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Dentist Haphazardly Grinded Top Front Teeth

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sallysez

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?California. I went to a Periodontist for a consultation (he came highly recommended by 3 dentists & 2 patients). In his waiting room a video was playing about Porcelein Veneers. I sat in the exam chair and he said there are ways to fix 2 spaces on the sides of my top 2 front teeth. I said "No, I like my teeth the way they are". He noted one top front tooth was a bit longer than the other and said he would grind it (I said fine because it was a bit longer). He subsequently grinded all top 4 front teeth (for "esthetic" reasons only). I looked in the mirror to see my teeth were much shorter and teeth were rounded out by the grinding that the spaces appear much larger. Now my teeth are ugly and I can't even speak correctly because of the airflow he caused by widening the gaps. My belief is that he over-grinded the one longer tooth and subsequently grinded all 4 teeth to compensate for it.

I went back to him. Prior to my complaint he mentioned he let the dental assistant go (interestingly the only witness to this procedure). I calmly complained about my teeth, speech impairment and he flat out denied doing it, he said he only grinded a little off and replied "So, Sue me". I will file a complaint with the state board. I've been to 2 dentists who say that porcelein veneers would be the ideal way to correct this (they last 10 years and would cost $4-5,000). One dentist mentioned why would a periodontist be grinding teeth when perio/gum problems are his specialty? (I was simply hoping the periodontist would offer to correct it even at a discount, but he obviously didn't want to admit any liability).

My evidence is limited to before & after pictures and many witnesses to my teeth appearance (one friend said they look like "snaggle teeth" "trailer trash teeth" now). I have no former dental impressions of these teeth and a dentist said that prior xrays aren't proof. This is highly stressful and his response "So, sue me" is highly unethical, unprofessional, and abusive and I'm highly distressed over this. I haven't lost any work over this. I liked my teeth very much before but I will never have my natural teeth again, they will have to be ground down to accept porcelein veneers, and there is no guarantee I will like veneers any better. What would my damages potentially be besides correcting my teeth for possibly a lifetime? Would I be able to seek damages for emotional stress? Or, would it be better to try small claims court & seek the max $5,000 for porcelein veneers (they will last up to 10 years)? Thank you.
 
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barry1817

Senior Member
sallysez said:
What is the name of your state?California. I went to a Periodontist for a consultation (he came highly recommended by 3 dentists & 2 patients). In his waiting room a video was playing about Porcelein Veneers. I sat in the exam chair and he said there are ways to fix 2 spaces on the sides of my top 2 front teeth. I said "No, I like my teeth the way they are". He noted one top front tooth was a bit longer than the other and said he would grind it (I said fine because it was a bit longer). He subsequently grinded all top 4 front teeth (for "esthetic" reasons only). I looked in the mirror to see my teeth were much shorter and teeth were rounded out by the grinding that the spaces appear much larger. Now my teeth are ugly and I can't even speak correctly because of the airflow he caused by widening the gaps. My belief is that he over-grinded the one longer tooth and subsequently grinded all 4 teeth to compensate for it.

I went back to him. Prior to my complaint he mentioned he let the dental assistant go (interestingly the only witness to this procedure). I calmly complained about my teeth, speech impairment and he flat out denied doing it, he said he only grinded a little off and replied "So, Sue me". I will file a complaint with the state board. I've been to 2 dentists who say that porcelein veneers would be the ideal way to correct this (they last 10 years and would cost $4-5,000). One dentist mentioned why would a periodontist be grinding teeth when perio/gum problems are his specialty? (I was simply hoping the periodontist would offer to correct it even at a discount, but he obviously didn't want to admit any liability).

My evidence is limited to before & after pictures and many witnesses to my teeth appearance (one friend said they look like "snaggle teeth" "trailer trash teeth" now). I have no former dental impressions of these teeth and a dentist said that prior xrays aren't proof. This is highly stressful and his response "So, sue me" is highly unethical, unprofessional, and abusive and I'm highly distressed over this. I haven't lost any work over this. I liked my teeth very much before but I will never have my natural teeth again, they will have to be ground down to accept porcelein veneers, and there is no guarantee I will like veneers any better. What would my damages potentially be besides correcting my teeth for possibly a lifetime? Would I be able to seek damages for emotional stress? Or, would it be better to try small claims court & seek the max $5,000 for porcelein veneers (they will last up to 10 years)? Thank you.

