Bad dental work, where do I stand?

68 lost souls

Hello,

Im not sure if you remember but I recently was looking for a dentist on a Saterday. I wont name names here but I went to a dentist and got a filling from them. I had had a filling in the tooth but the supporting wall collapsed so they drilled out the old filling and put in a new one.

When they had finished the filling they were not happy with the contact so they did more work on it and then they said there was a little gap still and to just floss more often.

I asked about some other issues and they said go to your regular dentist and get them to look at it, which I did. I went to another dentist and they said I needed another filling on a different tooth and that the filling I had just gotten was sub par. They took x-rays and showed me, there was a shelf left where the filling was which was collecting food and a large gap for it to collect. I needed to get it redone again.

I made an an apointment and I am jsut back now from getting my 2 new fillings which they have done a much better job of.

Before I got the bad filling redone today I was was regularly remving large chunks of food from under my tooth and was in quite a lot of pain from pressure on the tooth and also was told that it was starting to get a bit wobbely.

Where do I stand since I have paid 190 to get the sub standard filling in March and another 165 to get the correct filling today. I should be able to complain and get my 190 euro back as the job was not up to standard and was not fit for purpose?

digzy

maybe dont go to the dentist on saturday;)

Plek Trum

Hhhmm, I would have gone back to the original dentist and informed them of the evaluation the second dentist gave (with my x-ray) and asked them to try and rectify the situation and improve the work already done.

There's not much they can do for you now that it has been re-filled / treated elsewhere and I doubt they will refund the money as they dont have any of the original work to look at and agree upon. Worth a phonecall but I wouldnt have much optimism about getting your money back...

georgieporgy

68 lost souls wrote: »

Hello,

Im not sure if you remember but I recently was looking for a dentist on a Saterday. I wont name names here but I went to a dentist and got a filling from them. I had had a filling in the tooth but the supporting wall collapsed so they drilled out the old filling and put in a new one.

When they had finished the filling they were not happy with the contact so they did more work on it and then they said there was a little gap still and to just floss more often.

I asked about some other issues and they said go to your regular dentist and get them to look at it, which I did. I went to another dentist and they said I needed another filling on a different tooth and that the filling I had just gotten was sub par. They took x-rays and showed me, there was a shelf left where the filling was which was collecting food and a large gap for it to collect. I needed to get it redone again.

I made an an apointment and I am jsut back now from getting my 2 new fillings which they have done a much better job of.

Before I got the bad filling redone today I was was regularly remving large chunks of food from under my tooth and was in quite a lot of pain from pressure on the tooth and also was told that it was starting to get a bit wobbely.

Where do I stand since I have paid 190 to get the sub standard filling in March and another 165 to get the correct filling today. I should be able to complain and get my 190 euro back as the job was not up to standard and was not fit for purpose?

if the first dentist had 2 goes at it and still left a space etc, and said you're done now just floss more, I think it is reasonable that you did not go back to let them try a third time. Your second dentist has the evidence of the below par work and he managed to fix it. If I was the first dentist and you dropped me a note with all that info, I'd be mortified and reaching for my cheque book.

digsy's right though. best to stick with one's regular dentist.

68 lost souls

I know I should stick with one dentist that I trust and normally I would except for that the damage happened after 8PM at night and I didnt want to leave it for 3 days to get fixed as I didnt know the full extent of the damage.

Yeah I didnt want to let them try a third time because I didnt want to risk even more damage, bad work and pain. Another issue showing the difference of work when I was getting the bad filling done and it started getting soar the dentist just drilled for a shorter length of time and took breaks, the dentist today realised that there was a secon nerve going to that tooth and gave me a second injectin on the outside of my jaw. They also cleaned the rest of my teeth while waiting for the nerves to go numb which was good.

A phone call to the company has now told me that they want a complaint in writing.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

There is a lot of skill and art in dental work, not all dentists are equally as good although all will have met a basic level of competence. With the media pushing the cost of an examination, filling, root canal or extraction as if there were off the shelf items that each dentist does exactly the same, often means that patients often forget that a good dentist is often worth paying a bit more or waiting a bit longer for cause they take their time and do better work. This is true of all healthcare, it aint what you do its the way that you do it

68 lost souls wrote: »

A phone call to the company has now told me that they want a complaint in writing.

Yeah, the word company tells me all I need to know here.

garhjw

Franklin Thoughtless Space wrote: »

There is a lot of skill and art in dental work, not all dentists are equally as good although all will have met a basic level of competence. With the media pushing the cost of an examination, filling, root canal or extraction as if there were off the shelf items that each dentist does exactly the same, often means that patients often forget that a good dentist is often worth paying a bit more or waiting a bit longer for cause they take their time and do better work. This is true of all healthcare, it aint what you do its the way that you do it



Yeah, the word company tell me all I need to know here.

well said Franklin Thoughtless Space. you only get 1 set of teeth so they need to be looked after properly.

OP, at least no damage was done and the bad work was rectified.

I really hope you follow through with your complaint.

digzy

68 lost souls wrote: »

A phone call to the company has now told me that they want a complaint in writing.

Maybe there's a reason why the dental council dont want dentists setting up companies? Situations like this illustrate how important it is to have one dentist who is accountable to the patient.

The parasites who run these chains have no interest in the patients-its just another business. Despite all the bad press dentists get for being greedy the vast majority take serious pride in their work and supplying quality treatment is our priority.

68 lost souls

I dont think the place Im talking about is the place a lot of you are thinking about just to say.

I understand that you are paying extra for better skills and that and I dont mind paying the extra. I have done too much damage to my teeth already from when I was a teenager with a very sweet tooth and know I need to take much better care.

I tried 4 or 5 other dentists before I went to this place and I choose it over another cmompany because I have heard bad things about that other company and have my reservations about their ethics and business model but expected the place I went to to be good as I know people that have used them before.

I do wish I didnt get so worried when I damaged my tooth initially and I probably would have waited, the annoying thing is I was plannin on making an appointment with the good dentist on the Monday anyway before the damage happened.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Recommendations for corporates don't work because you have now way of knowing what dentist the person doing the recommending saw or even if they do know, you probably wont see the same dentist or that dentist may have moved on, and this is the specific dentist factor that decides on how good or bad your experience will be.