I went to the dentist in January of 2020 to consult regarding a new overdenture over my 4 existing mini implants. I was leaving the state in March 2020 and needed to know if it could be done in time. The dentist told me he would have it done in 3 weeks, but it took him 9 weeks. When I went in for the final denture, it didn’t fit properly. So he forced it in and sent me home.
It was very hard to eat with it, and taking it out was extremely hard. Putting it back in wasn’t happening; it wouldn’t go in.
I called his office the very next day and explained the situation, but the dentist I saw was out of the office. I saw a different dentist in that office, and he said it wasn’t drilled out properly around the attachments. The denture slanted slightly backward. His office called me on the 14th and said he ordered the parts and everything should be fixed.
I am very unhappy with this dentist, and I am leaving the state, so I have no time to wait for them to fix it. Do I have the right to ask for a refund?
Thank You!
-Pam from California
Pam,
Yes, you do have the right to ask for a refund. You made an agreement with this dentist for your overdenture, and he agreed to have it done in three weeks. He didn’t have it done in three weeks, not even close, and he didn’t deliver an acceptable product.
You have the upper hand here. You can leave him a bad review, which no dentist wants. However, you can also offer to leave him a good review regarding his integrity if he makes this right with you.
If that doesn’t work, you can complain to the dental board. Lastly, you can file a malpractice lawsuit, although I don’t think this case will need to go that far.
As far as the dentures go, it should’ve only taken him the three weeks and the fact that it took three times that long shows poorly on him. Then when he did get it done, it didn’t fit. His promise of ordering the parts and fixing it isn’t something I would bank on because he hasn’t been able to follow through with his other promises.
There isn’t typically very much training in dental school for implant dentistry, so dentists need to take post-graduate training to become experts in that area.
I would start by nicely asking this dentist for a refund and offer to write a nice review for him. If he resists, I would get tougher and threaten to go to the dental board. Make sure to follow through with that threat if he still resists. Dentists do not want complaints made to the dental board, so I suspect it won’t have to go that far.
I wish you luck and hope everything turns out fine.
Thank you
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