Posted by Shaelle on December 06, 2000 at 01:07:31:

In Reply to: Should I SUE my dentist? posted by anonymous on December 01, 2000 at 13:08:59:

: Well said Elise!

: Now here's a question I pose to all. Would you sue your dentist if this happened to you and if so, for how much would you sue for?

: My dentist did a root canal on me 2 months ago. Instead of the post-op pain getting less and less, it got worse and worse. I went back to my dentist 2 weeks after the procedure to complain of the pain. He took an X-Ray and said he didn't see any infection, but I might be developing one. I could actually FEEL the filling in my tooth moving around. I questioned him on this and he said it's nothing. I asked if the filling was too tight, and he said, no it's actually not tight enough. He said he didn't make it really tight on purpose because the tooth the root canal was done on (#6) was close to the sinuses and all this mumbo jumbo. So I took the antibiotic Keflex for a week, still the pain was there. So the brainiac dentist decides I might need an apicoectomy and sent me to an oral surgeon. Oral surgeon said I didn't need one and the pain was just my body trying to fight off "the infection". Oral surgeon admitted he couldn't see any infection in the X-Ray but speculated that it might be there.

: Okay, two months after the procedure I go to ANOTHER dentist (let's call him Hometown Dentist), a dentist from my hometown and show him my tooth. He took X-Rays and said the reason for my pain is namely because the filling in my tooth was not done properly (it was pencil thin and lots of spaces were left!). He said that if the cavity in the tooth is not filled completely, bacteria grows. The infection resulting from the bacterial growth is hard to fight b/c as a result of the root canal, I have no nerves or blood supply going there to fight it. So I told the Hometown Dentist to just fix it and he did. But the cost of the Re-treatment of the Root Canal was $325 ($50 for the exam and $275 for the retreatment).

: I had to pay this out of my own pocket because the insurance company would not pay for it. I want the dentist who screwed me up in the first place to pay for it. I called him and he said "Well every dentist has their own opinion, blah blah blah" and said he wouldn't pay it. When I mentioned lawsuit for personal injury, he said "ok give me the the number of the dentist who retreated you and I'll ask him exactly what he did".

: Problem, Hometown dentist is unavailable till January because he himself is being sued for divorce.

: What to do? I want to sue the dentist's ass, but with all these complications, do you all really think it's worth it? I've already paid the $325 I owed the Hometown dentist but I think it's so unfair. Besides, I had to take two days off my vacation time at work to drive 250 miles each way to my hometown to get the treatment done. (BTW, ever since Hometown dentist treated me, I feel great!, no more pain).

: So sue or not to sue? Or should I just never go back to this crummy dentist again, BUT make sure I report him to the insurance company?

:
: Please help. What would you do in this situation?

Ask Home town dentist to write a report of his findings and a report of completed treatment. THEN give crummy dentist phone number of home town dentist. Tell Crummy dentist you want him to pay you for the cost of only the treatment that was needed to correct the crummy work. Mainly because you probably could have found a good compentent dentist closer that 250 miles away. Tell Crummy dentist that you will take him to small claims court for $325. And tell him you are also reporting him to your state board of dental examiners. You may not be the only one who has recieved crummy treatment. If this Crummy dentist has a history of Crummy treatment on other people, the state board should know about it, and if he is notorious for it, the state could make him take some continuing education before he will be legally allowed to do further root canal therapy's on more people.
Also I am glad to hear that you have a dentist that you do like and that you can trust. Ask home town dentist if he knows of any good dentists in your area.
Most of all DONT GO BACK TO THE CRUMMY DENTIST!!!
GOOD LUCK!