Today I am going to the dentist to replace my crown. My crown is only 8 years old and I thought they should last at least 10 years. Actually the crown is in great shape. It just doesn’t fit my tooth anymore. Why?
Well last year the cement fell off the crown. I went to see my neighbor’s recommended dentist and had it glued in. They suggested having it replaced, but I decided against it because of my horrific experience that day. I had x-rays done, and the “dentist” said I had a cavity that needed filling.
By the time she finished “filling” my teeth I was bleeding like crazy! I couldn’t believe how awful and painful it was. She was absolutely horrible. In case people were wondering, I had ended up with another dentist in the practice instead of the one my neighbor recommended. I decided to never go back again.
Thus last summer for my semi-annual checkup I went to another dentist. They could not do X-rays because I had already had it done. So they just cleaned and checked my teeth. I could not get the X-rays from the bad dentist because they refused! Yes I reported them to the Dental Association, I wonder if anything happened?
Anyway in January I had my X-rays done again and the New Dentist, tells me the crown needs to be replaced. There is a gap near the gums. I ask what happened? It’s a great, new crown. He says he suspects that it was “glued” in improperly.
My previous dentist in CA who had done the work, had sent the really old dental records with the redone crown. So my new dentist was able to ascertain that the crown was glued in backwards from old records!Yep the bad dentist glued in my crown backwards! WHAT the HELL!!!
So now I have to pay to replace the crown because the dumbass dentist made a mistake. And NO WAY in hell am I going back to her crazy ass to have the work done for free. Which is what her office suggested when I called and told them what had happened! The refuse to give me money to fix the crown but will do it for. As IF.
What would you do?
11 responses so far ↓
1 Grace // May 11, 2009 at 10:47 am
Since you just learned the work was improperly done, your statute of limitations starts running from the date of knowledge. Get the work done competently, and then sue bad dentist for the money you expended in small claims court. Be sure to get copies of the dental chart from current dentist and make sure it says loudly and clearly that the crown was put in backwards.
2 amy // May 11, 2009 at 12:40 pm
What Grace said. Also, do you have an Employee Assistance Program through your work? If so, often times it will include some modest amount of free legal advice. I’d use that as a starting block. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
3 Meg from FruWiki // May 11, 2009 at 1:23 pm
If you paid for it using a credit card, the credit card company may be able to help.
4 Ms. MoneyChat // May 11, 2009 at 1:53 pm
yikes, what a mess! how in the world did the dentist glue the crown on backwards? that’s just ridiculous to me.
5 dogatemyfinances // May 11, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Until my dentist from hell experience, I couldn’t even understand the pain and horror at truly bad dentistry.
If I were you, I would file a complaint with the state medial board. Sure, nothing will happen, probably. But if it’s really a pattern, people deserve to know.
6 Abigail // May 12, 2009 at 4:22 am
I am with Grace. In fact, you may not even need to sue. The mere threat of a suit may be enough to make them cough up the money. Get it done, keep receipts and contact the old dentist. Keep a copy and get a return receipt to prove it was delivered. Advise them that if they do not pay for the work, you will be forced to seek legal counsel. If it goes that far, you can remind the dentist, lawyer fees will probably be added to the bill.
For your sake, I hope it doesn’t go that far. But definitely file a complaint with the state medical board. And get your new dentist to write up a statement about exactly what was wrong with the old crown. Make sure there’s plenty of evidence and photo/x-ray documentation to substantiate the problem was an obvious mistake that no professional should have made.
7 Joy // May 12, 2009 at 6:29 am
Another idea… you said “I had ended up with another dentist in the practice instead of the one my neighbor recommended.” Get the neighbor recommeded dentist to do the work. Since the neighbor recommened dentist and the bad dentist are in the same practice, the work should be done for free.
If the neighbor recommended dentist is a good dentist and the practice pays for the work my idea would save you time, legal fees or at least filing fees, and the headache of pursuing it.
8 alicia // May 12, 2009 at 10:35 am
Personally, I wouldn’t go back to a bad practice. If the bad dentist and the recommended dentist work in the same office, I would question why the recommended dentist is willing to partner with the bad one.
If you go the lawsuit route, make sure that your new dentist is willing to testify. I had a bad experience with a dentist and the one I went to immediately afterwards asked who I’d seen previously. And when I told him, he out-and-out said that he wouldn’t go on record against the bad one because, “that guy is crazy.” I hadn’t even thought of suing or having the replacement dentist go on record against the old one, so it was a jarring statement.
I’ve since found a replacement for the replacement, by the way.
9 simpleyme // May 12, 2009 at 11:15 am
they would not send your xrays? this scares me we just got ripped of by my sons dentist at the last apointment the dentist did an exam and xrays and cleaning after insurance paid we owed 500 dollars! we just had this done for my daughter at my dentist and it cost us 30 dollars
so I plan on switchingson to my dentist, but if they wont share the xrays I am screwed;-(
I guess I may have to pay for more out of pocket
I have been to several dentists and the new one always says all the old work was done wrong, it kinda makes me think it a catch all excuse as to why the work they do is going to cost so much
I just paid my sons stupid crook dentist and wont go back,lord I hope they will send the xrays I did not get mad at them to their face or call the crooks,I have kids and have found you cannot fight the medical system ,they just do what they want and bill you what they want and thats that,they scream”its documented “and you are screwed
10 Patience // May 13, 2009 at 5:35 pm
A quick google search taught me that your dental records fall under the HIPAA law, just like your regular medical records, which means you have the right to see them, which means the bad practice violated federal law by refusing to release them. They might have been able to come up with a technical reason for not releasing them to the other practice, but they have to release them to you, and then you could take them to the good dentist.
I’m with Grace about filing in small claims court. There’s no way you should have to pay for this.
11 LAL // May 20, 2009 at 10:22 pm
I have no idea why they wouldn’t give me the X-rays, except they wanted my business back and I wouldn’t go. So I had to contact a very old dentist who did the original crown in CA.
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