Very Dental: Dentists are bad with Dr. Paul Springs

Dr. Paul Springs joins Alan again to talk about journalism, Matt Yglesias and the Gell-Mann effect. 

Matt Yglesias wrote an article called "Dentists are bad" on his Substack. Instead of talking about some real "bad" things in our profession, he went straight to the lowest common denominator. Paul and Al talk about how journalism typically talks about dentistry and maybe how they could be more interesting and ask better questions.

• Matt thinks oral health is important
• Matt has a very limited understanding about dental disease in our population
• Matt thinks that regulation that allows dental hygienists to practice independently would fix the high costs of dentistry.
• Never read the comments. NEVER READ THE COMMENTS.
• Mead's law: journalism about dentists will inevitably devolve into comments about anecdotes featuring horrible experiences with dentists
• Health care that's not really health care (Stretch Center/monthly air polish/blow out bar)
• Primary and secondary health care 
• The overhead of an independent hygiene office
• Is there a way to screen for disease before seeing a hygienist or dentist?
• Gell-Mann amnesia
• What is informed consent?
• Al's podcast on communication and trust
• The informed consent Al got for his surgery
• The difference between "predatory dentistry" and hindsight
• The transparency of talking about money
• They hate us because we give them shots, talk about money and we do surgery on people who are awake
• "Dentists are rich and often shady"
• Fibromas R' Us and the regulatory state of dentistry
• Where do midlevel providers fit?

Some links from the show:

• Matt Yglesias' Substack "Slow Boring"
• Do we need to take out wisdom teeth so often?
• How about tongue ties?

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