#81 The Public needs to know that Dental Insurance is a Scam

Practicing dentistry is a very difficult profession.  The public’s perception of the profession of dentistry is quite different from the reality of a practicing dentist.  I have observed, communicated with, and drawn my conclusions about my fellow professionals for 48 years since completing my own training as an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon in 1976.   Upon leaving school dentists and dental specialists are well trained technicians encouraged to continue their technical training in more advanced and improved treatment methods, materials, and techniques.  Until very recently, most dentists finished school with the intent of becoming the owner of their own dental practice (business). Not anymore.  The emotional, physical, and financial toll experienced by the majority of practicing dentists has finally become apparent and prominent to the detriment of the dental profession.

There is not just one reason that explains why dentistry is a very difficult profession.  However, the most prominent is no matter how superior the technical training, the dentist was never prepared to run a business.  Running a business with employees, and suppliers of goods and services, supported by bankers, attorneys, accountants, and consultants can get very complicated.  By the time a dentist reaches their goal of owning their own business, they are also confronted with the full responsibility for treating another human being, often in the most emotionally charged circumstances.  Simply stated, the dentist performs services that very few people really want, and frequently creates pain and emotional discomfort at significant financial cost. The reality rapidly sinks in that treating patients is more than enough challenge to keep one occupied and sane simultaneously.

These are some of the reasons why dentists are more frequently joining large dental organizations that supply all the support needed to run a business allowing the dentist to concentrate on the technical features of supplying  services to patients.  It is expected that within the next 10 years 80% of all dentists will be employees of large networks of dental offices and only 20% of dentists will own their own business.

This same phenomenon occurred within the medical profession about 20 years ago.  How has that worked out?  How long does it take to get an appointment with your primary care physician or a medical/surgical specialist?  How many layers of bureaucracy do you need to sort through before you can receive medical treatment?  Is medical care more or less expensive?

High on the list of the reasons that 80% of dentists will soon be employees of large dental organizations is because dentists have become tired of the constant, never ending battles with “dental insurance” companies.    “Dental insurance” is placed in italics to indicate the phrase is not used in the literal sense.  Like medicine, payment for dental services has been overwhelming taken over by a few large companies who offer to pay for dental services in exchange for monthly premiums paid by the individual or the individual’s employer as a benefit of employment.

Dental insurance is dissimilar from other types of insurance like automobile, home, or health.   It is called“Dental insurance” but is actually a dental plan which enlists dental providers with the promise of an increased flow of patients only to delay, deny, and limit reimbursement to the dentist once treatment has been rendered.  The patients or employers never ever receive more value for premiums paid like other types of insurance, but only less because dentists are severely limited on the types and manner of care and consistently squeezed to accept less from the “insurance companies”, frequently inadequate to pay practice expenses and payroll.  “Dental Insurance” is a scam perpetrated by companies that want you to think it works the same as automobile, home, or health insurance.  In actuality, “dental insurance companies” have figured out how to offer limited services with about one third of the premiums held by the “insurance company” in order to make a profit for the “dental insurance company” at the expense of the dentists and the dental patients.  “There is no free lunch, even though “dental insurance companies” want you to believe there is.  In reality its a business practice filled with smoke and mirrors. Only the “dental insurer” wins.

You can see why dentists are bailing out of owning their own practices in leu of letting someone else worry about payroll, rent, human resources, and dealing with the problems of running a business.  One of the primary reasons for dentists losing control of their own practice is “Dental Insurance”