Dental Implant disaster

I did extenstive research on dental implants.They have a very new procedure called all on 4 which enables the dentist to put the implants on with the teeth on them all at once instead of having to wait on the implants to heal 6 months then the teeth are put on. It is a very expensive procedure. I went to one of the very top implant dentist in Houston who was featured in the Texas Monthly and The Houstonian Magazine. The cost is usually around $50,000.00 however this dentist charged me $80,000.00.

I have paid the dentist $71,000.00 already. I was assured over and over again that I would walk out with the teeth on the implants. Well that is not what happened. I had them on the bottom but not the top it would take 6 months to heal then he could put them on the top. I still had to wear a regular denture on the top.I was never told that this could happen. The dentist was not even going to tell me until my next appt. hoping I would not notice since I was still under sedation. He said he had to do a bone graft and that is why he could not do the instant all on 4 implants. Well to make a long long story short. It has been two (2) years and I still do not have the implants. The temporary denture they used have broken numerous times. Teeth have fallen out of the denture not and hour after I left his office and so on and so.

My question is I still owe almost $10,000.00 according to the dentist. However I feel I did not get what was represented to me. They were not instant implants which is why I was paying such an outrageous price. I have spent hours and hours going to the dentist. It has cost a lot of money in gasoline since his office is 90 miles roundtrip from my house. My husband has taken off work 27 times to take me to the dentist since I do not drive.

Do I have a case to where I should not have to pay the balance or can I get damages due to the pain and suffering I have been through and am continuing to go through. I still do not have the permanent set of teeth on the implants.

[olive]

It is certainly possible you have a case based on what you say here; you should take a brief description of these events as well as your medical records to a malpractice attorney and see if the attorney thinks you have a claim; often you need to contact several attorneys to find one to take the case; the review of your case and records is often free and then they will normally take the case on a contingency fee basis if they think you can win; you would pay only if they collect for you.

I've worked in the dental field for 9 years now. I've never heard of an all in 4 implant. An implant is placed and then restored after 6 month of healing. Regardless, there must be some extremely new technology and i'm not sure I would want to be one of the first to sign up for something like this. With that said, it does happen in certain cases that the dr will say one thing, but when in surgery, things change. I'm sure he wanted to perform all of his work when indicated, but it's not always the case. Trust me, the doctor and office staff are EQUALLY dissapointed when things don't work out. Dentures break. It happens. It's not the dentist fault that the denture breaks. It is usually the way the patient bites or grinds their teeth that cause the denture to break. It sucks I know, but again, it's not the dentists' fault. As far as transportation: it's also not the dentist fault that you do not drive and your husband had to take off work. Sorry to be blunt. I know it's frustrating, I've seen this before and have had to handle similar issues. Be patient, things will work out. After 2 years, I would have gone to another office. Get an opinion from a new professional, have them type a letter stating there is either fault or incompleted work. Present the letter to the office and usually the dentist will reimburse. I've seen this too. Good luck

I agree with something you said but they fact that I was assured that I would live without a denture plate on the top on 5 separate occasions and not informed that it was a possibility that it would not happen that way, in my opinion is negligent on the dentist part. Then when my husband confronted him after surgery he said he did not want to address the issue right then he wanted to wait until the next appt. was rediculous. Also as I stated teeth feel out of the dentures not an hour after I left his office has nothing to do with grinding my teeth. The temp. cement he used was either faulty or he did not use enough. I know things happen and can take longer but from 6 weeks to 2 years is a HUGE differene and was the only reason I did it. That was his total selling point that they were teeth in a day! Yes this is a new procedure but there are several dentist in the U.S. that are doing it and is a proven technique. I was also asked about the colored used to cover up the screws on the gum part of the implant and was assured it would be pink to match but it isn't it is white and stands out very much. I know I am picky but for $80,000.00 I would think that I should be allowed to and expect top quality work and not be mislead.

You might get the second opinion letter.

And possibly file with the licensing Board if you feel the advertising was purposely misleading.

[Chatwin]

yes Unregistered you are right.