Dental negligence

Owen2003

I recently had a crown fitted and a piece chipped off it within 6hrs of it being fitted. I obviously booked a new appointment straightaway to get it fixed as I'd paid £240 so I want it to be right! I knew they'd try and just get away with grinding it smooth so I insisted on having a replacement which I did not feel was at all unreasonable (I heard it crack when it was being fitted anyway so I think it was faulty from the off). The dentist wasn't best pleased but got to work removing the crown (at speed!) After a bit of drilling she clearly couldn't get it off so drilled it all away which took ages (and in doing so drilled a hole into my bottom lip!) 
My issue is that she seems to have drilled so much of the stump away that I bet the new crown won't take to it and I'll constantly be at the dentist having a new one fitted (before I inevitably have to have it taken out which is what I wish I had done in the first place now.......)
I'm the last person who thinks "where there's blame there's a claim" but this just seems to have been a comedy of errors (and I've only mentioned half of it really). Can anyone recommend a course of action because I feel if I don't get a solicitor involved this is just going to keep costing me more and more .................

Floss

Why not let your dentist try to put it right first?

Owen2003

Floss said:

Why not let your dentist try to put it right first?

Yes I will but my concern is that if what I suspect is going to happen does happen by then it'll be too late .............
They seem to have gone about everything in a back street garage kind of way and I'll be switching dentists at the very least after it's sorted (they just seem like absolute cowboys!!)

Toothsmith

Not a good experience Owen - but it does highlight why a trusting relationship is really necessary.
I have occasionally had crowns I've fitted do exactly the same thing. It doesn't happen often - but it does happen. When it does - you really have to weigh up how the fit, function and aesthetics of the crown have been affected by the breakage and set that against the fact that getting a newly fitted crown off the tooth can sometimes cause a bit more damage to the tooth. 
This conversation can be coloured by the patients fear that the crown may have a shortened life span, and it will cost them some money at some point in the future to get it replaced again. This may or may not be a valid concern - but you do need to trust the dentist's assessment of the situation.

So you really need to seperate what is best for the tooth against what is best for your pocket.

Obviously, I don't know the exact conversations that went on in the surgery. But if they recommended that the crown was left where it was and you 'insisted' that it was changed - then you can't, or shouldn't really be claiming 'negligence' as you went against the dentist's advice.

This may not have been what had happened - but the point I'm trying to get across is that it's not a black & white decision what to do if a crown chips/breaks shortly after fitting. There are many things to consider, and you need to be able to trust the person advising you which one is best.

mda99das

@Owen2003 was this an NHS crown or private crown and what tooth was it?
If this was on a back tooth (molar) you would be very lucky to get a bonded crown. These are being phased out as the metal ceramic interface is the weak spot and it may chip away. Unfortunately on the NHS the cheapest materials will be used and not surprising it will chip away, personally if the margins sealed the tooth the the fractured aspect of porcelain is just cosmetic and it could just be polished. You should have listened to your dentist and just accepted having it smoothed.

MalMonroe

mda99das said:

@Owen2003 was this an NHS crown or private crown and what tooth was it?
If this was on a back tooth (molar) you would be very lucky to get a bonded crown. These are being phased out as the metal ceramic interface is the weak spot and it may chip away. Unfortunately on the NHS the cheapest materials will be used and not  oe  it will chip away, personally if the margins sealed the tooth the the fractured aspect of porcelain is just cosmetic and it could just be polished. You should have listened to your dentist and just accepted having it smoothed.

The price paid would indicate to me that it's an NHS crown, fitted under Band 3 - although the cost has now increased to £282.80.

I don't agree that the NHS use the cheapest materials. I've had crowns fitted by the NHS in the past and they were not cheap and nasty. The last one I had fitted, my NHS dentist asked me if I wanted to go to the dental lab so we could get an accurate colour match. I did. The dental lab makes crowns for both NHS and private patients. 

But the dentist here doesn't sound very competent. She drilled the crown off and also drilled some of the stump. I've never had that happen to me. If the crown had been correctly fitted in the first place, it would have been in situ for many years instead of 6 hours. And there wouldn't have been any drilling into any lips, either. 

Like the OP, I'd have wanted the crown replacing because the dentist did a bad job in the first place and I would not want to accept 'just having it smoothed' when I'd paid full price to have a proper dental job done. Just because people have NHS treatment it doesn't mean that they have to accept shoddy dental work.