Sophie Coisne, deputy editor-in-chief of special editions of 60 million consumersled a major investigation into dental care, a dossier released this month.
franceinfo: In your editorial, you say that dental surgery is a bit of the wild west, why?
Sophie Coisne: Absolutely, because we find in this sector both serious dentists, but also tricksters who will inflate the bill. And then real crooks. They are not very numerous, but they are there, and they can damage your teeth and put you out of business.
We have talked a lot about the 100% health reform which allows you to replace a tooth without spending a penny. What types of care does it concern? Is everyone entitled to it?
Everyone is entitled to it. Indeed, from the moment you benefit from a mutual so-called responsible, which is the case in the majority of cases. Then the 100% health, it’s really interesting because it avoids keeping holes in the teeth. It allows to have prostheses that will be in different types of materials depending on the tooth concerned. The teeth, the so-called smile teeth, which are really in front and visible, can be replaced with fairly qualitative materials. And that is really extremely interesting.
The other essential question is: where to go? Because in some cities, it’s an obstacle course to find a dentist, what do we do? In an emergency, do we go to the hospital?
Then the hospital can be a good solution. You should know that in these cases, it is a university hospital. So you will be cared for by students who will be supervised by their teacher. The advantage also is that it is much less expensive than in a liberal cabinet.
Another possibility is to contact your mutual insurance company, which is often associated with mutual dental centres. So be careful not to confuse it with the dental centers that are popping up all over town. Currently, mutual dental centers, as they are affiliated with a mutual, pay attention to both the cost and the care they provide to you. So that can be a very good plan as well.
Exactly, at 60 Million, you have a hard tooth with regard to dental centers. Overbilling problems, but not only. There are thousands of victims and ongoing trials for that matter?
Yes quite. A dental center called Dentexia claimed more than 3,000 victims. These are people who have been truly mutilated. They pulled out healthy teeth and put them completely on straw to replace those teeth. So that is really an extreme example. Nevertheless, there are more and more dental centers in the city. Since January 2022 alone, 250 have opened.
And dental tourism? Going for treatment in Spain or Turkey, is that a good plan or not?
So financially, it can be very interesting. Your bill can be halved, or even quadrupled, compared to treatment performed in France. Nevertheless, if you opt for this solution, there are a number of precautions to take before leaving. Try to have the maximum of dental panoramics before leaving. Similarly, choose a dentist who speaks French. It’s important if things ever go wrong. You can be blamed for having gone to a dentist who did not speak your language, and that you did not understand what he wanted to tell you. And that will work against you.
Another practice that is very popular is teeth whitening. There too, are there downright harmful products?
Ah yes, so there, we are really up against these products. Because if you buy them on the Internet or abroad, you risk ending up with products that are too highly dosed and ending up, if you use them, with dental hypersensitivity or inflammation of the gums. So these products are really to be banned.
Then you have products that sell you that in 20 minutes you will regain your white teeth from ten years ago. This is false, because with the dosages that are authorized in France, you cannot have this type of result. Finally, something that is very important to know is when there are microparticles inside, such as toothpastes, to whiten teeth as well, they should not be used more than twice a week. Because these particles are often abrasive. They will damage your enamel and you will have cavities more easily.