A friend of mine had dental insurance. He went to a new dentist, who told him that he had a bunch of cavities - like 7 or something.

Instead of fixing them all at once, or at least in one or two batches, the dentist had him come 7 separate times. That way the dental insurance could be billed for the absolute maximum possible.

I also doubt that he had all the cavities that the dentist claimed.

Another story - I went to my dentist for a regular checkup (back before I was cynical enough). She said that I needed a root canal. I said, "Oh, that's the tooth you just put a filling in last year, right?" The dentist checks her records, and says, "Oh, right. You don't need a root canal". That was decades ago, and that tooth hasn't bothered me. So, clearly, she would have given me a root canal, just to benefit her bottom line.

I think the MAJORITY of dentist are scam artists.

I had wonderful dentists, to the point where I would hang out with them for coffee and give them ideas to expand their business.

Bingo!!!! I had so many issues with dentist! When they say ohhh I think we should drill on your tooth before it becomes a problem. Has lead to me seeing the drill more times than I needed.

I call it drilling for gold!

I'm always very suspicious about dentists. So when my dentist said I grinded my teeth and recommended a mouthguard four years ago, I ignored it. Then, a few months ago one of my teeth died because I ground it too much and had to get it extracted. sigh

I still don't trust them though

My dentist complains about his wife's gambling problem

When he found a cavity, it definitely got me wondering...