Should I sue my dentist office?

I WENT TO MY DENTIST OFFICE WITH NEW INSURANCE...HAD XRAYS DONE ...AND HAD A SPECIFIC TREATMENT I WANTED DONE..BASICALLY MY TEETH WERE SPACING AND I WANTED THEM CLOSED UP. THE DENTIST TOLD ME THAT 1 TOOTH HAD BONE LOST AND RECOMMENDED I TAKE IT OUT AND DO A BRIDGE IN THE FRONT. AFTER THE EXAM SHE TOLD ME THAT MY YEARLY ALLOWANCE WAS 1250 DOLLARS FOR THE YEAR....I NEVER USED THE INSURANCE....SHE SAID I HAD OTHER THINGS THAT NEEDED TO BE DONE..SO I SHOULDN'T USE MY INSURANCE FOR THE BRIDGE...JUST PAY OUT OF POCKET 1200 DOLLARS..AND THAT WAY EVERYTHING COULD BE DONE. SO I HAD TO PAY 600 DOLLARS TO START THE PROCEDURE. SO I DID. THEY REMOVED THE TOOTH AND THEN TOLD ME THEY NEEDED TO TAKE THE ONE NEXT TO IT OUT. I JUST FOUND OUT THEY CHARGED MY INSURANCE FOR THE PROCEDURE AND MAXED ME OUT FOR 2 CROWNS..I DIDNT GET..AND I AM WEARING A TEMPORARY PIECE THAT BROKE AND THEY ARE REFUSING TO FIX IT..I THINK I BEEN FRAUDED..THEY GOT 1800-1900 BUCKS AND I GOT A PLASTIC TEMPORARY AND NO TEETH!

Should I sue my dentist office?
Depending on how much boneloss you have, removing the tooth/teeth may be the only option aside from major Periodontal work. Periodontist charge several hundreds of dollars just to get the gums in order, not including any bone grafting that could help maintain any teeth that have an "ify" prognosis.


It sounds like there is more of a miscommunication between you and your dentist and you should ask for the treatment plan IN WRITING along with what work has already been completed. Also a statement what work has been submitted to your insurance and any payments you have made and what the insurance co has made. Have the dental office give you a detailed break down explanation of the work done, work to do,the whole 9 yards!


Going in there with both barrels loaded is not getting you anywhere and it sounds as if this dentist has stopped trying to reason with you.


A temporary bridge is placed in the interim while a permanent bridge is being fabricated, but, sometimes the permanent bridge is put on hold while the dentist waits for the gums to heal and shrink up after extractions. If you had 1 or 2 teeth taken out, the bridge would in all likelihood span at least 4-6 teeth especially if they are concerned about a perio problem in your future, seeing that you have lost 1-2 teeth to a perio condition already.


It also means if you do get this bridge you need to be a FASTIDIOUS brusher and continue seeing a dentist on a regular basis to make sure that bridge has a longer lifespan.


Xrays will are taken prior to treatment because the insurance co. require this and because it is a record of what your dental history was prior to any treatment. This in all likelihood will work in favor of your dentist if you decide to take her to court because she can show your previous dental condition. Having a space were teeth were doesn't give you any proof to sue.(Also if your teeth were creating more space before any treatment, that is a huge indicator you have had perio problems and boneloss before this dentist got started, she may have tried to salvage the other tooth for your sake and found out after all her efforts it could not be done)


Get your records, copies of xrays (including the before the teeth were exrtracted) and get a second opinion.


If the second opinon concurs with you 1st dentist, then it is more thanlikely just a misunderstanding not a fraudulent claim.
Reply:yeah u could i fu got the proof they charged u for the stuff that u didn't get
Reply:contact your insurance agency, contact the better business bureau , and perhaps even the state dental board and between them all and you with the dentist it should clear itself up.
Reply:Call your insurance company and turn them in for insurance fraud. call them and tell them to.
Reply:Find a good lawyer and sue their asses off, royally. Also contact your insurance company and show the receipts for what you paid for at the dentist office
Reply:Okay, I'm a dental hygienist and I'm trying to understand your situation so I'll break it down for you and hopefully I'm understanding what you're saying and can help you out.





