Has my dentist made an error ?

Question

I have had 9 teeth taken out in the last two weeks, On one side of my mouth i have had Lower Right 1 Bicsupid removed and the lower right 2nd And My 1st Molar on the same side has as crumbling tooth and filling (possible baby tooth) I have no wisdom teeth and they have now advised me that work would need to be done to the filling tooth and went from severe overcrowding to now possible implants or bridges as the gap is too large to close, there is not ancoridge to attach the archwire so its from one cuspid to the other, Is this dentist at fault? They clearly have taken more teeth than they should have? They have taken clearly healthy teeth over a crumbling baby tooth with a VERY old filling.

Can you advise of what i should do next. Im a private patient and paid over £450 for the removal of these and now paying £5000 for the braces which i dont see doing anything. Should they be liable for the cost of this error or blatent negligence? There was too many teeth now i dont have enough!

Yeah im 21, Basically, they took the two teeth on the bottom next to the "fangs" so i have two spaces, the next available tooth is a baby tooth with a filling, the tooth after that is not completely out so they didnt add the braket. So the brace is going along the first 6 teeth and not all the way to the back. I just dont know why he left it there, i dont have a tooth under that one (Adult) So im screwed!

Answer 1

9 teeth wow!

Answer 2

It's hard to tell without seeing a picture and x-ray (before and after). I would have to see the condition of your teeth before you started treatment with that doctor. It would also help if I knew your dental hygiene habits (how often you brush, floss, get cleanings, check ups). Also, how old are you? Just wondering since you said you had braces and a baby tooth, nowadays all sorts of people of all sorts of ages have braces.

Could you also try to proofread or clarify what you wrote, because some of it doesn't make sense ie "And My 1st Molar on the same side has as crumbling tooth and filling". Not sure what you mean by crumbling tooth.

"there is not ancoridge to attach the archwire so its from one cuspid to the other". Not sure what you mean here either.

Hopefully your dentist took pictures before the treatment (he at least has x-rays), I assume you're in the U.K. because of the monetary units you used, but get some copies of your x-rays before any treatment was done and have him send them to a dentist of your choice. He has an ethical duty (not sure if legal duty) to do so. Also, I'm not sure if he will charge you for those copies. You have a right to get a 2nd, 3rd, 4th (as many as you want) opinion. After all, you are paying him.

Answer 3

I'm a dentist.

Judging from the quality of your writing, I'd imagine that there were some communication problems between you and the doctor.

We try exhaustively to explain to patients what we're going to do to each tooth and why, but unfortunately, people don't always understand. Then, when they see something that they didn't expect (despite signing the consent form), they accuse the doctor of making a mistake.

You need to realize that just because the treatment doesn't make sense to you doesn't mean that a mistake on the doctor's part has occurred. 99 out of 100 times, we're right and you're mistaken. I don't mean to sound pompous, but that's how it is. People are even more ignorant about dental care than medical care.

If you have questions, talk to the doctor about it. I'm sure he'd be happy to explain your treatment to you again.

Answer 4

I FULLY AGREE WITH NEBULA HERE.
COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY TO ANY TREATMENT. DENTISTS STRIVE VERY HARD TO GET TO GET THEIR POINT ACROSS. SOMETIMES, DESPITE HOW HARD WE TRY, THE PATIENT JUST DOESN'T FULLY UNDERSTAND. THIS IS WHERE A WRITTEN TREATMENT PLAN DETAILING WHAT IS TO BE DONE IS PARAMOUNT..