Showing posts with label Dental Sealants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dental Sealants. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Real dentists sharing real thoughts about sealants, dental mills, waste and fraud

   
Dentist 1:

It’s all designed to fool the taxpayer.  Politian's get into trouble for overspending.  They cut services, in this case Medicaid reimbursement fees for dental treatment. To keep the special interest happy, they agree to cover another procedure, everyone’s happy.

I work in an office (corporate mill) that takes Medicaid- MassHealth-in my state. which covers sealants on primary molars.  In my opinion, I think sealants on second primary molars (first primary, very rare) are beneficial in only a small percentage of cases; high risk, deep grooves, ability to obtain good isolation, etc.

Here's what I find troublesome and wasteful from a taxpayers point of view.
- We routinely seal all primary molars up to the age of 8, even on low risk patients with shallow grooves
-  90% of the time dental assistants place them alone with poor isolation.
I only do sealants when I have good isolation.  95% of the time I use my Isolite.  
With my criteria, I rarely seal primary molars. 
The dentists who do treatment plan sealants on a 3 year old, that will not even remain still for an exam or cleaning are wasting tax dollars in my opinion.  I do see pressure for assistants to do them from the corporate headquarters.  Corporate heads want a “sealant” report daily.  That irks the hell out of me.  It irks me even more when the dentist is not busy at all and still let's the assistant do them alone!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Sealant Recommended By DentaQuest, formerly Doral

Many know, but some do not, that states usually contract with a company who then subcontract with dental providers to get the care to the medicaid patients.  Doral is described as a dental benefit administrator. 

At its LinkedIn webpage it is said: "Doral, is a subsidiary of DSM and DentaQuest, a dental benefit administrator operating in the government sector serving nearly 50 clients, 12 million members in 24 states and the District of Columbia, and approximately 17,000 participating dentists. The mission of DSM is to improve oral health."  (put another way, Doral or DentaQuest is a government contractor)




However in searching Doral, you are directed to dentaquestgov.com,  (the gov part a bit misleading) where it says Doral and ADI have merged to become DentaQuest.

Here, guys, check it out:  DentaQuest recommends sealants.  


Hey FORBA/Small Smiles, Kool Smiles, Ocean, Smile Starters, Adventure....  think you might need to check this out!!!!!!   Root canals are NOT the first choice in treatment for God's sake!!  But it is the one that pays you the most!



Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Maybe You Should Request Sealants Instead of Root Canal and Cap

Imagine the decline in tooth decay if Kool Smiles, Small Smiles and all the other dental mills used sealants on children's teeth.  Instead of the get 'em, drill 'em and cap 'em method.  Just 23% of American 8 year old's have sealants, according to United Healthcare Dental


Learn About Dental (tooth) Sealants here.