Dental Malpractice: Advice Needed

[zealot777]

I went to Western Dental and had an oral surgery performed called expose and bond. Their oral surgeon cut the upper roof of my mouth open in order to attach two chains to two adult impacted teeth that never came down into proper position. He attached the chains, and then sowed me back up. The Orthodontist later attached the other ends of the chains to my braces. The braces are needed in order to use as an anchor to pull the impacted teeth into position. The expose and bond procedure, for both teeth, cost me over $800 -paid in full. Several months later, one of the chains attached to one of the impacted teeth came out. Their new oral surgeon felt uncomfortable performing the surgery on me again (is this the kind of people they hire?). So they referred me to another oral surgeon at another office. I have to repeat the same procedure, and not only will it cost me more blood and pain, but also more money. Western Dental refused to refund me the money I paid for the initial expose and bond surgery. Instead, they claimed that the money I paid for the surgery will go to my outstanding balance. The problem with this, is that I do not have an outstanding balance. I have had three accounts at this facility. Two are completely paid off. I have been making monthly payments for the braces --the last balance --, but since I requested to have my account completely terminated, and am no longer receiving treatment from them (due to what I perceive to be incompetence on their part) I should not owe any money. I want the money back that I paid for the expose and bond procedure (for the one chain that detached, about $400). What are my rights? Thank you.

 

[zealot777]

By the way, I am in California.

 

[Zigner]

By the way, I am in California.

I hope getting details isn't going to be like pulling teeth.

 

[zealot777]

I hope getting details isn't going to be like pulling teeth.

I gave all relevant information and details. The thing about what state I live in: this made no sense to me because it gave no place to answer. It makes no sense to begin my thread with "I live in California. Oh, by the way, the reason I am making this thread is...,etc."

Also, my initial thread was deleted before I even got it posted because I had an improper tag --it exceeded twenty-five characters. The problem is that it no where said I was limited to less than twenty-five characters. So, when I clicked back, to correct the "problem," my post was totally deleted so I had to start again. I suppose every forum has it's problems and technical issues. With that said, your comment is totally irrelevant to the thread at hand.

 

[ecmst12]

I had this procedure done when I was a teenager and it SUCKED, I feel your pain. But, what did the surgeon do that made the chain break/detach? I was constantly having to get brackets replaced on my braces when I was a kid but it was because I ate or chewed on something I shouldn't have, not because the ortho did anything wrong.

 

[Zigner]

I gave all relevant information and details.

You edited your thread AFTER I posted that.

The thing about what state I live in: this made no sense to me because it gave no place to answer. It makes no sense to begin my thread with "I live in California. Oh, by the way, the reason I am making this thread is...,etc."

Actually, it makes perfect sense when you recognize that each state has its own set of laws.

Also, my initial thread was deleted before I even got it posted because I had an improper tag --it exceeded twenty-five characters. The problem is that it no where said I was limited to less than twenty-five characters. So, when I clicked back, to correct the "problem," my post was totally deleted so I had to start again. I suppose every forum has it's problems and technical issues. With that said, your comment is totally irrelevant to the thread at hand.

My comment was apropos.

 

[zealot777]

I had this procedure done when I was a teenager and it SUCKED, I feel your pain. But, what did the surgeon do that made the chain break/detach? I was constantly having to get brackets replaced on my braces when I was a kid but it was because I ate or chewed on something I shouldn't have, not because the ortho did anything wrong.

It is what he did not do. Evidently he did not do his job right.

 

[ecmst12]

You don't seem to have any actual evidence of wrongdoing by the doctor though. The chain could have failed for lots of reasons having nothing to do with anything in the control of the doctor. Including some reasons that are completely in YOUR control. You can't legally place blame on the surgeon just because he installed the part.

 

[barry1817]

I went to Western Dental and had an oral surgery performed called expose and bond. Their oral surgeon cut the upper roof of my mouth open in order to attach two chains to two adult impacted teeth that never came down into proper position. He attached the chains, and then sowed me back up. The Orthodontist later attached the other ends of the chains to my braces. The braces are needed in order to use as an anchor to pull the impacted teeth into position. The expose and bond procedure, for both teeth, cost me over $800 -paid in full. Several months later, one of the chains attached to one of the impacted teeth came out. Their new oral surgeon felt uncomfortable performing the surgery on me again (is this the kind of people they hire?). So they referred me to another oral surgeon at another office. I have to repeat the same procedure, and not only will it cost me more blood and pain, but also more money. Western Dental refused to refund me the money I paid for the initial expose and bond surgery. Instead, they claimed that the money I paid for the surgery will go to my outstanding balance. The problem with this, is that I do not have an outstanding balance. I have had three accounts at this facility. Two are completely paid off. I have been making monthly payments for the braces --the last balance --, but since I requested to have my account completely terminated, and am no longer receiving treatment from them (due to what I perceive to be incompetence on their part) I should not owe any money. I want the money back that I paid for the expose and bond procedure (for the one chain that detached, about $400). What are my rights? Thank you.

