About a year ago, a very stylish young woman comes in to my office because she can see a black mark on her front tooth when she smiles. It is very obvious that she cares about her appearance. She is wearing Seven of Mankind jeans ($145), Coach shoes ($200) and carries a Kate Spade purse ($400). When I verify that the black mark on her tooth is a cavity, and let her know it will cost approximately $200 to fix it, she tells me how ridiculous the cost of dentistry is and storms out of the office.
A few weeks ago, the same young woman comes back to my office because now the tooth hurts and there is a big hole in it. She is in tears because she is scared and has not slept for days due to pain and the thought of losing the tooth. I re-examine the tooth (which she wants for free) and I explain to her that because she has waited so long, the tooth now needs a root canal and a crown to save it and will cost roughly $2,500 to fix it. Her tears flood the office as she is telling me her life story, how she has no money and now I am starting to tear up as well (I am a huge sucker for these stories!). My assistant then walks in the room, unaware of the drama taking place and comments on our patient’s brand new Coach bag ($398). As if by magic, the tears stop, our patient has a huge smile on her face and tells my assistant how she has always wanted this bag and has saved for it for the last few months. I left the room for a few moments.
You may read this story and think I am being a bit dramatic. I guarantee if you ask your dentist about this sort of thing, he or she will smile and tell you it happens all of the time. There has been an interesting disconnect in the last few years of dentistry. We have become more of a service industry than a health care industry – which is hard to watch from the doctor’s side of the chair (yes, despite the movies we are actual doctors!). Part of this, I believe, is due to the fact that many employers are cutting out dental insurance from their benefit packages. Employees see this as an additive, which in turn, creates a lack of importance. The other part is the lack of education on why it is crucial to keep your smile healthy. Yes, medical care in our country is expensive. It is expensive because we have the best care and technology in the world (I have been fortunate enough to travel around the world and unfortunate enough to test this statement out). It is expensive because we are also business owners with employees and huge overhead costs from our advanced equipment.
So what is my point? If you stay on top of your preventive care, and take care of a filling before it needs a root canal, it will cost you less money, less time and you can still have money left over for designer jeans, or shoes or whatever your shopping addiction may be.
Kristine Aadland is the owner of Aadland Dental. She can be reached at 360.573.6047.
