Dentist Lied About My “Veneers”
Question submitted by: Laura
I’d been communicating with my dentist about getting porcelain veneers. In each communication, he clearly calls them veneers. His website has a page on both, one for dental crowns and one for porcelain veneers. The explanation for each is different. I’m saying all of this to make it clear that this dentist knows the difference between the two procedures. Unfortunately for me, he misrepresented things and gave me eight porcelain crowns instead of veneers. On top of that, he ground down the teeth too far and three of them have needed root canal treatments and another ended up being extracted. Do I have any recourse for this? He insists they are interchangeable.
Laura
Dear Laura,
I think you have a good case for malpractice here. You have clear documentation on what you agreed for your dentist to provide for you. His own website shows that he knows the difference between the two procedures. His comment that the two are interchangeable is bogus. They are not. While someone who has a porcelain veneer placed can then have a crown instead, the opposite is not true. Once your teeth are ground down for dental crowns, there is no way to reverse that process to give you a porcelain veneer.
Not only did he do work on you that you did not give consent for, which is a huge no-no in dental work, he also botched the work. By over grinding the teeth, he caused you to need root canal treatments and even lose a tooth. Just so you know, that tooth will need to be replaced as soon as possible to avoid having the other teeth shift or tip into the empty space. If that happens it will throw off your bite and can even lead to TMJ Disorder. I recommend a dental implant. That is the closest thing to a healthy, natural tooth.
I’m assuming that you had a second opinion and that is how you ended up with the root canals and extraction, as well as learned that you had crowns instead of veneers. You will need that dentist to help you with your lawsuit. You’ll be required to have expert testimony. Given what you described. That shouldn’t be too hard.
Contact a malpractice attorney.
This blog is brought to you by Tucson Prosthodontist Dr. Howard Steinberg.
