Bad Dental Work

[Clipper965]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Florida


This is a long story. Between 1996 & 1999 I had all my teeth crowned and mostly root canalled. Last year one of the front crowns broke, 2 days ago a rear bridge with 3 teeth collapsed. Say 50% of the work was done mostly by a series of dentists working at the same clinic. The last one in 1999 did the other %50 and these series of teeth if I am not mistaken and could be. If I am not mistaken. He is still practicing nearby but I no longer have him under my insurance. My mother’s crowns have lasted for 20 years. My problem is I am unsure what to do. I wish I could go back to the 1999 dentist that did the work and have him redo it over. He was a bit of a nasty fellow from the NYC-NJ area who had a very poor bedside manner. I am almost certain he would not redo the work, and would blame me somehow. IE I did not go back to HIM for cleanings…. I moved to CA from FL shortly after he did this work, or some other scheme.

 

[heather333666]

Legal rights and advice about dental work

Hi,

About two months ago, I was told by my dentist that I needed a crown on my right side tooth number 29 is what she said. I got the crown, but after two weeks of having it, my gums were and still are bothering me. Under my crown in my gums there is a lump and it's sore.
I went to my dentist and told her. She took an x ray of the tooth and prescribed some periogard. It was still bothering me so I went back. She took another x ray and there is a white mass showing in my gums. I asked her what the white spot was and she said she didn't know. She gave me novacane and went under the crown with her tools and said that it feels like cement from the crown is stuck into my gums. At that time, she gave me vicadons and clindamycin to take. She said the cement is probably what has been showing up on my x ray. She said she has no clue how and why the cement would get so far into my gums. It is so far into my gums that she can't get it out and just gave me a referral to a periodontist. (I just left her office) She hasn't charged me the times I've gone to her for her to take a look at my gums.
My question is: Should I have to pay for anything when I go to the periodontist? I asked her how the billing situation will go when I go to the periodontist, and she said, "he'll work something out with your insurance." I said that's fine, but what if there is something leftover that my insurance doesn't cover? And she told me that it wouldn't be that much and to keep her posted. She didn't offer to pay or didn't tell me to have the periodontist fax her a bill or anything. What do you think I should do? Is this a law suit?
Also, alittle bit of the darn crown chipped and it's new!!! I asked her about that the first time I went to her about the pain in my gums and she said, "it's not where you can see it (it is though!!!) and it's cosmetic so we can just bond it if you like at a later time."

Frazzled in NJ,
Heather

 

[Clipper965]

I feel for You

Heather,

I am sorry to hear about your situation. I wish I could give you a solid answer but I am not a dentist. What I would do if I were you is go to a different dentist and tell him an "OLD" crown is bugging you, mention nothing about the dentist who did the original work and see what he has to say. Ask him flat out if the crown was not put on right and why it was not. At least then you would be in a position to bargain with the original dentist. I had a similar situation with an incompetent dentist crowned a bicuspid and did not root canal. I developed an abscess. A white puss ball on my gum, it was the most horrible pain I ever had gone through in all my life. The clinic first, put a filling where they drilled into the crown. Of course the crown broke apart within a year and they hit me for $500 for a new crown. Being naive at the time I bought their diagnosis that I caused the crown to break by eating apples. Remember dentist are human like we all are and make mistakes and errors in judgment but by no means should you have to pay for their mistakes. Your wasted time is enough.

 

[heather333666]

Reply to Clipper965

Hi,

Thanks for replying back to me. See the reason why I am upset is because my dentist never said, tell the periodontist to send the bill to me and we'll pay it. She just gave me the referral and that was it basically. When I asked her how is the payment going to be taken care of, I thought she'd get the hint like she is to take care of it, all she said was the periodontist will bill your insurance. And I asked her what if there is a balance if my insurance won't cover all 100% of the work? And she just told me that it shouldn't cost that much if I had to pay for anything. I was thinking to myself, hellllloooooo! This is your mistake, not mine you should be telling me that you'd pay for it! So, now I don't know what to do.

