Wisdom teeth.....

[gad5264]

A little over a year ago I went to an oral surgeon to have one wisdom tooth (upper right) extracted. All went well and I was in and out in about an hour. Last Thursday night I started experiencing some gum pain and irritation in the same area and I figured it was a new problem with a molar. I called my regular dentist on Friday and he could not get me in until this morning at 8. Needless to say it was a long restless weekend. I got there this morning and the first thing they did was take an x-ray of the sore area. I had a preconceived notion that I was in for a root canal on the molar and all would be good to go. However, I was very shocked when my dentist told me that the root and a 3/16 inch long piece of the wisdom tooth was still there adnd it was what was causing me the problem.

So my question is this.....should I go back to the original oral surgeon and request a $200 payment for the problems that his negligence has caused? Do I have that right as a consumer or should I just let it pass and maybe just report it to the BBB?

[Alex Franke]

I'd go back to the oral surgeon and tell them to finish the job and reimburse you for the expense of your current dentist visit -- in the tone of "clearly this must have been an honest mistake..."

In any case, I'm sorry you have to deal with this at all. Getting mine out was the most god-aweful brutal thing I think I've ever endured, and it would absolutely suck to have to go through it again.

[germdoc]

I feel for your sore tooth--have had infection there myself, not fun at all!

I hope I'm not shocking anyone, but medical/dental care isn't like buying a Roomba at Target or even getting your car fixed at Sears.

This probably would not fall under the setting of negligence, but more likely an "untoward result". In other words, no doctor or dentist would promise a perfect result. They would undertake to address your problem in good faith, with the understanding that you may not have a perfect outcome. You may have to visit them again to achieve the result you'd like. Hopefully they explained the risks/benefits to you prior to your care, but whether they did or not everyone generally understands there are no concrete guarantees where health care is concerned.

Now in the case of gross incompetence and malpractice, you would have grounds for redress through the tort system. You would have to prove the doctor or dentist willfully disregarded known standards of care for your procedure. Even then it's a hard case to make. I say this as someone who has done quite a bit of medical expert work over the years.

Having said that, it's still reasonable to go back to the original oral surgeon, tell them you had a complication from the original procedure, and you would like them to see you again and deal with this problem right away. You should diplomatically inform them you do not expect another charge for this service. Most large practices have a patient service representative you can talk to, but maybe not with a small practice. You can ask to talk with the office manager.

If someone is truly practicing outside the bounds of good practice you can complain to the state licensing board or county medical/dental board.

I will tell you that you cannot expect them to reimburse you or pay for another dentist's work, and if you go in telling them they're negligent, they're likely to get their hackles up and refuse to cooperate. JMO.

[MilDoc]

Germdoc said it better than I would have. Good advice.

[Rand]

I think Germdoc did give good advice but....

I would have serious reservations about going back to the same surgeon who screwed it up the first time. I realize we are all human and we all make mistakes but I would rather pay for another surgery than let that guy have another whack at me.

My 2 bucks (inflation ya know)