In America????

[Twisterdog]

What a horrible situation.

One of my employees called every dentist in our entire county last week, because her daughter's tooth broke off, with the root exposed. Guess what ... not one dentist would see her - they either were not taking new patients at all, or not taking Medicare patients at all. She took her to the emergency room, where they waiting six hours, finally saw a doctor, who gave her some Tylenol, and said he would try to find an on-call dentist. Four hours later they left, still unseen. They ended up getting a $500 loan from me for gas and dentist bill, and driving to the next state to get the tooth pulled. Seriously. And the area I live in is by no means poverty stricken.

So I have no doubts whatsoever that this poor woman did indeed try to get her kids in to see dentists, and was denied time and again.

[wombat2u2004]

What a horrible situation.

One of my employees called every dentist in our entire county last week, because her daughter's tooth broke off, with the root exposed. Guess what ... not one dentist would see her - they either were not taking new patients at all, or not taking Medicare patients at all. She took her to the emergency room, where they waiting six hours, finally saw a doctor, who gave her some Tylenol, and said he would try to find an on-call dentist. Four hours later they left, still unseen. They ended up getting a $500 loan from me for gas and dentist bill, and driving to the next state to get the tooth pulled. Seriously. And the area I live in is by no means poverty stricken.

So I have no doubts whatsoever that this poor woman did indeed try to get her kids in to see dentists, and was denied time and again.

You have to be kidding !!!! Are these dentists supposed to be members of the human race or what ????
I tell you what...if that happened here in Australia, those dentists would be out of business so fast they wouldn't know what hit them.
There's a little thing here called professionalism.....and it's all too obvious after reading your post that it doesn't exist in your country.
How disgusting.
Wombat

[Pam]

Sadly, I am sure this goes on more often than we will ever know. Years ago I worked for a dentist. When I first started with him he was seeing Medicaid patients. Shortly after that he stopped seeing any new Medicaid but still saw his old Medicaid patients and anyone who was already a patient but now unfortunately found themselves on Medicaid. If my memory serves me right, a routine cleaning under Medicaid provided a reimbursement of something like $6 while a regular insurance provided a reimbursement of $30. Remember this was years ago so the numbers I am sure have drastically changed, but you can see the huge difference in compensation. It is a matter of greed for sure.

[wombat2u2004]

Sadly, I am sure this goes on more often than we will ever know. Years ago I worked for a dentist. When I first started with him he was seeing Medicaid patients. Shortly after that he stopped seeing any new Medicaid but still saw his old Medicaid patients and anyone who was already a patient but now unfortunately found themselves on Medicaid. If my memory serves me right, a routine cleaning under Medicaid provided a reimbursement of something like $6 while a regular insurance provided a reimbursement of $30. Remember this was years ago so the numbers I am sure have drastically changed, but you can see the huge difference in compensation. It is a matter of greed for sure.

And isn't it a crying shame that so called professionals can go that low.
Wombat

[trayi52]

What a shame, that the little boy had to from a toothache!

I don't have any kind of insurance, not even medical. Our governor took all our insurance away. So I have to really be careful about even going to the Doctor. I definitely can't go to the Dentist. They say we make too much money. My husband is on disability, how do you make too much on disability? He of course has medicare, I have nothing!

I can imagine how you can't find a doctor to treat you, when you don't have money to pay for it!

Willie

[Pawsitive Thinking]

There's a little thing here called professionalism.....and it's all too obvious after reading your post that it doesn't exist in your country.
How disgusting.
Wombat

Not one for making sweeping generalisations are you??? I doubt that America is the only country where this has happened, its virtually impossible to get on a dentist list over here unless you want to pay privately...

[wombat2u2004]

Not one for making sweeping generalisations are you??? I doubt that America is the only country where this has happened, its virtually impossible to get on a dentist list over here unless you want to pay privately...

Well I look at that generalisation in the context of the number of people in communities. The more people, the more out of touch these medicos become.
I can imagine in a place like New York, one could live right next door to someone, and never know who they are.
Here, especially where I come from, the communities seem to be a little more closely linked....in fact my daughter goes to school with my family doctor's daughter. So when I go to the doctor, it's almost like visiting a friend.
I can imagine how different that would be in the USA. In fact I know it's different, because I have a neice there who is specialist doctor....her attitude is one of money only, she even admits that she wants no links with her patients other than monetary....I just shake my head at that.
I just cannot understand for the life of me, how these people can live with themselves (they obviously do VERY comfortably), especially the situation at the beginning of this thread. I mean that is nothing short of horrific. Allowing a child to suffer for hours in pain.
Ok....I'll get off my soapbox...lol
Wombat

[JenBKR]

Here, especially where I come from, the communities seem to be a little more closely linked....in fact my daughter goes to school with my family doctor's daughter. So when I go to the doctor, it's almost like visiting a friend.
I can imagine how different that would be in the USA. In fact I know it's different, because I have a neice there who is specialist doctor....her attitude is one of money only, she even admits that she wants no links with her patients other than monetary....I just shake my head at that.

