FRONTLINE | Preview "Dollars and Dentists" | PBS

See the full broadcast at http://video.pbs.org/video/2250628150/
Dental care can be a matter of life and death. Yet millions of Americans can't afford a visit to the dentist. FRONTLINE and the Center for Public Integrity investigate the flaws in our dental system and nascent proposals to fix them.

Dental care can be a matter of life and death. Yet millions of Americans can't afford a visit to the dentist. An investigation by FRONTLINE and the Center for Public Integrity reveals the shocking consequences of a broken safety net. Poor children, entitled by law to dental care, often cannot find a dentist willing to see them. Others kids receive excessive care billed to Medicaid, or major surgery for preventable tooth infections. For adults with dental disease, the situation can be as dire — and bankrupting.

While millions of Americans use emergency rooms for dental care, at a cost of more than half a billion dollars, corporate dental chains are filling the gaps in care, in some cases allegedly overcharging patients or loading them with high priced credit card debt. Correspondent Miles O'Brien investigates the flaws in our dental system and nascent proposals to fix them.

Watch on air and online beginning Tuesday, June 26 at 10 pm ET on PBS.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontli...

• Category

  News & Politics

[A2Kaid]

I look forward to seeing this documentary, very interesting and important subject.

[edwardschlosser1]

Medicaid is not profitable if you give proper medical or dental care. In fact, you lose money on each procedure. Of course you can cut corners and make anything profitable if you don't give a crap about your patients.

[edwardschlosser1]

The bail outs were a 2 part scheme. Bush signed the first part and Obama signed the second part.  I guess this means that you are equally upset with Obama and will not be voting for him this election, right? Or are you just a hypocrite who is upset only if the politician's name is followed by an R? And the bail outs had nothing to do with the housing collapse. That you can thank Barney Frank and Chuck Schumer for. Oh, that's right, they're Democrats so you give them a pass.

[edwardschlosser1]

I've never been to a dental office where the dentist did not review the x-rays with me. Sure they offer other services which you can easily refuse. For these reasons your comment is obviously poorly informed.

[RATIONALMIND001]

Check out the health care credit cards and the high interest rates - shameful! Bob Fontana knows only too well that the patients are getting screwed! Go to PBS and search "Dollars and Dentists" ABSOLUTELY SHAMEFUL! I am amazed that this nonsense is going on in America in 2012! What a fucking country!

[RATIONALMIND001]

Fascinating that the chap in Alabama has made medicaid profitable and is seen as a threat to the dental profession in general who ONLY WANT PRODUCTION AND MORE MONEY! It's shameful that in America in 2012 the ONLY motivator is money. Few people in the USA have any principles any more.

[603gts]

Funny thing is most of this crap is preventable... brush your teeth before you go to bed, and stop eating and drinking refined sugars people... Can't blame the dentist for everything.

[603gts]

I'm a prosthodontist and I agree with almost everything said in this documentary. There are so many things wrong with the dental field. If you are a dentist looking for work, almost all offices will only hire you if you can produce a certain amount. This means you either work fast or you over treatment plan to meet your production. It's crap either way.

[Jason Stonecypher]

Many dentists do not accept Medicare because they would go bankrupt by doing so. Dental school costs between $250,000 and $450,000, plus interest. The cost to set up and run a practice is also high. One idea thrown around is to create a non-medically trained tech called a dental therapist (2 years of education rather than eight). In this two-tiered system, some could afford a dentist, while others would have to settle for the dental therapist. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[cbohar84]

Last time I was at the dentist was in 2003, Im on Medicaid and it is indeed difficult to find one

[B1ik3h2o]

Dentist's are crooks. Go to 5 different Dentist's each will tell you you have cavities. All will be in different teeth. And then they will try and sell you some kind of gimmick. Trays for bleaching your teeth, night guards becuse you grind your teeth at night. Special floride mouthwash. I'd trust a crack dealer to sell me real crack before I'd trust a dentist to give me an honest diagnosis.