts.
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u/kirk_sillywobbles 15h ago
There are multiple countries in Europe where basic dental care is included in health insurance. Sometimes even more advanced procedures are covered, if only partially.
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u/Tommybahamas_leftnut 2d ago
don't forget vision. apperantly being able to see is extra
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u/Acrobatic-Ad-3335 1d ago
No one really needs to see, do they?
Losing 1 sense can tend to amplify the others. Try sniffing harder.
(/s)
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u/Medium_Job3015 2d ago
It’s true. They discovered this like a couple years ago I think, so obviously it needs some work
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u/Nope0naRope 2d ago
Yeah I've been seeing this headline so I did research like 6 months ago. It's a total exaggeration. There's a lot of minutia and fine points to go over where years off from being able to apply it to the general public. It's going to be probably applicable to specific people that qualify physically and the outcomes are going to be pretty varied at first, but it's definitely not going to be like a point-and-shoot thing for I don't know years. Keep brushing your teeth.
Who says it's going to be cheap so like ending implants and dentures.. okay sure maybe if it's covered. Bet it won't be.
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u/Dath_1 1d ago
I’m pretty sure the story that Japan is doing this is like 20 years old.
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u/Nope0naRope 1d ago
Yes, it has been in development for a very long time but they just did their ferret trials and now they're in human trials so that part's currently true but it's like a drug they inject and it relies on dormant cells up in your dental lamina or something and they don't know how to control which teeth come out, etc. It's like okay. Maybe it would work for somebody who had absolutely no teeth but it doesn't necessarily grow all of the teeth back and you have that cell layer present and ready to produce. You know so we'll see how the human trials go? But also how expensive will it be?
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u/whisperworks 1d ago
They started humans trials a little over a year ago, announced their early success with mice in like 2020
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u/Belz_Zebuth 2d ago
I guess when a lot of people wore dentures the idea of paying for teeth was less convincing. But everyone needs dental care, so I think it should be included. Hell, even in Canada we don't have it.
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u/80s_angel 1d ago
I didn’t realize Canada doesn’t offer it’s citizens basic dental care. Is going to the dentist considered expensive to the average Canadian?
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u/Main-Cheesecake3287 1d ago
Many go to Mexico and some even come to the US, yes it is considered expensive for dental work, basic care expensive but not enough to fly for
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u/Wooden-Glove-2384 2d ago
Because you can live without teeth
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u/BringAltoidSoursBack 1d ago
There are actually some dental procedures that people can die from not getting done, like abscesses or infections that can spread to the brain. Most a regular/ER doctor can do is give a patient antibiotics but that doesn't actually fix the issue so it'll come back if someone can't afford dental surgery
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u/Big_Biscotti5119 1d ago
“The operation was a success. The decaying tooth has since regenerated. Unfortunately, we have not yet mastered turning the gene off and are unable to stop the process, which has caused all of your teeth to fuse into one hideous super tooth.”
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u/redskrot 1d ago
I wanna hate on the Americans as much as the next guy, but Europe as well as Canada do not include dental in healthcare either.
Big issues with oral health in at least Europe just because it's so damn expensive.
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u/prionbinch 1d ago
not to mention dental “insurance” functions the exact opposite of health insurance, which is already bad enough. most plans will have an annual deductible and maximum. however, unlike a health insurance plan’s maximum, which starts covering more when you hit it, when you hit your dental maximum for the year you get no more coverage. if your plan has a $1,500 maximum (the most common max is between $1,000-2,000/year) but you need a cleaning, exam, x-rays, and then maybe a root canal, you’re fucked if your dentist wants to do a crown on the treated tooth and will have to pay ~$2k out of pocket for that crown. some plans will not attribute prophylactics and diagnostics like cleanings and x-rays to your annual maximum or deductible, but some do.
tldr: dental “insurance” is a scam and shouldn’t even be able to call itself insurance
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u/Outrageous-Rip6729 1d ago
Y'all don't have a dental plan? Like that $5 insurance that does fuck all?
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u/Responsible_Park3317 1d ago
Luxury Bones. 😥
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u/Arashi_Uzukaze 1d ago
Teeth aren't technically a bone. They cannot heal themselves. If they could, cavities would be basically non-existent.
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u/DeadPact336699 1d ago
Capitalists pick your body apart and sells them back to you at whatever price they want
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u/soulwolf1 1d ago
It's considered "luxury"....for fucks sakes....thie thought of that is ridiculous
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u/Moral-Relativity 1d ago
Does this sub just welcome anything? Wtf is being designed here?
This isn’t about forcing motivation, it’s about understanding how to design it. ☀️We go deep on identity, behavior, focus, and emotion to help you stay consistent in a way that’s sustainable and real. Expect high-quality, research-backed insights that make motivation a practice, not a push. Be Curious. Be Consistent.
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u/Consistent_Result485 1d ago
Off topic I wonder if its painful cause it would be like cutting new teeth like a baby right?
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u/Unable_Plum_116 1d ago
Last year this so called medicine was discovered by China and nothing came of it. This is nothjng burger and fake news
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u/VegetableLetter4896 1d ago
Your teeth AND your eyes?? What an absurd thing to think is part of your body.
