I went to my dentist and told him that I wanted a smile makeover with porcelain veneers. Let me be clear that his website has an entire page about porcelain veneers on it. I’ve since learned the pictures on it are stock photos. He told me that he’d give me porcelain veneers. I was a bit surprised when he ground down my teeth and he said this was normal unless you were doing Lumineers which he doesn’t like. He put temporaries on. After my procedure, I started having tooth pain, which my dentist also said was normal and that it would go away. It didn’t and the pain became so much that I ended up going to the ER. They told me I had a massive tooth infection. They did IV antibiotics to get the infection under control. My ER nurse told me privately that my dentist did not give me porcelain veneers but porcelain crowns. She also told me that pain isn’t normal with either the crowns or veneers. Her sister is a dentist and she had porcelain veneers herself. I went to see a different dentist to get a second opinion about these. He told me that the nurse was right, my dentist gave me crowns instead of veneers. He also told me that the tooth that sent me to the hospital would have to be extracted. It was too far gone. There were two other teeth with infections. I had root canals on them. He said the teeth were ground too much, which contributed to my problems. Bear in mind my original dentist called them veneers the whole time, even in written (on computer) communication. I did some research. It turns out he charged the insurance for crowns and I talked to some other patients and I know of one other patient that had a similar experience with this dentist. I’ve spent a fortune fixing teeth which were supposed to be my dream smile and there are still problems with them. Do I have any recourse for this?
Ted
Dear Ted,
What a horrible experience you’ve had. I’m definitely putting this in the cosmetic dentistry horror story file that I have. I do believe you should be able to get some recourse here. Your dentist didn’t just commit professional negligence, but I think this falls squarely in malpractice.
- He’s lied to you about your procedure, which means you did not give consent. You gave consent for porcelain veneers, but he gave you dental crowns.
- He ignored tooth pain, putting you at risk.
- He may have over-ground your teeth. You’ll need this verified by the second dentist.
- You’ve lost a tooth as a result and needed hospitalization.
- You’ve had to have other root canals on these teeth.
- Every tooth which was crowned is now weaker as a result.
I would gather your documentation of him calling them porcelain veneers,, take a screenshot of his porcelain veneers page showing that he knows the difference, get your ER documentation and doctor notes, and ask the second opinion dentist if he’d be willing to testify. Then, take all of that to a lawyer (including my response to your question) and see whether they’d be willing to represent you. I think you’ll get coverage of all your expenses from the malpractice as well as some for your pain and suffering.
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