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Here is a very intersting quote by Ed Leedskalnin on education I came across from http://www.leedskalnin.com/

 ”You know we receive an education in the schools from books.  All those books that people became educated from twenty-five years ago, are wrong now, and those that are good now, will be wrong again twenty-five years from now.  So if they are wrong then, they are also wrong now, and the one who is educated from the wrong books is not educated, he is misled.  All books that are written are wrong, the one who is not educated cannot write a book and the one who is educated, is really not educated but he is misled and the one who is misled cannot write a book which is correct.

The misleading began when our distant ancestors began to teach their descendants.  You know they knew nothing but they passed their knowledge of nothing to the coming generations and it went so innocently that nobody noticed it.  That is why we are not educated.

Now I will tell you what education is according to my reasoning.  An educated person is one whose senses are refined.  We are born as brutes, we remain and die as the same if we do not become polished.  But all senses do not take polish.  Some are to coarse to take it.  The main base of education is one’s “self-respect”.  Any one lacking self-respect cannot be educated.  The main bases of self-respect is the willingness to learn, to do only the things that are good and right, to believe only in the things that can be proved, to possess appreciation and self control.

Now, if you lack willingness to learn, you will remain as a brute and if you do things that are not good and right, you will be a low person, and if you believe in things that cannot be proved, any feeble  minded person can lead you, and if you lack appreciation, it takes away the incentive for good doing and if you lack self control you will never know the limit.

So all those lacking these characteristics in their makeup are not educated.”

-1936

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In this post I will examine some recent 1 star reviews of a dental and/or oral surgery practice on Yelp and some of the comments received.

At an office in Seattle, Washington, a women writes in her review on Yelp

“ I am still upset about what happened. It is a very long and disturbing story. Basically – [the doctor] performed the surgery in a very cold room [on my 19 year old daughter] and seriously damaged a muscle in her jaw. Within 24 hours after surgery she could not open her mouth more than a quarter inch….the doctors determined that she had a massive infection in her jaw and immediately put her on IV antibiotics….it took FOUR months for the damage to heal & for her to be able to open her mouth normally!”

At a dental center in Virginia a male says in his review on Yelp

“…they recommended I have 4 wisdom teeth removed, claiming that there ‘was not room in my mouth to accommodate them and that they were going to cause teeth to twist.’ My wisdom teeth came in years ago and it’s ridiculous to say that they could cause my teeth to get worse in [the] future. As was confirmed by the family dentist I went to for a second opinion.”

At a dental center in Chicago, Illinois, a female says in her review on Yelp

“The dentist here attempted to remove one of my wisdom teeth and DIDN’T REMOVE THE ENTIRE ROOT! After 45 minutes of wrenching, me in the fetal position…I ended up in the ER 6 hours later where I spent 5 hours waiting for an antibiotic I was told I should have got with my original dentist, an oral surgeon the next day for another 45 minutes of wrenching, and eventually ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery a week later. All said and done–I spent 4 1/2 weeks getting well again, including having to retrain my jaw to open more than an inch….The most nightmarish experience of my life. “

At an oral surgeons office in St. Louis, Missouri, a person says in their review on Yelp

“ I asked him to clarify what kind of anesthesia he was going to use.  He immediately became defensive, telling me that I wasn’t his first ‘med student’ and rattling off all the kinds of medical professional he’s treated…After my procedure I had three complications, two significant (known complications of wisdom tooth removal, but considering the time from car door to car door for four impacted wisdom teeth with general anesthesia was 30 minutes, I do wonder if due diligence was taken to avoid complications. When I brought up the significant complication at my follow-up visit… he gave me a bogus explanation for my symptoms.  When I challenged him on the anatomic impossibility of his explanation given the location and type of symptoms I was having, he again became very defensive instead of attempting to understand the issue.”

At a dental center in Massachusetts a woman writes on her review on Yelp

 ”They didn’t inform me that I would be getting no anesthesia for my wisdom teeth and on the day of the procedure when I explained that Novocaine has never worked on me, they guilted me into doing it anyhow “well you scheduled this time with us, you’ve already paid, etc. etc.”.  I SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER THROUGH THE ENTIRE PROCEDURE and kept asking them to please stop, but they only rolled their eyes and yelled “KEEP STILL” at me.  After the procedure, my entire neck was black and blue and I was so swollen that I couldn’t open my mouth to eat for 2 weeks. 2 years later, and I still can’t feel the right side of my mouth, and I have nerve damage so deep in my jaw that it affects my arms and legs, so I have constant numbness there too.”

