A couple of years ago my dentist started getting into the Invisalign business. He was not an orthodontist, but he said that he was certified and highly recommended I get the treatment. I spent thousands of dollars and countless trips to the dentist to get the invisalign braces adjusted and get the next pair in the series. After a few months the braces stopped fitting properly. Then he would try to "shave off" parts of my teeth in order to make them fit. This never worked. After seeing an actual orthodontist, he said that he would never have recommended that treatment for me since my teeth were too severely crooked in some areas. My previous dentist ended up refunding me a portion of my money, and even said that I should look into regular braces. I feel like I was taken for a ride by this guy. I would have revisited this situation earlier, but I had a baby a year and a half ago and there have been more pressing concerns.
Is there anything I can/should do at this point? Should I report him to the ADA? Should I seek out the rest of the money I paid?
Thank you for your help. I appreciate a professional opinion.
Still upset over treatment - anything I can do?
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SDFD TSchott
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I would look at several key factors, how long has the attempted treatment been going on, how much hes been paid for treatment, and how much he refunded. I mean I personally WOULD NOT run him out of business by reporting him to the ADA just cause he was doing a trial and error. I mean if I was him I would charge you only the amount that was done, and refund you the rest of what you've paid.
SDFD TSchott
SDFD TSchott
Adjustment Sept 14th, 2018
Braces back on August 06, 2018
Braces off April 02, 2008
like your situation
Dear toothache and all,
I have the similar situation as you. I had my invisalign since 29 years old, after I have my first set of invisalign, it works for my lower part of teeth, not for the upper one. Then my doc sent back the whole set to US and then I have the second round treatment from invisalign again. However, the results was not good either therefore my orth. has decided to use the traditional method-ceremic bracket to do my upper teeth since April 2005. Now, I'm getting married in Oct this year, and I was very frastuated is that, my teeth still not in normal shape. My cuspid moves very slow indeed ( I have no idea why!!) and there's still a big gap between both my cuspid and first molar after one and a half years of tranditional treatment. My orth. is very patient and professional, however, he said it's not because of my age, it's becos my teeth didn't move!! Oh my god!! I had spend over US6000 on my teeth ( I'm from Hong Kong and dental treatment has no government aid) and I'm extremely frasturated indeed. Now I'm nearly 32!! In such case, what else I can do? Just wait and do the adjustment month by month without aggressive visable results is a tragic to me. Just wondering if there's anyone has such sitation before or any orth online can help me on this case?? Your advice and experience sharing is very much appreciated!!
Beatymak (Hong Kong)
email: bbeelo@gmail.com
I have the similar situation as you. I had my invisalign since 29 years old, after I have my first set of invisalign, it works for my lower part of teeth, not for the upper one. Then my doc sent back the whole set to US and then I have the second round treatment from invisalign again. However, the results was not good either therefore my orth. has decided to use the traditional method-ceremic bracket to do my upper teeth since April 2005. Now, I'm getting married in Oct this year, and I was very frastuated is that, my teeth still not in normal shape. My cuspid moves very slow indeed ( I have no idea why!!) and there's still a big gap between both my cuspid and first molar after one and a half years of tranditional treatment. My orth. is very patient and professional, however, he said it's not because of my age, it's becos my teeth didn't move!! Oh my god!! I had spend over US6000 on my teeth ( I'm from Hong Kong and dental treatment has no government aid) and I'm extremely frasturated indeed. Now I'm nearly 32!! In such case, what else I can do? Just wait and do the adjustment month by month without aggressive visable results is a tragic to me. Just wondering if there's anyone has such sitation before or any orth online can help me on this case?? Your advice and experience sharing is very much appreciated!!
Beatymak (Hong Kong)
email: bbeelo@gmail.com
Not being a certified Orthodontist but dappling in Ortho is quite common. With the introduction of Invisalign and similar products in recent years many GP's have gotten into it as a nice practice builder. I enjoy some Invisalign, I was an Engineer in college so it helps satisfy some of my nerd-urges. In order to get certified for Invisalign treatment you have to take a 2 day continuing education course and I recommend the advanced technique course as well. Even then it is still a new procedure and the only way you are going to get good at it is to practice. Ortho's ONLY do braces, most General Dentists do a lot of other things. So of course an Ortho is going to have more experience (most likely). One of the hardest things in Dentistry and Invisalign is treatment planning. You get this training and learn about goods and bads and things that work and do not work. But the best way to learn is to do it on your own. Sometimes you screw up and have to correct your mistakes. Hopefully you will never make the same mistake again, will learn, and can correct the problem.
So what's the point of my long winded response? Your Dentist is human just like the rest of us. It sounds like he took on a case that maybe was a bit too difficult for him at the time. It has happened to us all. I am sorry that you did not receive the outcome that you wanted. Should you complain or sue them? Personally I don't think it will help and is not worth it. Did he provide the standard of care to you that he does to all of his patients? Did he try to correct the problem? Offer alternative treatments? Refer you to an specialist to complete the treatment? I think it was very generous of him to refund a portion of your fee because you were not happy with your treatment. From what you said about treatment there was nothing negligent about your care that sticks out and no irreversible harm was done to you (other than your psyche, but you gotta live and learn). If he was trying to take you for a ride he would not have refunded any money IMHO.
