People have to remember something. Like auto mechanics, dentists are in a good position to rip people off, & many are willing to in a bad economy.
Since I've had extensive dental work (30 crowns, 2 bridges & 29 root canals), I've encountered 3 scam dentists. One almost cost me my life.
1. An excellent family dentist who we trusted for several years. He replaced 4 crowns & did 5 root canals. Then, I chipped a front crown when I bit into a peach & hit the stone. He tried to convince me to replace ALL 8 front crowns ($1,400.00 each). Replacing a crown involves a lot of trauma to the teeth, jaws & gums - lots of drilling & pressure. When I asked him why he couldn't replace the one damaged crown, he tried to convince me that it would be hard to match the color. He should have known that I knew that was B.S. A digital photo is taken of the other teeth & sent to the lab to match the color, which is exactly what he did. But I never saw him again; I couldn't trust a dentist who was willing to put me through a lot of unnecessary trauma to rip me off for $11,200.00. He's pretty stupid because everyone in my family stopped seeing him.
2. When an old bridge needed to be removed to treat decay, the dentist tried to talk me into an implant instead of a new bridge. He explained that "The bridge will fail, then I'll need an implant anyway." He didn't know I had already researched the procedure. The real reason he wanted to do an implant was because of the $6,000.00 price vs $3,000.00 for the bridge. I also explained to him that I learned that implants were not a good idea for diabetics due to the higher chance of failure. I made the mistake of allowing him to do the bridge. He deliberately made the bridge too short & I was unable to chew on that side due to the gap between the upper & lower teeth. The purpose was to teach me a lesson about not doing what he wanted. That didn't work out very well for him. After my complaint to the dental board and finding another dentist to re-do the bad bridge, he was forced to refund me the $3,000.00. I had to wait a year for the area to completely heal before replacing the bridge - chewing on one side, only.
3. 4 years ago, I needed a root canal. After having many root canals, I know that constant pain after the procedure is not a good sign. I spoke to the dentist several times & he repeatedly said it was normal & prescribed opiods, which didn't help. A couple of days later, my face started swelling up & I had trouble standing & walking. I went to the ER (barely in time) & they diagnosed Sepsis--which is often fatal-- & also the infection caused my blood sugar to suddenly spike to 705. I was in the ICU for 3 days & 5 more days in the hospital. All because the dentist did a rushed, incomplete root canal, leaving infection behind, then sealing the tooth (verified by another dentist who re-did the root canal). Of course I disputed the $1,100.00 charge & he called me after I was discharged from the hospital, demanding payment. And he was very angry at my detailed review I posted to warn others.
After laughing at him, I told him "You're lucky you're still breathing; quit while you're ahead."
