Dentist Said He Gave Me Veneers but Didn’t

I had been communicating with my dentist about a smile makeover and told him I wanted porcelain veneers. We scheduled everything. His website is very clear about the difference between veneers and crowns. I was a bit concerned when I got my temporaries because it felt like he had ground my teeth down really far, which he told me wasn’t necessary for veneers. A few weeks later, I started getting pain in one of the teeth. I went in and he said it needed a root canal treatment. He told me sometimes that happens. That was not something we discussed. Then, another tooth needed one. Since this started I have had four root canals and lost one tooth when an infection blew up so quickly it couldn’t be saved. That is five teeth with problem out of eight veneers. But here is the kicker. When I went to the endodontist, he told me that I didn’t have veneers but dental crowns. I checked with my insurance company and he billed them for crowns. This means he knew all the time that he lied to me. Between that and all the extra appointments I want not just my money back, but also money for the root canals, tooth extraction, and a replacement I have yet to get, plus all my time lost at work. Is that possible?

Alexandra

Dear Alexandra,

I’d start with simply asking your dentist for the repayment. If he refuses, I think you have a good malpractice case here. Let me tell you why and then you can assure him that you understand the strength of your position.

First, an important standard in dentistry is informed consent. You were told you were getting porcelain veneers, not porcelain crowns, which means that you did not get informed consent. He might have gotten away with saying he was using the terms interchangeably had it not been for the fact that his website makes a clear distinction, including on the amount of tooth preparation, which you can see from the images above there is a huge difference between the two.

Add to that how badly he botched the case. I’m guessing that he aggressively over prepared the teeth for you to need all those root canal treatments as well as an extraction.

Tell him you are willing to talk to the dental board as well as a lawyer. That should sober him up.

This blog is brought to you by an AACD accredited dentist from Cincinnatti Dr. Fred Peck.