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Sticky situation with two dental pro's, please advise
Dental professionals, what would you do in this circumstance?
Uncomfortable situation involving two dentists: Dentist A is a specialist in craniofacial/TMD. He is well-known in his field, and has helped me in the past with my TMJD.
Dentist B is the president of my state's dental board, and is also a well-respected expert in his given field. Dentist B, the pres. of the dental board indicates to me that Dentist A didn't do a very good job with my bite splint and that he would like me to see Dentist C.
I told Dentist B that Dentist A had already indicated he would construct a new bite-splint if necessary. Then Dentist B said, that to be honest, he recommended I not see Dentist A at all. When I inquired as to why, he said he wasn't at liberty to say, but, the reason was professional in nature.
Yikes! Alrighty then... if the pres. of the dental board is saying that, he must have good reason. Not a problem really, all I want is good care. Here is my dilemma: I have prepaid for six months of service with Dentist A, which is currently about 70% complete. Can or should I expect a refund of the remaining balance on the unrendered services (about $900)? If you think it is reasonable to expect a refund, how would you go about it?
Do I flat out tell Dentist A that Dentist B prefer I not see him? Make up some lie, like I am moving, or what?
I have a lot of dental anxiety to begin with, so this is really chewing me up (no pun intended). I keep having flash-forwards where I have to give testimony in a lawsuit and end up with no dentists. My insurance doesn't cover TMJ so the money is a real issue for me. I would like to be able to recover if I am now to pay Dentist C.
I appreciate any advice you can give.
Uncomfortable situation involving two dentists: Dentist A is a specialist in craniofacial/TMD. He is well-known in his field, and has helped me in the past with my TMJD.
Dentist B is the president of my state's dental board, and is also a well-respected expert in his given field. Dentist B, the pres. of the dental board indicates to me that Dentist A didn't do a very good job with my bite splint and that he would like me to see Dentist C.
I told Dentist B that Dentist A had already indicated he would construct a new bite-splint if necessary. Then Dentist B said, that to be honest, he recommended I not see Dentist A at all. When I inquired as to why, he said he wasn't at liberty to say, but, the reason was professional in nature.
Yikes! Alrighty then... if the pres. of the dental board is saying that, he must have good reason. Not a problem really, all I want is good care. Here is my dilemma: I have prepaid for six months of service with Dentist A, which is currently about 70% complete. Can or should I expect a refund of the remaining balance on the unrendered services (about $900)? If you think it is reasonable to expect a refund, how would you go about it?
Do I flat out tell Dentist A that Dentist B prefer I not see him? Make up some lie, like I am moving, or what?
I have a lot of dental anxiety to begin with, so this is really chewing me up (no pun intended). I keep having flash-forwards where I have to give testimony in a lawsuit and end up with no dentists. My insurance doesn't cover TMJ so the money is a real issue for me. I would like to be able to recover if I am now to pay Dentist C.
I appreciate any advice you can give.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Ok, now this is entering real funny territories..
I would tell you that 1) if dentist A has been working for you and you have been getting good results, that is the only important thing.
2) Barring unprofessional conduct, sometimes the boards take philosophical stances against different groups that are not based on clinical results but rather because some one practicing a methodology that is not what they agree with... ( when did it become about us? rather than the patients?)
3) if there are complaints about your Dentist A with the board you can find those out by simply calling your state dental board as those are public information..
4) however, if you ar getting good results and are better than when you started, then who cares!! How is your relationship with A , ask him/her what is the nature of this dispute.. give him a chance to explain.
best of luck..
H.Nassery, DMD
I would tell you that 1) if dentist A has been working for you and you have been getting good results, that is the only important thing.
2) Barring unprofessional conduct, sometimes the boards take philosophical stances against different groups that are not based on clinical results but rather because some one practicing a methodology that is not what they agree with... ( when did it become about us? rather than the patients?)
3) if there are complaints about your Dentist A with the board you can find those out by simply calling your state dental board as those are public information..
4) however, if you ar getting good results and are better than when you started, then who cares!! How is your relationship with A , ask him/her what is the nature of this dispute.. give him a chance to explain.
best of luck..
H.Nassery, DMD
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. On March 27 I had several discussions with Dr. Ramin Mehregan, DMD on the TMJ board here. My situation was rather odd in that I had some rapid bone loss and my teeth began to shift during the fall of 2008. At that time, I developed an anterior bite of 2 mm. I had a perioscopic cleaning. Xrays indicate about 40% bone loss.
Shortly after the shifting process, my TMJ returned with a vengeance. I returned to my previous TMJ doc. (Dentist A) who measured my open bite at 3 mm at the time I first visited. I was in terrible pain, so I was fitted with a new splint which was adjusted every 10 days. My pain subsided, so I was feeling better. The splint had to be built to accommodate what was going on in my mouth. It wasn't slim and pretty like my previous ones, it is rather chunky in order to accommodate what was going on in my mouth. It seems to be working great.
Meanwhile, I started seeing Dentist B, a periodontist who said he has only seen a situation like mine only once before. By this time, my open bite had grown to 4 mm. Funny thing is, he said my gum health was exceptional. Only 1 mm recession on two molars. Prior to the perioscopic cleaning, I had generalized pockets of 5-8 mm on most molars. The interior gum on tooth 15 was lacerated with a bite-wing and developed an endo/perio lesion... the pocket on this one was a 12... Fast forward six months, The 12 mm pocket is now a 2 mm pocket. Other than that, I had one 5 mm pocket, and one 4 mm, the rest were 3 or below. So a definite improvement.