If I were treating you and the chain broke, I would be looking to redo it so that treatment could continue.

Having dealt with large dental groups, I have seen that a new dentist doesn't normally want to take over the treatment of a previous dentist, because of the perception that a problem exists, and doesn't want to get caught in the middle.

So they pass the patient on, which is not good for the patient or for the reputation of the group


I would contact the state dental board, and file a complaint about the treatment received. They have a large file on Western Dental
and you might get this looked into very quickly.

 

[zealot777]

You don't seem to have any actual evidence of wrongdoing by the doctor though. The chain could have failed for lots of reasons having nothing to do with anything in the control of the doctor. Including some reasons that are completely in YOUR control. You can't legally place blame on the surgeon just because he installed the part.

Is this legal advice, or unprofessional subjective opinion? The wrong doing is that the oral surgeon did not attach the chain correctly. And that when they were going to repeat the procedure (free for me, since I already paid for it) the newly hired oral surgeon did not feel comfortable doing it. I already paid for this procedure. Therefore, they should either (1) repeat the procedure with someone competent or (2) reimburse me the money. The manager (now fired) was going to reimburse me the money, by the way.

 

[ecmst12]

That's legal information. What EVIDENCE do you have that it was not attached correctly? Do you have another expert that would be willing to testify that it was installed incorrectly? Did the surgeon himself tell you that he did something wrong? Or are you inferring that it was installed wrong just because it failed? Because that is a completely unfounded assumption (without actual evidence) and will get you nowhere in court.

 

[zealot777]

barry, good point. virtually every time I would go to Western Dental for follow-up appointments, there would be new people working there. I think they went through about three Orthodontists while I was there, one oral surgeon --that I know of -- and several front desk receptionists. Soon after I started going there, they fired seven employees. Even managers were coming and going. One of their new managers told me that if I had any problems with anything, to ask for her. Well, when I called and asked for her, she was gone!

 

[ecmst12]

None of which is evidence that would be relevent to your case.

 

[zealot777]

That's legal information. What EVIDENCE do you have that it was not attached correctly? Do you have another expert that would be willing to testify that it was installed incorrectly? Did the surgeon himself tell you that he did something wrong? Or are you inferring that it was installed wrong just because it failed? Because that is a completely unfounded assumption (without actual evidence) and will get you nowhere in court.

The evidence that it was not attached correctly, is the fact that it detached --I was told that sometimes they detach if the tooth the bracket was placed on was not dry enough at the time they cemented the bracket to it. So I have to suffer because the oral surgeon did not make sure things were dry enough -- And the fact that the other one did not fall out. Yes, I have other expert's willing to testify on my behalf: Western Dental itself admitted this, by virtue of the fact that they were going to repeat the procedure free of charge, implying that something had gone wrong. But due to the lack of self-confidence in their newly hired oral surgeon, I was forced to go elsewhere. The oral surgeon did not admit he did anything wrong, because he is no longer working there. The fact the chain failed, proves it was done incorrectly. What you are saying is that except for the actual evidence, there is no evidence, which is of course absurd. Had I been at fault, Western Dental never would have offered to repeat the procedure (for free), or offer to pay me back the money (lwhich they did).

 

[ecmst12]

The fact the chain failed, proves it was done incorrectly.

No, it doesn't. There is more than one possible reason for the failure. You were told that SOMETIMES it can detach if the surface was not properly prepared...but you were not told that's definitely what happened TO YOU. They can just as convincingly claim that it detached because you bit down on something that you should not have been biting on and not taking proper care of your braces. Both your claim and their claim would be pure speculation, and because you have no objective evidence proving that your theory is correct and theirs is not, the judge would have to find in favor of the defendent. That they offered to re-do it for free just means they were attempting to provide good customer service. It is absolutely not admissible evidence of any wrongdoing on their part. So basically you've got nothing. They offered to do it for free, you CHOSE to go elsewhere and so incur the extra cost.