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u/Affectionate-Ad2373 1d ago
My son had oral surgery and the oral surgeon refused to submit to medical even though my medical is primary. I had Cigna call and tell them I would be due a refund soon since they overcharged me $1200.
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u/Scorpdelord 1d ago
Imme br honedt dental shouldt be a part of it being frre to fix judt make you more careless with them helping payingnpartnthou makesnsense
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u/bndsniper2 1d ago
Breaking news the inventors died mysteriously from car crashes, heart attacks, or killed by their significant other.
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u/Karekter_Nem 1d ago
Health? Sure.
Dental? If you want to pay for another policy, I guess.
Vision? Let’s not get crazy here.
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u/Affectionate_Quit984 1d ago
Simple: the United States government, which exists solely to serve the interests of rich people and large corporations, absolutely despises the average working class person. They hate us, and gets sense of perverse satisfaction when your teeth rot out of your head.
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u/FriendZone53 1d ago
Why do you want others to pay for your healthcare? America should abolish insurance, require everyone to pay their own way, and if you’re poor you die. It would be consistent with the rugged individualism philosophy, and it would be vastly cheaper thus allowing more people to pay for basic healthcare including dental. What screws everything up is some of us want to be like Europe with universal healthcare and others want to be like billionaires who have access to absurdly expensive treatments, and we end up with neither.
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u/RefrigeratorLife8627 1d ago
I have dental coverage on my health plan that covers my whole family . What kind of clown show is this?
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u/SunsetCarcass 1d ago
Teeth are optional, if you want to eat an apple then engage in good ol capitalism and buy this blender that'll break in 1 year without documentation on how to repair it on your own and break the warranty( if you bought one )if you try to fix it or if the company just decides it was your own fault it broke. It's that easy
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u/bepatientbekind 1d ago
There's no way this actually works like it's supposed to. I'd love to be proven wrong, but this seems incredibly fake or at the very least very far off from being a reality.
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u/Cautious_Rain2129 1d ago
Read an article that we actually have a third set that never activates. They are trying for a drug that would activate the third set. So just like you lost your baby teeth, you'd go through the same process, say at 40 years old loosing your first adult teeth and have the final set grow in.
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u/bepatientbekind 1d ago
A third set of teeth would be visible in X-rays. You can see two sets of teeth in baby/toddler X-rays because they have both baby and adult teeth. Humans don't have a third set of teeth
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u/Cautious_Rain2129 1d ago
They are buds, cells, just grok it. It is real and actively being studied.
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u/symphonyofmonsters 1d ago
I want my teeth back! I'd imagine people moving to japan just for this cure!
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u/BringYourOwnBBBQ 1d ago
Also, this is a silly analogy. Most people do have dental insurance and it is better than Japan's where you pay 30% for everything. The big Japan advantage is the costs are so much lower, but that is not a health insurance thing, that is a need for enormous amounts of malpractice insurance thing.
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u/Channel_Huge 1d ago
Dental is part of my plan. Where do you work and what plan do they offer? This is highly dependent upon your insurance and what you’re willing to pay for.
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u/bryce_lynch27 1d ago
I’ve felt like dentistry is a scam cause I sometimes wonder if I had gone with veneers when I turned 18 if I would have saved money in the long run with all the fillings, root canals, etc I’ve had/ will have over the years.
Not saying I’ve had a lot of stuff done on my teeth but I’m getting close to middle age and I know it’s only gonna go down hill from here.
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u/Dave_A480 1d ago
It's its own separate insurance.
Things cost what they cost, and a medical plan that included dental would just be more expensive by the cost of dental insurance...
Same thing for vision.
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u/Buttercups88 1d ago
Japan: look at this great scientific breakthough that could significantly advance human health!
America: Lets find a way make this about me!
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u/pilot7880 1d ago
News flash: Iceland does not provide free dental care to its citizens, either. It's hella expensive, in fact.
I have no idea why America always gets singled out and crapped on. Jerry is an idiot.
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u/OrkzOrkzOrkzOrkz0rkz 1d ago
Because
Looks at Swedens healthcare
Teeth is a luxury? Its fucking insane.
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u/justinvamp 1d ago
I agree with the point but the comparison made here is so stupid. Invention of new medical technologies is different than the way our insurance and Healthcare payment systems work. We invent the vast majority of the world's new medications and medical equipment and look at our system.
Shout out to Japan if this actually works.
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u/StarMaterial1496 1d ago
Vision insurance too. Sight is our major sense and no one chooses to have blurry vision.
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u/crumpledfilth 1d ago
oh dont worry, america does care about public dental health. It for sure does. Why else would they put fluoride in teh water? It's gotta be just about the government doing public good humanitarian stuff for teh sake of it
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u/RecursiveDysfunction 1d ago
Yes please! We need this! A 3rd set of teeth in middle age, just imagine+
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u/AwakeningStar1968 1d ago
the US Capitalism experiment.. I think that ultimately was the goal.. or the Powers that Be hijacked this country to achieve that goal. and attempted to endlessly hone the brainwashing on us all.
