I went to a dentist once who after examining my mouth said that it looks like my tongue may have cancer.
Helpfully she explained that she had a $75 test that would screen for that cancer, and the result would come back in a week. I had never had a problem with cancer in my life, but for $75 it is worth knowing or not. I told her ok that is fine if insurance doesn’t cover it, I will pay out of pocket for it. She also mentioned that it can happen if you bite your tongue, and I told her that I bite my tongue often. She said that it was more likely cancer than the tongue being bitten.
I decided to not worry if it was cancer or not for a week. If it was cancer then it can be treated. If it turned out to not be cancer, then my anxiety only hurt me. A week later I called and it was negative, which is just what I expected. I never went back to that dentist again.
To defend the dentist some people will say that she didn’t know, and that isn’t it better that I know it isn’t cancer and isn’t that peace of mind worth $75. Yes, that is true which is why I did it. However, a more realistic appraisal would be that she wants to make more money and that selling fear is an upgrade that most people won’t fight. Just to compare no other dentist in my life told me that my tongue had cancer but noticed that I bit it due to the damage. I don’t support people who use fear and guilt in life.
People will try to use your fears against you in life to get money from you. Unfortunately, some people would rather have money than the satisfaction of doing a helpful job. We choose how we react to life-threatening news, and we choose to either deal with things honestly when they happen or to live in fear. I will not live in fear, no matter what greedy dentist tries to scare me with.