every time i visited my former dentist, he would always try to sell me an electric toothbrush. it was pretty clear that he got some sort of commission on any sale but he never really tried to force it on me. perhaps he was actually interested in my health as opposed to being a salesman. (he also cleaned my teeth himself, without the aid of a hygienist)

what you have depicted is downright dispicable, made worse with the revelation that both your parents were made to think they needed one too. i agree...if we can't trust our healthcare professionals (who hold at least some part of our lives in their hands) to make sounds decisions for us rather than bowing to the call from the latest drug manufacturer, then we will all have to become experts in everything.

i guess we wouldn't need doctors then.

i've never thought it would be necessary to get a second opinion from a dentist. and i think i'll stick to the old bristle-brush anyway.

I haven't had this kind of experience as yet, but I've heard many complaints about orthodontists working this way. They start kids as early as possible with as many corrective devices as they can, and then recommend leaving them on long after it's necessary, to maximize visits and revenues. I haven't heard the orthodontists' side of this, but the tales are pretty convincing.

On a related though somewhat tangential note, the medical center for Ohio State University, currently the largest university in the nation with 50K+ students, employs exactly ONE dental hygienist to care for our pearly whites. Scheduling biannual cleanings is, shall we say, a challenge.

Funnily enough, my dentist told me the exact opposite about grinding and clenching teeth yesterday - that it causes your gums to rise UP on your teeth (in essence making your teeth, not your gums, recess) because the stress caused by grinding and clenching, in the long term, wears out the jawbone and causes bone loss. She wasn't really trying to sell me on a bite guard, though, since I've had one for about 4 years to prevent me from wearing down my front teeth that are edge-to-edge.

Sounds to me like some dentists are exploiting what they don't know to make money! After all, if they don't understand why teeth and gums behave the way they do, their patients sure as hell aren't going to know either. Who's to say their dentist's "fix" isn't going to work?

For the past 3 years I, not my dentist, have expressed concern about my receding gum line. I went through the expensive electric toothbrush which after a year didn't work at cleaning my teeth as the old manual toothbrush. The father of my current dentist talked about filing my teeth to realign my bite but the son quickly took over the practice and has never mentioned this as a solution. I also was encouraged to purchase at $300, a mouth guard but was told to only use it occassionally...there seemed to be some disagreement within the same office. The latest suggestion is to use prescription PreviDent 5000. A quick google seach taught me this does decrease the incidence of caries but does not address the receding gumline. FRUSTRATED and still searching the internet for my own answers.