Dr. Hall,
In November 2009 I had a crown put on my number 8 front tooth. My tooth was slanted from sucking my thumb when I was little, and this was to fix that.
About 3 weeks after my crown was put on my tooth was really sensitive to hot and cold. I was told that was normal for the first few weeks. About 4 months later my tooth was hurting so bad that I had to go to the ER! The next day my face swelled up and I was out of work for 5 days. When I went to another dentist, they told me that my tooth was infected and that I would need a root canal and a new crown. I was like WHAT??? how could this happen? She told me that I had an open margin and it was from the crown not being placed properly.
I called the first dentist, who did the crown, and I told the secretary the situation. I told her that i deserved my money back because for his mistake i have to pay for another crown and a root canal!! she said that once the crown was in my mouth it was my responsibility!! I said even if it was a failed job???
Is he liable for this? Shouldnt he pay?? I have seen the xray and the open margin is huge! ! If he we re to have taken xrays at the end of the job he would have seen the open margin and knew it had to be redone.
At the time I was making payments on the crown and paid a little more than half. After I found out about his mistake i told the office i was not paying the balance . About three months later I got a notice saying he was suing me for the balance! I couldnt believe it ! I of course filled a countersuit and when I went to the small claims court his lawyer told me if i drop the counter claim then the dentist would “forgive my debit”. I said NO I want the money that I paid him and his lawyer said “Well he is not willing to do that.” The case now has to be handled by the superior court because civil court can’t deal with things like this.
My question is should this guy have fixed his mistake? Because of him I was in the most extreme pain I was ever in, I had to miss days of work, I had almost a dozen appointments ( emergency room, doctors and dentist visits), my face swelled up so bad that I could barely see and I had to get a new crown and a root canal . Please let me know what you think!
Thanks!
– Sarah from Massachusetts
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Sarah,
You have quite the story!
I have to qualify this because I can’t judge this without seeing. But just going from what you’re telling me, yes, your former dentist is liable for violating the standard of care. The most important thing to check when a new crown is being seated on a tooth is to run the explorer around the margins and make sure there is a good fit to the crown. Usually a dentist won’t take an x-ray before seating a crown, but they always need to run that explorer completely around the margins of the crown and check for any open margins. But having the x-ray you have is good documentation showing his negligence.
The problem, though, in many cases like this is that the dollar amounts involved make it impractical to involve lawyers and to go to trial. But here are a couple of things you can do to increase the pressure on this dentist to refund your money:
1. Threaten to complain to the dental board. Not as serious as a malpractice suit, this is still something that the dentist is strongly motivated to avoid.
2. Have the new dentist help you. A call from one dentist to another, verifying that there was indeed a problem with the work, can be very persuasive. In a trial, you HAVE to have an expert opinion of a dentist to back up any claim of negligence. Your word isn’t good enough.
3. Have a lawyer write a threatening letter. Rather than pay for an entire malpractice case, just having a letter from an attorney can get the dentist to take your complaint more seriously.
Dr. Hall
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About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.
Mark says
I’m so upset of the work that my dentist did my crowns are falling out of my head and they only want to charge me more money. What am I to do?
denise labelle says
I got 15 teeth removed last Wednesday due to recurrent infections and abscesses. Today is day 7. I am returning with a sore, sore face, swelling and lots of infection as from what I can see he broke some of the top teeth and left one behind. I have been getting crushing chest pain and pain and pus and everything for over a week.
Jim says
I always pay my dentist 100% before the work begins. I realize he has lab fees to pay, overhead, and I want him to focus on doing an excellent job. That said, I take personal responsibility if my tooth goes bad; the dentist isn’t there 24/7, and sometimes the nerve might just go bad; I can accept that, and am glad my dentist is always there to help if a problem happens. Teeth aren’t machines, they are not always predictable; Healing is not an absolute guarantee; I am paying for the ATTEMPT to cure my problem; also, I realize the caps are not returnable; dentist can’t re-use or return them; like a custom artificial limb or body part.
– Jim
Leslie Jean Jones says
My dentist said my teeth were in great shape. But, then he suddenly pulled out my front teeth and put them in a pouch. Then he put in fake teeth that are too large into my mouth.
I was going to be a whistling contest, but since the dentist wrecked my teeth I can’t whistle tunes anymore.
I do not take pain killers. It is against my religion, but they put me to sleep anyway against my will.
– Leslie Jean Jones
cb says
Jim is a Dentist; no one pays 100% before the work begins because no dentist knows the cost of the lab.
Alex says
If I could “downvote” Jim’s comment, I would. I agree, he’s definitely a dentist, and probably a corporate lackey at that. Just like in any field, many dentists are good, some are crooks, and some are incompetent. If, as a consumer, (because let’s be honest with ourselves – dentistry and healthcare at large are a business) you entrust a provider to care for your mouth and they legitimately screw it up, they need to be held accountable for it. Sorry your ego is so large that it precludes you from showing empathy, Jim.
vonda white says
I had dentures put in even had to get the care credit card to pay for it along with cash. The first time I was fitted they were great so I go back in to get them and they had lost them, so now I am being done by someone I told was not doing it right I remember how the dentist did it and he told me he knows what he is doing he went to school. I go back when they are ready and they do not fit. I went back 9 times and to this day they do not fit. The dentist after I asked him to just redo them since they were not correct and each fixing got worse why can’t you just redo them since there is evidently an error on your behalf. you didn’t do the impressions you let someone else who isn’t a dentist do them and they are wrong he told me when I come in again he would and each time I went in I heard the same and it never happened and then was told I would have to pay again I told them that is not right since it was more than evident it was on them. I had full uppers and partial bottom and the partial I wore twice after all of this it cuts into my gums and is too tight around my teeth. I do not wear them not the upper or lower due to the fact I have to use so much adhesive that I nearly rip out the roof of the mouth to pull out. I saw this and thought why not see what can be done.
And, my dad is going thru the same thing.. Different dentists go figure wonder if related. I do not go out, anymore and do not feel good about how I look and it’s hard to eat. this has affected my self-esteem and confidence in self I used to have and I stopped dating over this also.
Mark says
I went to a dentist last month. The rookie assistant had trouble with getting my X-rays. I overheard her saying I was a p…y since I was somehow at fault that it took 6 tries.
Anyway, I still went back against my better judgment and it was a total dumpster fire. The dentist didn’t do anything he said he was going to do. He pulled a tooth which broke into a hundred pieces immediately. Then he and the assistant had time to joke about nubbins and baby teeth while I lost my mind. I had enough and said stop fn around and finish it up.
I’m suffering from an infection that looks like it’s from the 3rd world in my jaw. It’s insane and I paid cash. I’m pissed and I’m not going back to that office. They just pointed me to door after all that bs. Incredible.