The perio asked if he could sand a couple of teeth down. I said sure, next thing I know, my 4 mm open bite was whittled down to something less than 1 mm. WOW! I was crying tears of joy as it looked like my old mouth again... AND I could engage my molars again. They were hardly touching at all prior to the sanding (except for my wisdom teeth that were acting as a hinge, propping my bite open). I have lost a lot of weight at it was so difficult to chew. I was surprised that Dentist B took the initiative to precision grind on my teeth. I had asked at least three dentists if they could, and everyone was afraid to do it. So, Dentist B is somewhat of a hero to me now. He said he couldn't, in good conscience, let me leave with my mouth that way.
I felt like I had a new lease on life! Unfortunately, Dentist B told me not to wear my splint (although it still fits). That lasted about a week, I couldn't handle the TMJ pain and had to wear it. This is the point were I talked to Dentist A again to let him know of about the sanding. It was at this point he did indicate we could make a whole new splint if necessary.
So I really like both of these dentists. It just seems awkward knowing one isn't fond of the other's work. My TMJ doc. did indicate that the splint would NOT fix the open bite, so I was under no illusion that it would. I think my Perio was concerned that the open bite had continued to grow and was attributing in to the rather chunky splint. I just don't understand why these folks can't collaborate.
I'm sorry this is so long, it just felt good to write it all down. I think I will take your advice and check for complaints on my TMJ doc. If I am comfortable with what I hear, I think I will stay put. I will consult with Dentist C as my perio indicated that he was very good with occlusions and would probably want to further stabilize my bite by lengthening my lower incisors a bit using composite material.
I have developed a constant twitching eye-lid that I attribute to all the stress over what to do, who to trust, etc. I have real trust issues when it comes to many dentists.
I SOOO appreciate everything you wonderful pro's do on these boards! The best advice I have ever received have come Medhelp.
Eleven years ago I had a stroke at the age of 34 due to an autoimmune disease. The docs at Cleveland Clinic didn't dismiss me like my ER room did here. They listened to my symptoms and even pinpointed the exact place in my brain to look for the stroke. It is such a comfort to be taken seriously by experienced docs. I will be forever grateful to this service as it has benefited my health in so many ways!
Thanks for your sound advice. I may forward this to Ramin Mehregan, DMD as he did ask that I keep him updated as to my progress.
Thanks again, and God Bless you for your wisdom and insight.
Sincerely,
Judith (whimzy63)
Shortly after the shifting process, my TMJ returned with a vengeance. I returned to my previous TMJ doc. (Dentist A) who measured my open bite at 3 mm at the time I first visited. I was in terrible pain, so I was fitted with a new splint which was adjusted every 10 days. My pain subsided, so I was feeling better. The splint had to be built to accommodate what was going on in my mouth. It wasn't slim and pretty like my previous ones, it is rather chunky in order to accommodate what was going on in my mouth. It seems to be working great.
Meanwhile, I started seeing Dentist B, a periodontist who said he has only seen a situation like mine only once before. By this time, my open bite had grown to 4 mm. Funny thing is, he said my gum health was exceptional. Only 1 mm recession on two molars. Prior to the perioscopic cleaning, I had generalized pockets of 5-8 mm on most molars. The interior gum on tooth 15 was lacerated with a bite-wing and developed an endo/perio lesion... the pocket on this one was a 12... Fast forward six months, The 12 mm pocket is now a 2 mm pocket. Other than that, I had one 5 mm pocket, and one 4 mm, the rest were 3 or below. So a definite improvement.
The perio asked if he could sand a couple of teeth down. I said sure, next thing I know, my 4 mm open bite was whittled down to something less than 1 mm. WOW! I was crying tears of joy as it looked like my old mouth again... AND I could engage my molars again. They were hardly touching at all prior to the sanding (except for my wisdom teeth that were acting as a hinge, propping my bite open). I have lost a lot of weight at it was so difficult to chew. I was surprised that Dentist B took the initiative to precision grind on my teeth. I had asked at least three dentists if they could, and everyone was afraid to do it. So, Dentist B is somewhat of a hero to me now. He said he couldn't, in good conscience, let me leave with my mouth that way.
I felt like I had a new lease on life! Unfortunately, Dentist B told me not to wear my splint (although it still fits). That lasted about a week, I couldn't handle the TMJ pain and had to wear it. This is the point were I talked to Dentist A again to let him know of about the sanding. It was at this point he did indicate we could make a whole new splint if necessary.
So I really like both of these dentists. It just seems awkward knowing one isn't fond of the other's work. My TMJ doc. did indicate that the splint would NOT fix the open bite, so I was under no illusion that it would. I think my Perio was concerned that the open bite had continued to grow and was attributing in to the rather chunky splint. I just don't understand why these folks can't collaborate.
I'm sorry this is so long, it just felt good to write it all down. I think I will take your advice and check for complaints on my TMJ doc. If I am comfortable with what I hear, I think I will stay put. I will consult with Dentist C as my perio indicated that he was very good with occlusions and would probably want to further stabilize my bite by lengthening my lower incisors a bit using composite material.
I have developed a constant twitching eye-lid that I attribute to all the stress over what to do, who to trust, etc. I have real trust issues when it comes to many dentists.
I SOOO appreciate everything you wonderful pro's do on these boards! The best advice I have ever received have come Medhelp.
Eleven years ago I had a stroke at the age of 34 due to an autoimmune disease. The docs at Cleveland Clinic didn't dismiss me like my ER room did here. They listened to my symptoms and even pinpointed the exact place in my brain to look for the stroke. It is such a comfort to be taken seriously by experienced docs. I will be forever grateful to this service as it has benefited my health in so many ways!
Thanks for your sound advice. I may forward this to Ramin Mehregan, DMD as he did ask that I keep him updated as to my progress.
Thanks again, and God Bless you for your wisdom and insight.
Sincerely,
Judith (whimzy63)
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