Doctors

     Doctors, be they physicians, dentists, chiropractors, osteopaths, veterinarians, or optometrists, have all bought into the fee-for-service mode. The more they treat, the more money they make. And doctors, today, average more than $300,000 income per year. Thanks to all the technological improvements in the medical and dental repair business doctors have learned and do nothing but repair and improve. Remember the cosmetic revolution in medicine and dentistry. There is no money in prevention because there is no code from which to bill the insurance company, Medicare, Medicaid, the union benefit plan, the preferred provider plan, the HMO. Besides, prevention would keep people so healthy they wouldn’t need the repair services of the doctor. What would that do to the doctor’s bottom line?  Remember fluoridation? In the nineteen fifties up to the sixties, fluoridation was hailed by all dentists as just the thing to reduce cavities in children and adults. However, when so many cavities were reduced and fewer children and adults went to the dentist to have their cavities treated, the dentists realized they were writing the premature end of their careers. Do you hear about fluoridation today? The only people who mention fluoride today are the toothpaste manufacturers. And that comes after tooth whitening.