 

[Clipper965]

Don't Budge An Inch

What I suspect is they will try to invent some reason this happened other than the fact the dentist may have not used proper care. The reason being is doctors and dentists do not like admitting they are wrong or made an error to patients fearing malpractice suits. Their lawyers always tell them this. I suspect the office girl who manages the billing will try to figure a way to charge you for all this. The only way you can out-fox them is to see another dentist and do what I originally suggested. Tell the 2nd dentist the crown was done in Costa Rica or Mexico while you were on vaction three years ago. This is a sore subject with dentists. Every year thousands of Americans travel abroad and get high quality dental work done at a fraction what it costs here. Crowns in high tech dental office in a rich neighborhood in Alcapulco Mexico can cost as little as $125 with root canal ! If you tell him it was done in one of these low cost places Dentist 2 will tell you everything the " Mexican Dentist" did wrong, blow by blow, so when your real dentist tries to charge you claiming it was this or that, you can say you got a 2nd opinion who told you why you developed that problem. I may add do not name the other dentist you are going to have to be sly with to find out what the first one did wrong. No sense bringing him into this battle, but make sure you have your dental terminiology straight when confront the original dentist.undefined

Hi,

Thanks for replying back to me. See the reason why I am upset is because my dentist never said, tell the periodontist to send the bill to me and we'll pay it. She just gave me the referral and that was it basically. When I asked her how is the payment going to be taken care of, I thought she'd get the hint like she is to take care of it, all she said was the periodontist will bill your insurance. And I asked her what if there is a balance if my insurance won't cover all 100% of the work? And she just told me that it shouldn't cost that much if I had to pay for anything. I was thinking to myself, hellllloooooo! This is your mistake, not mine you should be telling me that you'd pay for it! So, now I don't know what to do.

 

[heather333666]

Re: Don't Budge An Inch-Clipper

Hi Clipper,

I called the periodontist today to make an appointment and the girl at the front desk asked me who the referral was from and I told her.
My dentist admitted to me that it was cement that is now deep down in my gums causing it to buldge like it is and causing pain for me. She said she doesn't know how it got there, but it obviously was when she was putting in the crown she said.
The receptionist had said that insurance will more then likely cover the whole thing, so that made me feel better. I will find out for sure on the 8th when I go for my consultation.
Thanks for you advice! I definately would've done what you told me, but I had already called and gave information. So, I guess the only thing to do now is go with the flow. Thanks again!
I think I need to find a new dentist after all of this is over with. It's a shame because I really liked her.

 

[Clipper965]

Good Luck

Good Luck, but keep your guard up !. Let us all know how it turns out !

Hi Clipper,I called the periodontist today to make an appointment and the girl at the front desk asked me who the referral was from and I told her.
My dentist admitted to me that it was cement that is now deep down in my gums causing it to buldge like it is and causing pain for me. She said she doesn't know how it got there, but it obviously was when she was putting in the crown she said.
The receptionist had said that insurance will more then likely cover the whole thing, so that made me feel better. I will find out for sure on the 8th when I go for my consultation.
Thanks for you advice! I definately would've done what you told me, but I had already called and gave information. So, I guess the only thing to do now is go with the flow. Thanks again!
I think I need to find a new dentist after all of this is over with. It's a shame because I really liked her.

 

[barry1817]

dental problem

In order to have a malpractice issue you should have a dentist treating below the standard of care, that it caused a problem and that there are damages.

Leaving cement after placing a crown would be below the standard of care

It caused a problem

There are damages if you have to pay for the correction of the problem, whether that is out of your pocket, or out of your insurance pocket.

In a case like this the problem falls into the crack of not being worth the time and effort to have a lawyer resolve the issue.

You might like to put in a complaint to the local dental board.


As to whether the periodontist should charge for the visit. Yes he should. He is not associated with the cause of the problem, and you are taking up his time, and costs to have the consultation or treatment. If the problem was created by your dentist, and he referred you to him to take care of his problem, usually the dentist will have spoken to the periodontist in advance and you will not see the bill.

 

[persona]

Let Your Insurance Company Know

California. You may wish to call your insurance company so that you get this on record with them. Sometimes, out-of-pocket bills can come months later and by proactively getting your statement on the record, you'll be in a better position later to deny any bills that may come your way out of this situation.

 

[Aqua2005]

i symphatize with you

i also experienced the same thing with regards to the dentist who managed to do dental works on my teeth 2 years ago..... but now everything seems to be on the wrong track..... well honestly, i want to sue him for medical malpractice.....but before doing that consult them first and tell them what really happened to their service with you...theres nothing wrong settling this with thr right people involved

 

[Clipper965]

I Tried

I tried that at the begining, they stuck their middle fingers up at me. These giant HMOS have an army of lawyers to protect them. They knew no lawyer would take my case because they judgement would be too small to make it worth their while.

i also experienced the same thing with regards to the dentist who managed to do dental works on my teeth 2 years ago..... but now everything seems to be on the wrong track..... well honestly, i want to sue him for medical malpractice.....but before doing that consult them first and tell them what really happened to their service with you...theres nothing wrong settling this with thr right people involved