Your options are to:
1. Let it be and move on
2. Write a letter to the State Board and they will do a thorough investigation.
3. Sue them
If you were my patient then I would hope that you contact me directly to discuss how you are feeling before taking any further action. Let them fill you in on why they chose that treatment avenue and would they still do it today? It sounds as if you may not have had your expectations of treatment set properly or did not understand them. Communicate with one another and see if you can bring closure to the issue and move on. If you feel the need to report them to the state or sue then that is your prerogative, but I don't see this as being the least bit useful.
Just my opinion and $0.02. Disclaimer - I am not your Dentist and know nothing about your situation. Just giving you my personal and not my professional opinion.
Best,
Rory
So what's the point of my long winded response? Your Dentist is human just like the rest of us. It sounds like he took on a case that maybe was a bit too difficult for him at the time. It has happened to us all. I am sorry that you did not receive the outcome that you wanted. Should you complain or sue them? Personally I don't think it will help and is not worth it. Did he provide the standard of care to you that he does to all of his patients? Did he try to correct the problem? Offer alternative treatments? Refer you to an specialist to complete the treatment? I think it was very generous of him to refund a portion of your fee because you were not happy with your treatment. From what you said about treatment there was nothing negligent about your care that sticks out and no irreversible harm was done to you (other than your psyche, but you gotta live and learn). If he was trying to take you for a ride he would not have refunded any money IMHO.
Your options are to:
1. Let it be and move on
2. Write a letter to the State Board and they will do a thorough investigation.
3. Sue them
If you were my patient then I would hope that you contact me directly to discuss how you are feeling before taking any further action. Let them fill you in on why they chose that treatment avenue and would they still do it today? It sounds as if you may not have had your expectations of treatment set properly or did not understand them. Communicate with one another and see if you can bring closure to the issue and move on. If you feel the need to report them to the state or sue then that is your prerogative, but I don't see this as being the least bit useful.
Just my opinion and $0.02. Disclaimer - I am not your Dentist and know nothing about your situation. Just giving you my personal and not my professional opinion.
Best,
Rory
reply
Dear rsprouse,
Thanks for your quick response! Actually my doc is very professional and he has received the training from invisalign. He has taken good care of my teeth from start to begining, the only problem is that, my canine doesn't move as expected!! I was really scared that it's not going to move in normal shape at all, however, my orth said it's not that possible, but it only takes time. I think of using invisalign again. I remember my orth said I should have received the normal traditional ceremic treatment first and some of my teeth was not in good shape, then using invisalign as for the "post treatment", however, I was in the opposite for my case. Do you think I can make this request to invisalgin? TO have a further treatment even my last invisalign treatment was about 2 years go? They may think that my teeth was done and not willing to help making me another set!!
For the "sue" issue, I had never think about it, as I think my orth is a very nice guy and quite professioanl. But I really don't understand why my cuspid move so slow. I'm using three long runner o-ring to support but the progress is still not obvious!! Sigh!!
Beatymak
Thanks for your quick response! Actually my doc is very professional and he has received the training from invisalign. He has taken good care of my teeth from start to begining, the only problem is that, my canine doesn't move as expected!! I was really scared that it's not going to move in normal shape at all, however, my orth said it's not that possible, but it only takes time. I think of using invisalign again. I remember my orth said I should have received the normal traditional ceremic treatment first and some of my teeth was not in good shape, then using invisalign as for the "post treatment", however, I was in the opposite for my case. Do you think I can make this request to invisalgin? TO have a further treatment even my last invisalign treatment was about 2 years go? They may think that my teeth was done and not willing to help making me another set!!
For the "sue" issue, I had never think about it, as I think my orth is a very nice guy and quite professioanl. But I really don't understand why my cuspid move so slow. I'm using three long runner o-ring to support but the progress is still not obvious!! Sigh!!
Beatymak
Yes you could do another round of Invisalign if you want. But moving and rotating a canine is quite difficult with Invisalign. Canine's have very long roots (longest of any tooth in your mouth) and long/large crowns. There are techniques to try and coherse the movement. But if your issues involve significant work on your canine I would suggest traditional brackets and if you want to fine tune things then Invisalign is usually a good option.
Good Luck,
Rory
Good Luck,
Rory
1 mm of overbite can be corrected in the matter of a few weeks or as long as never. It is hard to give an estimate without being familiar with your case because there are so many variables. But on average I would assume it can be corrected in a month or two.Dear Rory,
My OD said to me that 3mm is the normal diffference between the upper front teeth and lower front teeth, now I'm 5mm, just wondering how long does it takes to close the gap to 3mm? Tks!
Good Luck,
Rory