Is this a negligence dentist if so what can I do?
I don’t have dental insurance, and I am on a semi fixed income. I had to move to a different state which meant changing dentist. Before the move I went to my old dentist at least once every six months without there being to many issues. Though I knew that I still needed three small cavities to be filled.
I had the work done by the new dentist in the state that I am now in. The new dentist stated there was a good chance that one of the cavities would need to have a root canal. So in stead of waiting for that to happen I let him do the work which cost me with the crown about $1800.00. The other two cavities he said were small so I only needed the filling which he also did.
Here is the problem, I am now having pain in one of the two fillings. There is no way I can afford another $1800.00 ! I feel as if he did not do the fillings right on purpose so that this will happen and I would have to come back for more work.
The reason I feel this way is because they did take a discount plan I had. I started to think that maybe having a discount plan was not a good idea. A good dentist would not have to take a discount plan to get customers would they? I feel sucker into buying a discount plan but I could not find insurance and do not have a job that offers dental insurance. The office was slow and not as clean as I would have liked. The staff was small and seem like they did not want to be there. Lastly I am in pain… When I was not in pain before he did the filling.
Should I see another dentist or go back to this one and call him out about what is going on.? Either way we are talking more money that I do not have. I just feel used and taken advantage of. This is making me sick and if I need more work I would have to sell off things just to get money to do it. This just dose not make sense to me. Please help what would you suggest?
Is this a negligence dentist if so what can I do?,
Wednesday, Sep. 9th 2009 10:28 AM at 10:28 am
This is just my opinion.
First off I really do not feel as if a dentist would do work bad on purpose like you suggested. Can there be a bad dentist yes but I am not sure that is what you have. In my opinion you may want to go back to the dentist that did the work. Ask him why now you have pain. If it is something he did wrong he just might fix the problem at no cost. If it is something new he can advise you and that will help you get a second opinion at a different dental office.
Also you stated you do not like your dental discount plan. depending on the state that you now live in I noted a site below that may be able to help you get dental insurance and not a plan.
http://www.insurancecompany.com
Wednesday, Sep. 9th 2009 10:47 AM at 10:47 am
I can understand about being on a fix income. Having dental work done is not alway inexpensive. Getting a dental discount plan is a good way to help off set your dental cost. Just because a dentist takes a discount plan does not mean that they are no good or bad dentist. The same benefits that a discount has for the user are the same for the dentist.
1) Yes they would hopefully increase their business. Who does not want to do that whether you are a busy office or not.
2) They are getting paid up front at the time services are render. This helps them since they do not have to wait for money from an insurance company.
3) There are no waiting period normally in a dental discount plan. Not only does that help the user but the dentist as well so that service needed can be done at the time they are needed.
4) There are no insurance company stating what will and will not be covered. So the decisions are between the user and the dentist.
These are all good factors for the user and well as a dentist. Many good dentist take discount plans. Please do not feel that you were sucker into buying a dental discount plan and that they only have bad dentist. Keep in mind bad dentist do not stay in business long therefore neither would the discount plans if all they had were bad dentist.
Try getting a second opinion if you feel that the dentist you went to was bad for you. Normally in a discount plan you can go to any dentist under the plan. See what a different dentist may have to say.
Wednesday, Sep. 9th 2009 11:21 AM at 11:21 am
First get a second opinion. I am not going to say that the dentist you went to is good or bad. I do not know that. However, at this point you do not feel right about him. With that being said find a dentist you feel better about.
Only this time maybe before making an appointment go check the office out. See if it looks busy, how clean it is, are the people there friendly. I say this since you stated this was an issue for you at the other office.
See if you can find a dentist that can give you a free or low cost consolation. Call around tell them briefly what you are going though they may be able to help.
As far as dental discount plans go they are not so bad. They work for many people. You might just not like them. If that is the case you can normally still get dental insurance for your self. I have listed a link for that I hope it helps.
http://www.drdental.com
Wednesday, Sep. 9th 2009 11:38 AM at 11:38 am
Being in pain is no fun. I had sort of the same kind of thing happen to me. I felt as if the dentist I went to messed up some how on my filling. I was just as upset as you are. I had insurance but it did not cover me to see a different dentist. So I paid out of pocket to get my second opinion. I found out that the original dentist I went to did nothing wrong. The pain I was having was because I had a hard food particle stuck between my tooth and gum. This was causing the pain. It just happen to be by the tooth I got fixed.
I am not saying this is what is happing to you just that it could be something as simple as that too. Maybe go back to your dentist that did the filling. Ask to see if he would check that for free since you just had it done. If you still feel the same way about him as before. Then go get that second opinion.
Good luck to you