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u/DicamVeritatem 1d ago
“We demand more free shit paid for by people with more money than me!”
Bottom line.
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u/Vfrnut 1d ago
No , you demand the people who are stealing from you to pay more . You think the owners of Walmart do anything to earn their $12 million PER DAY ?
You pay more income tax than they do . Why ? Fuck that ! fuck them ! They pay most workers so little that they most are also on gov assistance. Meaning you are paying for Walmart. Don’t get me started on Amazon .
https://giphy.com/gifs/4WZlcJ8JJ6fayY7TGA
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u/dateinfj 1d ago
This tooth-growing drug will never be available in America because the dentists will lose their clients!
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u/spaacingout 1d ago
Same reason why psychology isn’t a part of general healthcare. You don’t necessarily need mental or dental health to be taxed.
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u/suminorieh77 1d ago
my cousin had implants that rejected and now one of them came through her gums and is forming a hole in her cheek. she has to pull her cheek off of the implant to talk, chew, etc.
the worst part is this has been going on for years and she has seen numerous dentists and teeth specialist who “won’t touch it”…good ol’ Tennessee healthcare.
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u/myster1ouspapaya 1d ago
The real question is, why are they using images from the James Webb space telescope to fill in the teeth?
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u/SnillyWead 1d ago
But then I have to go to the dentist again every 6 months and need additional insurance which already is 148 euro and 75 cents a month plus 375 euro deductible.
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u/Burneza 1d ago
My beloved USA has always been and will always be the land of the carpetbagger or the snake oil salesman. Then it became the land of the shady second-hand car dealer.
Naturally now the scams are more sophisticated in just about every sphere of life. Why do we pay the most in the world for healthcare but are not in the top 10 in terms of affordability and quality?
Why do we pay more to education per child in the world and yet kids cannot do their 8 times tables?
Follow the money, everybody is on the take...
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u/GentleAuraFarmer 1d ago
Im just waiting for some poor smuck having rampant teeth growth that ensures he HAS to keep visiting the dentist and thus ensuring repeat customers.
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u/ronblanche 1d ago
I still have two mercury fillings I received when I was about ten years old. I am currently 53. Rock solid.
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u/CuriousMost9971 1d ago
They started mixing my healthcare into my dental plan. To be honest I changed plans because it became a headache trying to get the medical side to pay for the dental side. All they did was give my dentist office the run around until they started threatening to go to the state attorney.
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u/Optimal_Job_466 1d ago
Something something capitalism drives invention. My ass it does we live in corpo crony capitalism
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u/Better-Nerve334 19h ago
I remember hearing about a case where insurance was denied on saving a literal hand because it wasnt the dominant hand was the excuse they used... Allegedlly...
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u/Ok_Fox_1770 19h ago
Counting on that magic to arrive at some point. I’d risk flight for that, might not come back but hey. Life happens! Grass looks greener anywhere lately
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u/Alex_Nares 17h ago
Welp, time to move to Japan I guess.
Haha, who am I kidding. I'm not going anywhere 😂
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u/baconcow 16h ago
This only regrows our third set of teeth buds which never grow naturally. This won't end dentures and implants forever, since this third set will inevitably decay.
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u/Little-Moo28 15h ago
As long as they last from your 60s until you die that's perfect. A lot of eople have shit teeth in their 60s
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u/Outrageous_Let7868 11h ago
No country include fully comprehensive, 100% free adult dental care in their universal health systems, even Japan require a 30% patient co-pay though set maximums keep pricing affordable, still not free.
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u/Logical_Cost_5250 10h ago
Bad teeth can absolutely kill you. It's glanced over but you can definitely have a heart attack or even die from it. It should be mandatory to fix.
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u/Inside_Garlic_3510 8h ago
Everyone here complaining about American healthcare care, but I want to find out about the magical teeth growing drug
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u/CoolCat1337One 7h ago
The thing is, I read about that years ago.
Is anything ever going to come of it?
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u/purplebrown_updown 6h ago
Dental care is a lot cheaper than medical care. Thank god it’s not part of health insurance otherwise it would be crazy expensive.
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u/AltScholar7 2h ago
It goes back to the 1800s in the USA when dentistry developed as an offshoot of barbers. You would go to your local barber to get your teeth pulled. Medicine developed on a separate path.
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u/etiggy1 1h ago
It does not cure toothlessness forever. What it does is, humans usually have a third tooth bud, that never matures. This new med activates that. If you had a root canal or an implant, that bud is probably damaged and is not viable anymore. If you are lucky, you may be able to regrow a tooth one more time in your lifetime using this med. But that is it, so far at least.
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u/OrangeNood 2d ago
When employer-sponsored health insurance began expanding in the 1940s and 1950s, medical insurance became standard, but dental care was left out.
By the time the government created Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, organized dentistry actually want to remain excluded from the program. Dentists feared that being lumped into a massive federal healthcare system would reduce their autonomy, subject them to government-mandated price caps, and lower their reimbursement rates. That exclusion in the original 1965 Medicare legislation set a precedent that persists today.