Relationship Between Costs in Dentistry
If you’ve been following some of my articles regarding dentistry costs, you would be aware there are three basic costs associated with any dental (medical) intervention. There is the obvious financial cost that we all consider.
There is an emotional cost – the emotional toll of undergoing the intervention. Thirdly, there is a biologic cost – the amount of your tissues involved in / lost as a consequence of the intervention.
There is a relationship between all of these costs. If you were to consider undergoing a dental procedure, you would have a few questions. Is the procedure surgical? How long will my recovery be? What kind of risks are associated with having the procedure done? What kind of success does the procedure have?
Yes, there is a lot to consider. Let’s break interventions down in terms of complexity and see how they stack up.
For a simple intervention, the expectations would read something like this: Minimally invasive. Low level of complexity. Relatively quick recovery. Low or manageable levels of risk. High level of success or reversible (which will mitigate risk).
As the complexity of any intervention increases, these metrics change. With higher complexity, the level of invasiveness increases. Recovery times increase, and risks around complications increase – sometimes impacting success rates and frequently making the intervention less reversible or irreversible.
Complexity also increases financial costs. I have always sought techniques that lowered/minimized biologic cost. Sometimes I couldn’t find a minimally invasive solution, so I formulated interventions (many based on adhesive techniques) that were minimally invasive.
Yes, I understand that, occasionally, these low-biologic cost interventions can fail. However, because many are reversible, we can recover from them – frequently without loss of tissues and often by reusing lab-manufactured components. In those circumstances where a more involved solution is required – being minimally invasive in the first instance frequently provides for a broader scope of solutions.
intouch contributor DR ALEX HUSZTI BelleDental
Alex has had a career focused on low-biologic cost reconstructive cosmetic dental care – common sense teeth for life.