At a dental center in Phoenix, Arizona, a woman writes on her review on Yelp

“…when my son was …there, and before his wisdom teeth come in, they suggested his wisdom teeth come out, with no reasoning.  (but later whispered to him not a problem, they should be fine…).  He has had all his ortho (at another office) the Dr. there never thought they would become an issue.  HEY!  how about we see if, when they erupt, if there appears to be a problem, or any crowding? “

For the same dental center as above in Phoenix, Arizona, a man writes in his review on Yelp

“First, my wisdom teeth extraction was botched when I was left with a bone fragment floating inside my cheek/gum for 16 months. I complained multiple times regarding the pain and issue. I went into the office for at least 4 follow-ups and yet not once did a dentist take an X-Ray or even really offer my help. Instead I was recommended to spend an additional $150.00 for a deep cleaning. When the bone finally came out the Dr notified me this is very common… right….. “

For a dental practice in Maryland a man writes in his review on Yelp

“First off let me preface this by saying I am a physician myself so I know how to deal with patients….the Dr. then talked to me for all of 2 minutes about why I needed all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed when only 1 is causing a problem – and he barely answered my questions. Finally when I went back for my surgery I decided to have 2 teeth removed instead of 4 (the staff seemed like that bothered them), and when I went to pay they wanted to charge me the same amount for half the work!  I canceled the surgery after I heard the Dr. arguing in the back with the billing woman about the numbers she herself quoted me on. She comes back 5 min later and says oops i forgot to charge you for extra anesthesia. “

This is just a sampling of some unfortunate 1 star reviews received by dentists and/or oral surgeons on Yelp. Some of these reviews really can get quite out of hand. I am not sure what the best way is to prevent 1 star reviews on Yelp but clearly no patients want to have to write them and no doctors want to have them. Having good customer service and focusing on providing a quality service is a start. Certainly working to continually improving your skills can help.  Unfortunately though as long as dental care is driven by profits and there is a very litigious society it may be hard to make improvements in the correct direction.

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I try to highlight scientific analysis and debate regarding wisdom teeth and the risks and benefits of extraction on my site. The wisdom teeth controversy page is good start on the subject of wisdom teeth removal for those interested.

It is a bit surprising to see other people’s opinion on the internet of the subject of wisdom teeth removal. Below are some comments by those who have vocally said they feel wisdom teeth removal is a scam around the internet.

Over on Yahoo Answers http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100508164012AAamuki a user says

“Wisdom teeth are the BIGGEST scam in America TODAY!”

Another user on Yahoo Answers http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101227193912AAyScR7 says:

“wisdom teeth extraction is a money making scam used by dentists…”

Mike Adams over at Natural News http://www.naturalnews.com/019414.html says

“It’s just a revenue generating procedure that’s dishonestly pushed onto patients who gladly go along with anything their dentist says, even when it’s utter nonsense….Folks, you need to start questioning your dentist. Don’t believe everything they tell you. Often they’re just full of bunk, or they’re trying to sell you on whatever procedure they get paid for performing.”

A user over at http://biology-forums.com/index.php?topic=1848.0 says

“…just to have them removed I think its a scam. Wisdom teeth are a cash cow for those maxillofacial surgeons and unless your wisdom teeth are giving you a problem… I would leave them and save the money.”

A user over at http://forum.davidicke.com/showthread.php?t=28688&page=2 says

“Wisdom tooth extraction is a scam. I know, — it’s hard to accept that an entire population of MDs could unknowingly be involved in a project meant to really extract tons of money from the population, but it may be true.”

A user over at http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-887391.html says

“i think its a scam on the part of dentists working in cohorts with oral surgeons. they tell you, ‘well you might be fine to leave them in, but you could run into problems down the road if you don’t remove them. and the younger you are, the easier the surgery will be.’  its all a scam.”

A user over at http://www.youqa.cn/html/Other___Health/0620/other197011.html talking about her wisdom teeth says

“Get another opinion or two. I was told this when I was a teen. Long story short I didn’t believe him and didn’t have it done. All of my wisdom teeth came in normal and healthy and are still in today,(I’m 39). It’s a common scam I found out. It happens all the time. It’s unfortunate to find out that your dentist is a profiteer, but get other opinions anyway.

A user over at http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=7286 says

“This is a scam…Dentists use wisdom teeth to pay the bills and pay for vacation homes.

Now clearly there are valid reasons to have problematic wisdom teeth that are causing symptoms removed but the debate regarding whether or not to have healthy wisdom teeth removed carries on.

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An interesting article ran in the MyView Section of the American Dental Association titled “A time to be thankful for all that we have,” written by Richard A. Mufson, D.D.S., and published November 7, 2011. http://www.ada.org/6541.aspx

In the article Dr. Mufson discusses how he will typically ask other dentists the standard question of “how are you?”

This typically goes into discussions of the dental practice and whether or not financially the practice is doing well or not.

Dr. Mufson then says he had no real desire to talk about the dental practice but about how the person really is.

Dr. Mufson goes on to say

“When caught up in our daily routines and the trials and tribulations of everyday life, many of us may not always be closely in touch with, nor take the time to be grateful for, aspects in our lives of highest importance to us, and those which make us most happy and whole. Some of these, of course, would include our health, well-being and happiness of our families, our friends, our colleagues, others in the world we respect and care about, and the positive and intimate relationships we share with one another. Many of these relationships have involved the mutual sharing of great experiences, in great places, with unforgettable and fond memories, all of which are truly irreplaceable.”

Dr. Mufson says that one needs to remember to be thankful for each day because you could very well have taken away from you what you have such as your health and loved ones. Therefore you need to remember to be appreciative for all that you have.

The tone of the article boils down to

“Don’t confuse your career with your life.”

People are often caught up in being motivated by money and also desire to maintain that for which they have worked years for to achieve. This is understandable given the society of today but remember what is most important in life and be sure to be grateful and appreciate of it.

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Here is an interesting infographic on headaches from the Mount Sinai Medical Center.

The infographic offers statistics on those who suffer from headaches and also offers some remedies to help cure your headache and ease the pain.

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