# Does your family know who your dentist is? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450 "2019-10-07T20:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/1 "2019-10-07T20:41:06Z")
I heard that they asked the brother of one of the victims of the [B-17 crash](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=882997) for dental records to confirm the body. So I’ll ask my fellow dopers, especially the single ones; does anyone know who your dentist is? I’d think with people changing jobs more often & with less people even getting insurance from an employer if something were to happen to a person, either a horrible accident where they were burned beyond recognition or go missing/not found for some extended period of time many families wouldn’t know where to turn to get a loved one’s dental records. I know that none of my family knows who my dentist is/was. Living in a populated area would mean lots of random dentists for the police to call - “Was John Doe your patient?” ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/2 "2019-10-07T21:15:21Z")
My extended family don’t know who my dentist is, but I would imagine they could get the info from my health insurer if it were really needed. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/3 "2019-10-07T21:18:38Z")
I can think of a couple ways my few remaining family members could discover the identity of my dentist: 1. Consult my filing cabinet. I do keep records of medical treatment, including vision and dentistry, and a perusal of the appropriate file will reveal who I most recently went to for such treatment. 2. If a freak meteor storm should obliterate my residence at the same time that I perish in a plane crash in a distant city my remaining relatives could probably appeal to my insurance copy for information on who was paid for my most recent dental care. This should work even if said freak descent of Rocks! From! Space! also obliterated the place I work, as the headquarters of both my employer and the insurance company are located hundreds of miles away and they would no doubt retain the records in the computer system. (ETA: this _could_ make actual retrieval of the records problematic, however, as my current dentist is located almost exactly between my residence and my place of employment, but maybe the Freak Rock Storm would be freakish enough to spare his office. Or maybe there are off-site records.) That’s off the top of my head. There could be other methods used as well, I just haven’t thought of them yet. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/4 "2019-10-07T21:22:11Z")
No. I switched from my local family dentist to a TMJD specialist when I was 18, and that practice has changed hands twice now. So even though dad paid for the TMJD specialist 20 years ago, that particular guy is long gone. And I don’t have insurance so they couldn’t ask my insurer who gets paid. Then again, I have several molds of my teeth around in the form of old Invisaligns, a half-chewed night guard, and my regular night guard, so if I didn’t perish along with my night guard maybe they could figure out my bite that way. But also…couldn’t they just do a DNA comparison with my brother and my remains? Or with 23andMe (which my family knows about)? Why dental records? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/5 "2019-10-07T21:59:18Z")
My brother and I have the same dentist, so yeah, we both know. But I have no idea who my sister’s dentist is. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/6 "2019-10-07T22:14:50Z")
Spousal unit and I use the same dentist. I’m not sure if our daughter knows who we see. I know my sibs have no idea. But I have a BCBS dental supplemental, so that’d probably be the easiest way to find Dr V. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/7 "2019-10-07T22:27:30Z")
My BIL was my dentist til he retired. I have a new dentist, but I’m sure the person who bought his practice would have my records. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/8 "2019-10-07T22:30:00Z")
My wife and the two cousins in my will; just for situations like that. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/9 "2019-10-08T01:54:07Z")
I’m 39, and have had the same dentist for my entire teen and adult life, and he’s my mom’s dentist as well. And, coincidentally my wife’s. So that’s who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/10 "2019-10-08T03:03:48Z")
Jeez, I’m not sure **I** know who my dentist is. Every time I go, it’s a different dentist. I guess because I know the office name, that’s enough. But no, no one else knows, not even my wife. I do t know who her dentist is either. Not a big topic of conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/11 "2019-10-08T04:05:15Z")
Well, yes, because my next of kin is my spouse. But anyone else winding up my affairs who had access to my bank records, text messages, or emails could figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/12 "2019-10-08T04:09:59Z")
Yes, my family knows my dentist. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > But also…couldn’t they just do a DNA comparison with my brother and my remains? Or with 23andMe (which my family knows about)? Why dental records? Comparing x-rays is much faster than running DNA. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/13 "2019-10-08T04:43:10Z")
I actually asked my dentist if there was some kind of national registry, he said nope, someone has to call me. Note to self, tell SO who my dentist is. Not that he’ll remember. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/14 "2019-10-08T13:27:17Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Why dental records? Easier/less expensive test. Also, every so often you hear of a story in the news; they find skeletonized human remains of someone who’s been missing quite a while. Just because they find you’re car in the bottom of the lake doesn’t mean you weren’t carjacked & killed & that’s not really the killer’s skeleton in the driver’s seat. Getting DNA from bone is much more difficult than taking a cheek swab. > [@Aspidistra](#): > > Well, yes, because my next of kin is my spouse. But anyone else winding up my affairs who had access to my bank records, text messages, or emails could figure it out. If you’re good & go regularly, I only need to look thru 5½ months of your transactions but maybe you skipped that last cleaning so you haven’t been to a dentist in about a year; however, I also don’t know the method of payment (check, credit card - which one?, PayPal?) or the name of the dentist. Is it a practice or just an individual dentist, in which case the payment was to “Joe Smith”. If you haven’t had anything other than cleanings recently, the dollar amount wouldn’t stand out as noticeably high, either, meaning the payment to Joe Smith might look like you’re paying a friend instead of a professional. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/15 "2019-10-08T13:56:32Z")
No, but my executor would be able to see payments. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/16 "2019-10-08T17:14:58Z")
The dentist we used when the kids were growing up retired and we got stuck with the fellow the business was turned over to. (Next time we need “real” dental work, time to find someone better.) While we might have mentioned the name I doubt the kids would remember it. OTOH, the appointment reminders are stuck in the same corner of the cork board in the kitchen like they’ve always been. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-family-know-who-your-dentist-is/841450/17 "2019-10-08T22:22:09Z")
My spouse knows, because she tried them and hated them and harasses me about the fact that I don’t hate them. But I don’t always know hers – she’s changed them several times and I hadn’t gone to several of their offices. I know the current one, tho. My kids don’t know my dentist. I know the Napierette’s only because she introduced Ms Napier to them, her current ones. I don’t actually know if any of my extended family is even alive, and if they’re not looking for me online, they don’t know if I am either. If my mother’s alive, she’ll be turning 90 next month, so she might not have a dentist anyway.