I
iceepoli
Guest
I recently went to the dentist for a followup appt and had the most horrible experience at the office (in Duarte, California). I had scheduled an appt at 4:30pm and came into the office early at 3:45pm. I sat waiting to be called in and noticed that a man who came in after me got called in first. I went to the receptionist and asked her about when I would be called in. She said in a short while. At approximately 5:15pm, I was finally called into the exam room. I sat there for another hour (6:15) before the dentist came in. He had not reviewed my records and came in asking whether I was in for a quick checkup. I said no; I was in for a followup. Because I needed to have a cavity filled out, he gave me an injection of local anesthesia and said he would be back in a few minutes to check up on me. About half an hour later (6:45pm), he came and and gave a second shot of anesthesia. He said he would be back shortly. During the entire wait, I kept asking the dental assistants about when the dentist would return. They kept falsely telling me he would be in in a few minutes. At about 7:30pm, the dentist still had not returned and I walked out of my exam seat to ask the assistants again. They kept telling me that the dentist would come, and the receptionist even acknowledged that I had come in early for my appt. I told her that I came in at 3:45pm, and it was now past 7:30 and that I had to leave. I had been given two shots of anesthesia and my mouth was numb, and I was extremely anguished and frustrated by the way the dentist and his staff were treating me. During the time that I was waiting for the dentist, I could hear him examining other patients and ignoring me, even though he was aware I had been waiting for a long period of time because I saw him pass by the room I was in several times. The incident at the office was both psychologically and emotionally traumatizing for me because I kept sitting there, falsely being led to expect that the dentist would take care of my dental filling, and at the same time, feeling anxious about the dental work that I would have to undergo. I felt discriminated against because not only had other patients been allowed to see the dentist before me even though they came later, but I felt that the dentist and staff did not take my concerns seriously because they believed I was just a petite person with a childlike voice. Altogether, took a day off from work and wasted approximately 4 hours at dentist and came away feeling anguished with a numb mouth and with the trouble of needing to locate another dentist to perform my dental work. My question now is, what are my options at this point? Is there any way I can fight against the ill treatment I received?