Going to small claims is a quick way but there is no guarantee that you will be successful and replacing natural teeth with veneers, and having to replace them with time makes the cost of this error more than the one time cost of the repair.

If you have photos that will help.

X-rays should be of value as the size of the tooth is there on the x-ray and can be compared.

Anytime there is a space between teeth, as you shorten the teeth the appearance of the space will seem greater.

You are correct in your assumption about the periodonist not being the one to treat for veneers. I am also interested if you have taken notes of the times that you have been back and the comments made, which should correlate with what is in his chart. If he isn't making notes about your visits and comments that would indicate a shoddy charting system which would tip the scales in your favor in front of lay people.

I would recomment a consult with a specialist to see what can be done, costs, and then have the consult with an attorney.

If you are going to seek to pursue legal action you are going to need a dentist to state that a problem exists, that the problem was caused by the dentist and what the remedies should be. Without anyone to back up your assertions you really won't have much of a case because it would be your word against a dentist in an area that the dentist is presumed to have the knowledge and skills that you don't.

Don't know if this helps or not but feel free to e-mail me directly if you have further questions.

[email protected]
 

sallysez

Junior Member
Hi Barry, Thanks for your reply. Can you tell me what the criteria for class action lawsuits is? I doubt it would apply for this, but I have learned of 2 other women whom this periodontist has done the same thing to but they have done nothing about it. They are past their one year criteria for filing malpractice. Just wondering if collectively we could file a class action, if a longer period of time applies from date of discovery and how many people does it take to file a class action lawsuit? I'm also wondering if this may be a discrimination issue, but a lot of women would need to come forward to determine that. Thank you.
 

sallysez

Junior Member
Hi Barry, I read your reply to the poster "Wrong tooth extracted" and what you say is true. Also, the poster won't know the extent of damages until he seeks mutiple opinions from dentists, it may exceed small claims jurisdiction. For instance, in my case, I saw 2 dentists who said I need 4 veneers or orthodontics (orthodontics alone will not lengthen my now shortened teeth plus orthodontics will compromise my perio-disease as braces will make it hard to clean and mobilizing the teeth is not good for the gums at this stage)
Then I talked to an attorney as you suggested to find 4 veneers $5,000 is too small a case to take (even though veneers don't last forever).

Well I went to a third dentist who said that 4 veneers would make my teeth too large and he recommended 10 veneers to create the right symmetry ($10k though veneers only last 10-12 yrs). I will be visiting 1-2 more dentists and an orthodontist on this concern, still seeking the best way to correct this and what true damages are, and then I'll contact an attorney again. I will also see an oral surgeon to make sure this same periodontist didn't grind too much of my back maxilla bone during a perio-surgery, seeing as I now don't trust his work, and that my bite is off now).

What can start out being a small problem such as the "wrong tooth extracted" can end up being a much larger problem than just getting an implant for $2,000. What gets me upset is that if I get the needed veneers I will never have my natural nice teeth again, they will need to be replaced probably an additional 2 more times in my lifetime. What I would like to know is if there can be damages for never having my natural nice teeth again, for enduring all the embarrassment how my teeth look now, speech impediment from it, and there is no guarantee the veneers will look better.
 

barry1817

Senior Member
veneers

Remember that in a legal action you should speak to your attorney about having costs to replace part of the action, should there be a case, and if something is to last 10 years, then if you are 40, there should be at least three replacements or 4 treatments in your damages, not the initial cost.

It truly bothers me that when others have responded to dental issues they completely ignore the need to replace with time which would not have happened if the error did not occur.

I don't know the criteria or credentials of some of those that have responded to dental issues, but if you aren't versed in specific dental codes, which make issues black and white, or with the practice of dentistry, some of the responses have missed the point.

[email protected]
 

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