Crowned: A Story for People Who Like Pain.

  1. You make me never want to go to the dentist ever never ever again. I’m already afraid enough as it is, but HOLY BEJEEBUS, man.

    • suburbanturmoil says:

      This is the exception, Lisa! Or so I’m told… 😉

      • cheftestantwannabe says:

        If I’d suffered even 10% of the indignity you went thru with this sorry excuse for a dental practice, I’d be all over the Better Business Bureau, and the insurance company that paid for the dental work (if applicable) to let them know what transpired. I’d also badmouth them to the fullest extent possible–well, just ‘CUZ. And THEN……I think an expose on the 6:00 TV newz might just be in order.

        I spent many years working in the dental industry, working in various capacities such as office admin, chairside assistant, and eventually a college-educated dental lab tech. I can assure you that none of what you were subjected to is normal–by any stretch of the word. Go get ’em!!

  2. cindy says:

    Tell Dennis that THIS is a question for Jeremy Findley!

  3. NancyB says:

    OMG – THAT IS INSANE! A crown lying around with your name on it eh? And to think I was pissed off that I had to get a cavity filled. I’ll keep my cavity thankyouverymuch!

  4. Angie says:

    I’ve read all three parts to this story, and I wish I would have commented sooner. I work for a dentist, in fact I work for a specialist who only does crown and bridgework dentistry. On the rare occasions where we have to reschedule a patient because the crown doesn’t fit, that crown always gets sent back to the lab so they can make the necessary alterations, or they start from scratch. I would be worried very much that they tried to cement another patient’s crown into your mouth.

    Your experience isn’t the norm, I promise you. Seriously, look for a new dentist.

  5. Bethany West says:

    I used to work for a dental specialist, and I agree, this is NOT the norm. Unprofessional, on so many levels! Not to mention uncaring and Weird. I learned the hard way, even if you’ve heard great things and every other dentist says that he’s technically very skilled, if you don’t like a practitioner (of any kind!) from the get-go, find another ASAP! I suffered for a year with a cracked tooth that my intelligent general dentist refused to believe in (because I enjoy making up pain to test you! Or something…) before I switched to a guy who was just as good, but actually cared. I no longer feel like an inconvenience every time I mention a concern/issue. It’s wonderful.
    But it can be SO hard to advocate for yourself when a whole office is convincing you that you’re the crazy one. Good luck finding a new dentist. If you ever move to OR, I know a few guys.

    • suburbanturmoil says:

      Thank you! I’ve taken time over the years to find great doctors- I figured after my cleaning that I’d go ahead and get the crown done at this dentist (to save the time and expense of getting another diagnosis at another new dentist) and then find a new one once the crown was in. I had no idea it would turn into this horrible ordeal!

  6. Bethany West says:

    BTW, I recommend calling up a few local endodontists, periodontists, or other specialists, and getting recs from them. The front desk should have a short list of dentists that the boss thinks are good practitioners. And if it’s a small community, they can give you insights about personalities, too, that might be helpful. My boss only let us recommend a handful of guys from our town because he really cared about people getting good care and didn’t want someone to go with the biggest yellowpage ad or the cheapest intro coupon. ALWAYS get a professional’s opinion. Sometimes patients love pretty crappy or behind-the-times dentists.

    • suburbanturmoil says:

      Good point.

    • cheesehead4ever says:

      My Dad was an endodontist and when I moved to a new state, my Dad called four endodontists in my area and asked for recommendations on general practice dentists. He said that the dental specialists see all of the work by other dentists and know who does good work.

  7. Laurie says:

    I would call the office manager and get a meeting with both dentists so you have a good understanding why / what happened. Tell them you’d pay for an office visit, but don’t think it’s out of line.

  8. kelley says:

    Hoping your tooth settles down and that you write a really honest review on Yelp.

  9. Gertie says:

    YUCK. What did they do with the tooth that didn’t fit? Clearly it wasn’t yours… Rinse it off and stick it in someone else’s mouth?!

  10. Marie says:

    I haven’t read the earlier parts of your saga, but WTF indeed. I think it’s time to find a blankity-blank (*ahem, deep-breath*) new dentist. I’m pissed on your behalf that they have been yanking you around. That is so unprofessional. It should NOT take 8 visits to get this done. WTF.

  11. Beth says:

    Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m kinda wondering why you went back after the first bad experience with these folks. Eight visits? That makes me cringe. I know this isn’t going to come out well, so bear with me. You’re such a smart person and the impression I have of you is that you’re pretty assertive. So…why? I wish I were your big sister and lived next door and could’ve marched in there and kicked some dental ass on your behalf. You definitely deserve better treatment, and some kind of logical explanation of why this particular dental practice engaged in so much f***upery. You can bet that if they (mis)treated you that way, they’re (mis)treating others that way. I think an article naming names and telling the whole story is definitely in order. Right after you sue these idiots.

    • suburbanturmoil says:

      Oh no, there’s a very simple answer to this question- I didn’t want the time and expense of starting this process all over again at another dentist’s office. I was really hoping that the problems were with the first dentist, not the practice itself. And I went to each of the last few visits absolutely certain that it was DEFINITELY going to be the last visit– so the last thing I wanted to do was start the whole process (and expense, which is considerable for a crown) over again at another office. Looking back, it was a mistake to keep going back, but I also couldn’t have known each time that I was going to have to come back again.

      I got my permanent crown put on nearly two weeks ago now and it STILL hurts so much that I’m popping ibuprofen several times a day and I STILL can’t chew food on that side of my mouth. I am just so, so angry. I was actually having no problems or pain with that initial childhood filling that they removed- I just didn’t like that it was silver. Ugh.

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