Braces shambles - how to get money back??

artemist

I wonder if anyone has any advice.. I paid for six month smile/clear adult braces a year and a half ago and have finally come to the conclusion that my dentist has *no* clue what he is doing. My teeth now look worse then they did when the brace was put on. 

Not only are my front teeth out of line (one is now diagonal and there is a gap between my font teeth) but after all this time saying he’ll fix my bite “at the end” of treatment he now says out of the blue it can’t be fixed so there’s nothing he can do, it’s just how my jaw is. This isn’t what I was told when I signed up for this treatment nor the whole time I was having the treatment until last week at my appointment. For reference, I have a very deep bite and a considerable overjet, you can’t see my bottom teeth at all when I smile/bite down and my front teeth are way out ahead of my lower teeth. 

He also took my bottom brace off 7 months ago despite my reservations about this because he said the teeth were done and though I have a bonded retainer on the backs of them he wouldn’t give me a plastic one til my top brace came off which obviously hasn’t happened yet, so my bottom teeth are now very slowly but surely moving again. 

He claims, despite all the above issues, that my brace is ready to come off. At my appointments now it’s just me pointing out all the things wrong with my teeth and him saying he can’t see it (my front teeth are literally facing in different directions but he says “well they’ll never be perfect”). At this stage I don’t trust the man to finish the treatment right but don’t know what my options are at this point. I just want straight teeth and a healthy bite. How do I go about this? Should I just flat out ask for a refund and go elsewhere? Is that likely to happen? 

I’m trying to get booked in for a second opinion at another place but I’m worried I will end up having to shell out another few thousand for a whole new treatment and get nothing back for this shambles. 

Any advice ??

Toothsmith

First thing to do with anything like this is to write a letter to the practice detailing your complaint (Pretty much as you have done above). Also include what you would consider a satisfactory outcome - as that can make the process much more straightforward. If the patient is clear that they want an apology/part refund/full refund/The dentist struck off and sued for millions - it gives the recipient an idea of what they are up against, and whether to go ultra defensive, or just accept the patient's reasonable recompence and save the stress. Address it to either the dentist himself, or the practice manager.

This will kick off the practice's formal complaints procedure - and you should get a response within a few days telling you your complaint is being considered, how long that bit is likely to take, and a copy of their complaints policy. The complaints policy should detail where you could take your complaint to if the practice's response does not satisfy you.