I had a nightmare of a dental experience and want to know if there is a way to get my money back. I was in for a crown and three fillings. I thought the gas would help me but it didn’t really do anything. At the beginning of the procedure, the dentist cut my upper lip. He didn’t even apologize. Worse than that, he kept placing his finger on it during the procedure. Then he dropped a bit of chemical in my eye. Again, no apology. The last straw came when he was drilling on my back molar and slipped cutting my tongue! His assistant gasped, but he acted like it was no big deal. He never apologized for any of it. He did call the next day to check on me because of the “amount of work” I had done, but he still won’t admit he did anything wrong. My tongue is swollen and I feel like he should give me a refund for all the accidents during the procedure.
Laura
Dear Laura,
Sleep dentistry changes lives
It sounds like your dentist is in a defensive posture and unwilling to admit any wrongdoing. While you at the very least deserve an apology, I do not think you are going to get one. You have a couple of choices, you can just accept it and move on or try to force the issue. Though definitely not an ideal experience at the dentist, I don’t think it would be worth your time to try to pursue recourse. honestly, it would end up costing you more to try and force the issue. One thing you could do is leave a review warning other potential patients of your experience.
There is something I would like to bring up that I think will help you. You mentioned that the gas did not have much of an effect on you. When that happens, it is a sign that you have some underlying dental anxiety, which isn’t surprising given the lack of care your dentist seems to have for his patients. With mild dental anxiety, gas is enough. But, if you have stronger anxiety, you may need something like oral conscious sedation. This will completely relax you. In fact, most patients find that they are so relaxed that they sleep through their appointments.
As I don’t think you will want to stay with your current dentist, your best option is to look for a sedation dentist who offers this option for you.
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