Dental treatments should probably cost less. Dental insurance should probably be more wide spread.

But maybe if we just trained more dentists - the price would come down for everyone. The British are finding out the hard way or the soft way depending on your bite quotient.

Here's a New York Times story that might change your views a little and possibly make you turn your head to avoid the view.

"In a Dentist Shortage, British (Ouch) Do It Themselves"

Soon most every dentist will need to post his or her fees for regular public consumption. When is soon? That I do not know. But the Internet predicts it (many prices are already compared there) and the American consumers will begin to demand it. Dentists need to find a way to do it (or not do it) effectively and consumers will need to know how to navigate pricing. For example, when are high fees better than low fees?

The consumer will demand to know dental fees because they will be forced - as the global economy flexes - to fit the square peg of their incomes into the deep round hole of what they need and want. This is also being talked about in other medical circles along with the need to know who is doing things right.

As reported in the news the last few years, nearly 100,000 people die from medical mistakes each year, but we know little about who is actually making those mistakes. Is it my doctor or your doctor? Is it my hospital or your hospital? And when is it us? As soon as the government or consumer groups start to monitor this in a way we can digest on a regular basis (like online), dental quality and fee scrutiny will ratchet up too.