Wow! And where I live, children of doctors don't even go to school!

I wouldn't judge an entire country by one person, meaning your niece. Maybe it's the way she was raised...........

[IRescue452]

What about this http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=122267

I thought all you people didn't want to help the poor? I thought public healthcare would be an injustice to you? Why are you now wanting to take the kids away from parents who can't afford proper care? You aren't going to take care of all of them. Trust me. And not many people know you can die from a toothache. She probably gave him some aspirin to cover the pain as the other kid was worse off and she thought he needed care first. Either way if BOTH kids weren't treated, one of them was going to die.

Thankfully in my county we have a county dental clinic for those who need it. No turn-down unless you have insurance. I pay $10 a visit. But they are so busy that if you are late by 5 minutes they won't accept you for a year. I've got 3 more months before I can get a tooth pulled as I was sick and missed an appointment last year. They still accept walk-in emergencies in the mornings. You can sit all day and not get in, then come in the next day and do it again. The problem is that most people can't skip work, so they can't do that either. They only do extractions too, no root canals. I'd love for a root canal over losing the tooth.

[Argranade]

What are the chances of anyone getting a tooth ache this bad?

Going to there brain! I mean did the boy ever brush his teeth?

[sparks19]

What are the chances of anyone getting a tooth ache this bad?

Going to there brain! I mean did the boy ever brush his teeth?

Not only that but it seemed by the way the article was written that the mother hadn't tried to get that son care because she was preoccupied with her other son with "bigger" problems. Not that I am faulting her for that as I would probably be more concerned with getting my child with 6 rotted teeth dental care before getting one toothache looked at.... no one imagines a toothache would result in death. I don't think any one person is at fault for this.

Besides, getting a kid to the dentist is like pulling teeth anyway (no pun intended). I know my mom had to lie to me to get me to go LOL

[IRescue452]

The chances aren't all that slim. Its an infection in the tooth. Any infection in the tissue of your body can spred and kill you. The tooth just happens to be very close to your brain, which is why tooth infections should be treated as soon as possible. And brushing your teeth does not prevent infection. It can have little at all to do with it.

[CathyBogart]

The chances aren't all that slim. Its an infection in the tooth. Any infection in the tissue of your body can spred and kill you. The tooth just happens to be very close to your brain, which is why tooth infections should be treated as soon as possible. And brushing your teeth does not prevent infection. It can have little at all to do with it.

ITA. Infections, by nature, spread if they aren't treated, It is not uncommon AT ALL for infections in the teeth/mouth to spread to other areas of the body.

[wombat2u2004]

What about this http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=122267

I thought all you people didn't want to help the poor? I thought public healthcare would be an injustice to you? Why are you now wanting to take the kids away from parents who can't afford proper care? You aren't going to take care of all of them. Trust me. And not many people know you can die from a toothache. She probably gave him some aspirin to cover the pain as the other kid was worse off and she thought he needed care first. Either way if BOTH kids weren't treated, one of them was going to die.

Thankfully in my county we have a county dental clinic for those who need it. No turn-down unless you have insurance. I pay $10 a visit. But they are so busy that if you are late by 5 minutes they won't accept you for a year. I've got 3 more months before I can get a tooth pulled as I was sick and missed an appointment last year. They still accept walk-in emergencies in the mornings. You can sit all day and not get in, then come in the next day and do it again. The problem is that most people can't skip work, so they can't do that either. They only do extractions too, no root canals. I'd love for a root canal over losing the tooth.

No....I'm with you on that one....I think public health AND dental care should be the norm.
Wombat

[Twisterdog]

Wombat2u2004 ... Our medical/dental system is indeed in need of reform. I don't think there is a single person in the US that would disagree with that statement. However, to make a blanket statement like, "There's a little thing here called professionalism.....and it's all too obvious after reading your post that it doesn't exist in your country. How disgusting." is perhaps a bit extreme. There are many, many highly professional, kind medical care specialists in this country. And, of course, many that are not so wonderful. I would venture to say that is the case in any profession in any country in the world. I doubt it is exclusively an American problem, although we do seem to be coming to a crisis point right now.


And this statement as well ..." I look at that generalisation in the context of the number of people in communities. The more people, the more out of touch these medicos become. I can imagine in a place like New York, one could live right next door to someone, and never know who they are.
Here, especially where I come from, the communities seem to be a little more closely linked....I can imagine how different that would be in the USA. In fact I know it's different..." How do you know? By one person's description? I'm actually from Wyoming, which is the least populated of all the states. The incident I told of occurred in a fairly small town. It's not that no one cares, per se, it's that we simply don't have enough doctors or dentists practicing here. I have a customer who is a dentist. He works sixteen hour days, six days per week, and takes no new patients whatsoever. When would he possibly see them? He is the nicest man you would ever want to meet, but there is only one of him.