I’m a US citizen. I went to a dentist in Ontario (I live on the Canadian border). He put in implants which went okay. But between the time I paid him in full and he put in the prothesis the old experienced lab guy retired and he had a new guy. The prothesis he made is breaking up in my mouth. In 3 weeks two of the teeth have broken off and the fillings covering the implant screws have completely come out. I’m afraid to eat because I’m afraid it will break apart. Plus I feel like I have craters in the teeth and there are sharp edges. I AM NOT going back to him. He wants to “repair” it. Fat chance. I plan to ask him for a refund of the cost of the prothesis ($4,400CAD); if he doesn’t give me the refund, do they have a small claims court system in Canada like here in the US and does anyone know how to file, etc. For example, can I file by mail and then travel there to be in court. Or could there be any other means of forcing him to refund my money? I need to know asap because I paid him over $15,000 CAD and I have no more resources to have this fixed.
IANAL - however.
I belive that you have to give the dentist an opportunity to fix the problem before you will have any chance of an award in court (I’m not saying before you can take him to court - I’m saying before a judge would award you anything.)
If the prothesis was made incorrectly, that’s potentially not the fault of the dentist, but the technician who made it.
You should probably let him attempt to fix the problem.
As to the other, I belive that you can file by mail, but you have to be in court.
However, I really don’t think you’ll get anywhere until you’ve given him an opportunity to fix the error of the technician.
IANAL - however.
I belive that you have to give the dentist an opportunity to fix the problem before you will have any chance of an award in court (I’m not saying before you can take him to court - I’m saying before a judge would award you anything.)
If the prothesis was made incorrectly, that’s potentially not the fault of the dentist, but the technician who made it.
You should probably let him attempt to fix the problem.
As to the other, I belive that you can file by mail, but you have to be in court.
However, I really don’t think you’ll get anywhere until you’ve given him an opportunity to fix the error of the technician.
The dentist has the lab in his office and he and the technician worked on the prothesis and fitted it together. The technician is his employee so as his agent, doesn’t that make the dentist responsible? If it were minor of course I would go back to him because he would “fix” it for free. But it seems to be such major incompetence involved, and it takes so much of my time traveling to his office, that if they mess up again, not to mention the emotional distress and worry, why would I even think about going back to him? God I hate this. You can’t imagine what it is like having this mess bolted into your mouth.
It sounds really sucky.
Unfortunatly, I think you’ll have to at least give him one opportunity to fix it. If that doesn’t work, then you can demand your $$ back, and if you don’t get it, take him to small claims court and probably win.
However, I don’t think a judge would be that sympathetic if you never give him an opportunity to repair his (or his technicians) error. You said that the implants went ok - it kinda sounds like the lab/dentist made a really crappy (for you) mistake.
In the mean time, you could try sucking on some ice. It was really helpful after I had my wisdom teeth out.
My wife is a dentist and had this to say:
The dentist probably didn’t screw up anything directly, and it’s possible that the technician didn’t screw up either, and that the dentist ought to be afforded the opportunity to correct the problem. It’s possible that (1) the composites were bad resulting in premature destruction; (2) the technician did screw up and didn’t mix the right proportion of composite/hardener (or use the wrong ones completely!); or (3) the dentist did screw up by not sufficiently grinding the crown/filling/whatever once in your mouth – you should have been asked (1) how your bite felt and (2) bitten upon a carbon-paper-like substance to imprint the actual bite.
I’ll repeat the standard IANAL stuff here – she’s not licensed in your state and that’s not medical advice but a “friendly” explanation of some possibilities.
You’ve spent a lot of money with this guy, so it seems like you had some type of good relationship with him. Try talking to him and see if his explanation of what went wrong makes any sense, and try letting him make the repairs. Suggest that he outsource the tech work if you really don’t trust the new guy.
Thanks Balthisar. I needed a dentist’s opinion and they are so loath to criticize each other. I am under the impression that the new technician usually does dentures, but it seems to me that this prothesis would have to be much stronger as it isn’t sitting on the gums. The dentist did check the bite, but of course when you are eating your teeth are moving in all directions and it’s on the front rotational bite that the crown bangs against the lower tooth. He filled it too high from what I can see. So, it’s possible that the filling was mixed incorrectly? Would he have used composite resin like in a regular tooth, because that stuff lasts forever. whatever he put in there just cracked and broke out. He said something about bite forces not being balanced; but what guarantee do I have that this same problem won’t happen again? I have to go 800 miles to see him. so, legalities aside Balthisar, can your wife honestly say that the fillings falling out and the teeth breaking off could just be honest mistakes and that if it were her situation she would give him another shot? also, esthetically, the fillings were not “neat”; part of one in the front “spilled” over onto the resin gum. To me this was important as it indicated the care he had taken. Am I wrong? I hate this , I hate this, I hate this. I have to go home to take care of my father who has been put in a nursing home and I can’t even go back to see the dentist for a couple of months. I’m going to my old dentist just to have the holes filled in so I can stand it. This guy is a dental surgeon; I think he has overstepped his area of expertise with the prothesis part. Just my humble layman’s opinion.