#1. As a speculation, teeth separate when you have bone loss. I'm just putting that out there. I don't know if that applies to you. So they told you to get a bridge, told you not to use your insurance for it and only charged $600 to get started? This is what I think happened. Either the dentist mispoke, or you misunderstood, or the front office did not understand what you and the dentist understood together. $600 sounds exactly right for your portion after insurace is applied. An extraction and bridge are considered MAJOR and usually only 50-60% covered by insurance, the rest is your portion. I say this because most dental offices won't just take a down-payment on work. They want all the money unless payment arrangments have been made prior. So it goes back to what I said. If you and the dentist agreed that it would just be paid by you, then the front office girl didn't get that and billed for it and only charged you your portion. I can tell you that an extration and two crown preps for a bridge cost way more than $600.





stick with me here:





#2. Since they did bill your insurance for the work, then the money you paid was just your portion. I'm not sure why they later decided that another tooth needed to be pulled. Maybe it had more bone loss than originally thought. I'm not sure, I can see your treatment notes or x-rays.





#3. Since they max you out for 2 crowns you do get the crowns. Hopefully a bridge and not just 2 final crowns with a hole in the middle. After the crown preps were made they took impressions right? It takes 14 days to get your crowns/bridge back from the lab. In the meanwhile, they gave you a temporary bridge. These are not made to be eaten with at all!!!! They will break, even under light pressure. They are for cosmetic reasons only. If they break, the office may be too busy to fit you in to fix it. It's not a big deal if it breaks, only that you are left with a gapping hole in the front and that's not fun for you.





#4. You should already have an appointment to get the final crowns and/or bridge placed. It should be about 14 days from the last appointment. If you did not get an appointment and they are refusing to see you then you have a problem. I would ask why they aren't finishing and hear them out. Dental offices do not defraud patients, but some on occasion will defraud an insurance company. Listen to their reasoning. Maybe there is something you don't understand. Maybe it cost more than you thought and they need another payment before finishing.





#5. If they don't finish the work that they billed the insurance company for, all you have to do is call your insurance company and they will take care of it. TRUST ME! Insurance companies will do a thorough investigation. They may ask you to go to another dentist for an evaluation and they will pay for it. Just notify your insurance company. Don't threaten to sue the dental office. You'll just make them upset at you and they will think you're crazy and you might just have a mis-communication here. If your office doesn't give you an answer that makes sense, just clarify with them that they billed for a procedure they didn't do and then tell them that it is your obligation to report it to your insurance company and leave it at that. Don't burn your bridge with your office or you'll never get the work finished there.





99% of the time it is a misunderstanding. I'm in this line of work so I know. Maybe someone didn't fully explain something to you. Either way, don't get too upset and yell or threaten them because that will get you nowhere since the dentist can release you as a patient and then you'll just be stuck.





I hope all this advice is helpful to you. Good luck!
Reply:yes you should
Reply:Listen to dental_hygienist! She had the patience to try to sort out your situation, and I totally admire her answer!!
Reply:Are you sure that you understood them right? I don't mean any offence by that, but I have seen in my experience that many problems between a patient and their dentist, is actually a result of a misunderstanding. I have seen patients get furious at my dentist, and once they are sat down and explained things in detail, they end up saying "Oh, now I understand."





I don't completely understand the situation with your insurance. However the $600 you paid, sounds like your insurance copay. Now, why they told you to just pay for the bridge out of pocket, is beyond me. What does it matter? If your insurance has a $1250 maximum, then it has a $1250 maximum, so whether you paid for the bridge yourself or paid for other dental treatment yourself, that wouldn't have changed how much your insurance was going to pay in one year. They should have just done whatever work was the most pressing, used the benefits that you had, and then if you used up all of them, then deal with that at that point.





Are you sure that they didn't put you in a temp to heal from the extractions before taking the permanant impression? Sounds to me like that might be what the plan was. They may be waiting for you to come back in for the final impression.



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