10 reasons to stay away from low-cost dental centers

They promise low-cost beaming smiles, €40 dental cleanings and all-inclusive implants for a few hundred euros. At the rate of one a month in Italy's major cities, low-cost dental centers, the real news of the moment in dentistry, are proliferating.

What exactly are low-cost dental centers?

Low-cost dental centers are mega-facilities, often created with capital coming in from abroad (especially from Spain), characterized by rates that really compete with dental offices in Eastern European countries. These are places where it is possible to see as many as 30 or 40 chairs offering treatment at bargain prices; the staff is numerous and often composed of recent graduates, which may lead us to think that they practice on patients' mouths. Every day dentistry hits the headlines for incidents of malpractice caused by the use of substandard materials and prostheses that arrive from India, Turkey, and China, allowing low-cost centers a 50 percent cut in expenses compared to normal centers. In the most fortunate cases, the results may be acceptable, but it is wrong to delude ourselves that we have bought a Ferrari for the price of a Panda: low-cost dentists are not benefactors, they simply save on the purchase of materials that are of low quality. In proportion, therefore, we can say that a low-cost dentist earns as much as a standard dentist.

We summarize in 10 points the reasons why to stay away from low-cost centers

1. Dentistry is a high-precision profession and as such it requires high specialization, advanced technology, quality control and continuous training of professionals. To do all this takes time, investment and money.
2. The only way to make money by offering low rates is to treat many patients in a short time. However, dental care must meet biological deadlines, sometimes very long. It is therefore Impossible to accomplish high-quality work in a short time.
3. The dentist can recognize with just a few steps if a job has not been done well. It often takes a long time for a job done wrong to show up, and low-cost centers are rarely accountable for their work even in the long term.
4. The success of a therapy is evaluated over the years; it must be monitored and maintained over time. This requires a rigorous secretarial organization and highly trained hygienists.
5. Low-cost centers invest large amounts of capital in advertising and promotion. Better to invest in technology and training.
6. Low-cost dentists, they are only apparently so: they are not do-gooders. Relying on recognized professionals allows them not to have to repeat the expense in the future, nullifying the initial savings. Even contracted medical services have a low perceived cost (health co-pay), but a high real cost (taxes and public deficit).
7. Health is not to be trifled with, and so it is wrong to trust a dental center only on the basis of the rates charged. Behind low fees is often hidden lack of quality.
8. Fundamental is the relationship of trust that is established with one's dentist. In large dental centers, patients are often treated by different professionals as in hospitals or territorial public clinics.
9. On balance, treatment is not always as low-cost as advertised by large dental centers. Often the rates are very similar to the average rates charged by freelance Italian dentists.
10. Doing good dentistry costs money if quality care is provided. NO DENTAL TREATMENT CAN BE DONE IN A WEEK.