🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan27.001251.14258@cs.sfu.ca> jamie@cs.sfu.ca (Jamie Andrews) writes:

	Look, the point is this.  I don't know about you, but when
   I and my friends were trying to decide what to do when we were
   finishing high school, the word was always "go into dentistry...
   it's boring but you get pots of money."

I dunno when you went to high school, but it's certainly not the case
that recent (last 5-10 years) graduates of dental schools are making
"pots of money". Most of the ones I know are barely making ends meet. 

	For all I know, the entire dental profession may be made up
   of people who, when balancing treatment options, are more likely
   to put weight onto "bucks for me" as a factor... if only
   subconsciously.  How can I expect an organization of, by, and
   for dentists to judge fairly on issues of "benefit for dentists"
   vs. "benefit for patients"?

Substitute any profession in the above statement for dentistry. How do
you know you aren't being ripped off by your mechanic, plumber,
computer programmer, etc. The difference is that dentists take an oath.
While some of them might be ripping people off, quite a large number
of them take that oath pretty seriously. Very few other professions
require this.

       Well, what about a consumer council which is made up of
   or advised by dentists who are independent of the dental
   association? 

Societal pressures cause there to be very few of these. Most people
expect their dentist to be a member of the ADA (or their specialty
organisation). It makes a dramatic difference in their training, as a
large number of continuing ed. courses are tought through the dental
organisations, and the price differential is pretty substantial
between members and non-members. ADA membership dues are $800/year,
and it's still a savings for most people. Since dentists are required
to take cont. ed. courses or they lose their license (another thing
you won't find at your mechanics, etc.) they end up spending a bunch
on those courses. 

If you feel you might be getting ripped off you've got the same
options with a dentist that you do with a mechanic: get a second
opinion (or a third, etc.). Free market economics works wonders this
way. 

...arun
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Arun Welch
Lisp Systems Programmer, Lab for AI Research, Ohio State University
welch@cis.ohio-state.edu