Dentist broke my tooth, Wants reimbursement to fix it!?!

[wilvelas]

Hello, my name is Wilfredo

In early 2008 I was recommended to have my wisdom teeth removed (all 4) at once. For years I inquired about the need to have them removed, and only then did they see fit to have them extracted.

I was refered to a specialist that charged me a consultation fee (after being referred) to watch a video on the process of removing wisdom teeth. Unhappy with the service, I paid and went to seek a second opinion. I found another dentist that would provide the initial consultation for "free". I was convinced that the procedure was necessary and scheduled an appointment. I was quoted to have the 4 teeth removed at once while under a general anesthetic. After the procedure was complete I found a resounding pain in my upper left rear tooth (the one next to the wisdom tooth). I immediately contacted the dentist and was told that during the procedure, the specialist had difficulties extracting the tooth and had broken the root to the tooth in question. At no time after the process was I told that the root was broken or there were any difficulties (at least none recalled being that I was under a general anesthetic and could barely walk on my own). I was in shock but understood the difficulties and was told I would need to have a root canal to correct the problem. I agreed to have a root canal (at no time did anyone bring up a price or cost). The specialist that did the wisdom teeth accepted fault for the damaged root and said that while he could possibly fix it, he was more comfortable having a specialist correct it. OK, lets get it fixed, the pain was unbearable (taking ibprofun & viacodin while attempting to get work done was horrible). The time to get the root canal done came, it was serviced, and I went on my merry way.

About two weeks later, I developed a hole in the tooth that had the root canal done. The hole was large enough for large pieces of food to get stuck causing an uncomfortable situation. With that I returned to the dentist to have the specialist look at the hole. He said it was just part of the filling that deteriorated, but would be no problem to the tooth, he then decided to fix up and make look pretty his work and again fill in the hole. Again, I took off satisfied.

Shortly after that I had the hole reopen, again contacting the dentist's office, a little agrevated. I was told that I would need a crown installed. I agreed. At this point I went in and was told I would need to pay for the crown to be installed. Upset that I would need to pay for something that was damaged. They agreed that I would not need to pay for the service.

In the end, I received a bill for root canal, and for the crown. Apparently, my insurance also received a bill for the root canal and the for the crown. I want to know if I have any protection in this situation. What are my options? I don't feel I should need to pay for something that was damaged during another procedure, covered up, and then admitted to once confronted. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

- Wilfredo Velasco
wilvelas@gmail.com