Officials warn THOUSANDS have been affected by new scam at the dentist

Officials warn THOUSANDS have been affected by new scam at the dentist READ MORE: My dental implants left me so bruised I looked like a monster By Cassidy Morrison Senior Health Reporter For Dailymail.Com Published: 19:56, 31 October 2024 | Updated: 20:04, 31 October 2024 e-mail View comments Thousands of people have been duped out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by dentists recommending unnecessary dental surgery. Patients seeking advice from their dentists for crooked, chipped or stained teeth may hear from disingenuous practitioners they need extensive replacement implants.

This could cost them up to $65,000 for teeth that could have possibly been saved with more routine - and affordable - procedures such as root canals or fillings. Oral surgeons have described the trend of recommending unnecessary dental work as a ‘horror show’ and report seeing five or more clients every month looking for second opinions. The providers who tell patients they need to extract and replace their teeth have a considerable financial incentive, however.

Insurance typically does not cover implants, and dentists could earn tens of thousands of dollars per patient. And with a shortage of qualified oral surgeons at thousands of clinics across the US, a large share of doctors performing unnecessary procedures are not adequately trained to do them correctly. Implant surgery entails removing teeth and replacing them with a metal post anchored in the jaw.

The post is then topped with a prosthet.