care

What are the ethical issues of terminating a patient?

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An interesting article titled “The ethical issues of saying good-bye to a patient” appears in the July 2016 issue of JADA and written by Gary Herman. The article addresses the ethical issues that result from terminating a relationship with a patient. There are certain reasons for terminating a patient. This includes discharging a patient who is difficult or noncompliant, a patient who notifies you that he or she is choosing to go elsewhere, and a patient who just seems to disappear. A dentist of course is always concerned with treating a patient well. If you terminate a patient the practice goes against this goal. An article on risk management lists failure to recognize problem patients and failure to dismiss those patients properly as some of the biggest mistakes dentists make. The article states “When patients make unreasonable demands, have impossible expectations, or prevent … Read more

Dental Anxiety Associates with Pain During Dental Procedures

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It is well known by dentists that some patients experience dental anxiety, with some patients have worse dental anxiety than others. In a review article titled “Dental Anxiety Is Considerably Associated With Pain Experience During Dental Procedures,” by Mike T. John, appearing in J Evid Base Dent Pract, 2013, issue 13, pp. 29-30, the issue of dental anxiety in dental patients is explored. The study reviews a study titled “Predictors of pain associated with routine procedures performed in general dental practice,” by Tickle M, Milsom K, Crawford FI, and Aggarwal VR, in Community Dent Oral Epidemiol, 2012 Aug;40(4):343-50. In the original study 508 patients who visit 38 different dentists in England participate. Dental anxiety was measured with the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale which resulted in a score between 4 and 20. This score was grouped into 4 different variables representing … Read more

Should you Stay Out of the Medical Businesses

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Dr. McDougall, who I have written about before on this blog, see https://blog.teethremoval.com/how-to-protect-yourself-from-abusive-doctors/ and https://blog.teethremoval.com/food-children-and-diet, discussed in August, 2011, an article from Newsweek about the importance of avoiding some medical tests and treatments http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2011nl/aug/110800.htm. The Newsweek article is titled “The One Word that Can Save Your Life: No!,” by Sharon Begley, August 14, 2011. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/08/14/some-medical-tests-procedures-do-more-harm-than-good.html. Dr. McDougall in response to the article says “You and your family cannot win by being familiar with doctors, drugs, and hospitals. Just like you do not want to be on a first name basis with morticians, lawyers, auto mechanics, and plumbers, you do not want a doctor as a best friend or your calendar littered with appointments to visit these professionals. An undeniable fact is that the more you see doctors, the more likely you are to be tested and treated; for better or … Read more

Doctor Shortage

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Many recent studies point to the fact that in several years from now the United States will be faced with a doctor shortage. This will specifically affect primary care doctors. These are the doctors you see when you are feeling or having something wrong with you in a general sense. They help guide you towards finding a specialist and aiding in preventative measures. The American Medical Association has said it will support through financial incentives medical students who choose to go into primary care. However,  medical students feel the paperwork and charting required of primary care physicians is very tedious and difficult when the system is not built to treat chronically ill patients. President-elect Barack Obama will have a tough time charting through the teritory of making sure there are enough doctors to the people that need this. This will … Read more