getting a refund from a dentist Archives

I have some problems with my four front teeth. They are crooked and crowded. I was asking my dentist about getting braces and he suggested I have a combination of reshaping, some dental bonding, and veneers placed, which could fix the teeth without braces. That sounded good to me because I wasn’t really looking forward to a mouth full of metal. However, the result did not end up as I expected. After the procedure, the only improvement were the teeth were whiter. The veneers were too short for my smile and everything still looked uneven to me. Plus, he told me that he reshaped some lower teeth (which we never discussed) and charged me for it. There was nothing I wanted to change with my lower teeth. I asked him how I could get what we originally talked about and he said it would take four porcelain crowns along with root canals that would be necessary because of the crowns, but that would be another $6500. I already paid around $9000 for the veneers. I went to get a second opinion. He said that porcelain veneers could have fixed my problem and that he didn’t see any need for root canal treatments. How do I get a refund from the first dentist, because I’m still going to have to pay the second dentist to get this fixed?

Claire

Dear Claire,

porcelain veneers

I’m glad you wrote. These cosmetic dentist horror stories really make me sad and a bit angry. It sounds like your first dentist is lacking some ethics. First, he didn’t give you what he told you he could. Worse, he did work that you never even discussed. That is a huge no-no in the dental field and he can get in a lot of trouble for that. The good news is that last bit could work in your favor.

I would start by just asking for a refund. If he refuses, then I would start by placing some pressure on him by letting him know that you don’t want to be put in a position where you have to write reviews explaining how poorly your work was done and the position you were left in. Mention that you are also willing to go to the dental board, especially because he did work on you that you did not approve ahead of time.

Your next steps from there would be to find an expert cosmetic dentist to look at the work and my guess is they will agree with you and may call on your behalf. Sometimes a dentist, especially one struggling with ethics, is more willing to listen to a colleague than a patient. If that doesn’t work, you would need to contact an attorney. In that case, you would need another cosmetic dentist on your side anyway.

One other thing, before you go how do you know that this dentist will do any better of a job than your last dentist? I would make sure about his skills and training before letting this second dentist do anything on your teeth. I’d start by looking at their smile gallery to see if they produce beautiful results. If they do, the next thing I would make sure of is that they’ll do your veneers as provisionals first. Then, if you don’t like them, you can tell him what changes you want made before they are bonded on permanently. They should be willing to redo the porcelain veneers until you love them. If they’re not willing to do that, then I want you to find someone else.

I don’t know if anyone told you this the first time you had your teeth worked on, but if you want your four front teeth that are having the veneers whiter than your normal teeth, I suggest you do some teeth whitening before getting your next veneers done. Most smiles are more than four teeth wide, they are generally eight to ten teeth wide. Without whitening your teeth, they won’t match the veneers.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

I had a tooth that was crooked for years because I was a thumbsucker as a child. I was hoping to straighten it out, but my dentist told me the same thing could be done with a dental crown. I liked the idea of not needing braces so I agreed. It was really sore after it was placed. He told me that was normal for the first week or so. Several weeks later, I was still in pain. I called but then he said it is probably because I am not used to wearing crowns and to give it more time. A few months later and I’m in so much pain that I almost went to the emergency room. My husband told me to get a second opinion by another dentist. I did the next day. He even got me in the very next day on an emergency appointment. When I went in he did an examination and an x-ray. He told me the tooth was very infected because the dentist who placed the crown did not place it properly and there are open margins. He showed me on the x-ray and the margins are huge. I need to get a root canal treatment now on top of another crown. I called my dentist and asked for my money back. They said what happens to my crown after I have it is not their problem and they expect me to pay the balance or they will send me to collections. Now I’m mad. They gave me a faulty crown that is going to cost me even more money and I need another procedure. I wasn’t asking them to pay for the root canal just my money back on my faulty crown. Is there any way to get my money back?

Caroline

Dear Caroline,

I am very sorry this happened to you and I’m glad the second dentist got you in for an emergency dental appointment. You’re fortunate it didn’t grow worse and turn life-threatening. Your jaw is very close to your heart, lungs, and brain. You don’t want an infection spreading there.

While I haven’t examined you, but based on what you said, I do believe your dentist violated the standard of care. After placing a dental crown, it is considered standard operating procedure to run an explorer around the margins to make sure it is properly fitted and there are no open margins. It helps that you have an x-ray to back up the claim.

It may not be financially worth it to go for a full malpractice case. There are some things you can do. I’d start by letting them know that you are going to the dental board with the x-ray and second opinion from the other dentist. This is something that the dentist would like to avoid almost as much as a malpractice suit.

Another thing you can do is have the second opinion dentist talk to your original dentist. Sometimes, dentist are more willing to listen to a peer than to a patient. If you do decide to go forward with a malpractice suit you will need to have another dentist testify on your behalf. It is required to have a medical opinion.

You could ask a lawyer to write you a threatening letter on his or her official stationary. That might make your dentist more willing to take the threat seriously and will cost you less than a full law suit.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

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