i can honestly say that i’ve gained much insight here from pwmdmd, thank you! i wish that i could be one of your patients.
my younger brother is a solo practitioner eye surgeon. after 25,000+ cataract surgeries in 40 years he is fed up and all done. many of his issues mirror what pwmdmd described about dentistry. cataract surgery was deemed nonessential when the flu hit. he has come to loathe modern corporate medicine and government intervention.
i have lousy teeth, some responsibility is my own semi-neglect during my middle years. my career was mostly overseas and my dentistry varied from outstanding (korea & indonesia) to awful (japan). my first root canal was performed by a syrian christian woman, educated at a german dental university, practicing in haiti, quite good. my most memorable root canal was performed by a chinese dentist at beijing #1 hospital without anesthesia, excellent job, done in 20 minutes without pain. i asked him how he did that, he replied that, with a billion mouths, chinese dentists get alot of practice to get it right.
finding a dentist, barber and mechanic have always been top priorities as i moved around. i finally got my teeth squared away as a “dental tourist,” courtesy of my indonesian dentist’s expertise, honesty and reassuring “bedside” manner. i have yet to find someone stateside who i enjoy seeing as much as him. a good dentist is worth his/her weight in gold. bad teeth can really screw up one’s life.