Gentle Family Dentistry

We made patient cast partial He broke it, which is extremely hard to do We made patient a complete new cast partial at NO CHARGE to patientHe came in with part of clasp broke off We repaired clasp & sent information to his insurance on that repair By law, we have to send all work done on patient into their insurance for their records to be complete We reimbursed insurance for that visit so that it would not cost the patient any funds Once again another visit done @ N/C When he came back in with a part broke off our lab said that they would not repair for free again We told patient that he would be responsible for lab fee, however we would not charge him any Dr.'s fee He was upset that we would not cover lab fee also Patient has had numerous visits done @ N/C to him We have gone above board to try to please this patient

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
Regards,
*** *** I strongly disagree with the comments made by this dentist and find much of it to be inaccurateIt is stated that the initial cast partial should have been extremely hard to break, in my opinion if it had been made right it would have beenBut I feel the cast partial wasn’t made correctly and the design was changed when the new one was made which should have been done in the beginning since I requested the best and heaviest one possibleI was informed by the office staff that there was a warranty on my dentures but the only way to keep it intact was to get my teeth cleaned, which I was reluctant to do because I only had three natural teethI also told my insurance representative that I did not feel that it was right to have them cleaned just to keep the warranty in placeAfter more harassment from the staff I agreed to have my teeth cleaned which was done before the dentures brokeI was informed by the office staff that there would be no charge for this service but after talking to the insurance company representative I was informed that the office had been billedI called *** at the dentist office and was informed that there was a mistake and there should not have been a charge, I called *** at the ( *** *** office in *** *** and she in return called and spoke to her too and was told that the money would be returned right awayOn the day that I filed this complaint I called the insurance representative and was informed that the money had still not been received from the companyHowever, a few days after I received notification from your office that you had contacted the company I did receive information from the insurance company that they had received the payment for this serviceAgain, according to the staff I should have had warranty on the dentures and also in my opinion if the dentures had been made correctly they would not have broken as easily as they did and the design for the dentures would not have been changedI later was eating and a retainer wire broke, realizing that I should have a warranty on the dentures based on what had been told to me by the staff, I called and informed them what had happenedI did not go into the office for this service because I was informed that they would speak to the doctor and get back with meThey told me that the doctor stated that it would be a $charge for this serviceThere was not mention of a break down in charges and I would not be charged a doctor fee and only a lab feeI asked the staff member to please speak to the doctor again because based of what they informed me I should have warranty since I had my teeth cleanedShe called back and stated that the doctor stated the fee would standI waited several days after speaking to the staff member and after contacting the insurance office on regular bases to determine if they had received the money owed from the company and being told that they had not I wrote the doctor a letter and forwarded a copy to the insurance company asking him to please pay the amount owed to the insurance company and reconsider repairing my dentures since I was informed that I had a warranty on the dentures since I had them cleaned as requestedAfter waiting for a considerable length of time and not hearing back from the dentist whom the letter was addressed directly to but being informed by the insurance representative that she had received her copy I contacted your office out of concernThey state that I received numerous visits at no charge and that they went above board to please me, in my opinion this is incorrectly unjust because they kept me waiting for several months for the dentures and me having to work in business toothless like I didI would call and ask when the dentures would be completed and they informed me that they were working on themAfter getting the dentures I did have to go back a few times which they told me was included in the high cost of the dentures since they could never seem to get the adjustments rightI think that my insurance company and myself both will agree for the most part when I went to the office we paid for the servicesIn my opinion if they had honored the warranty and done what they should have done and as requested we would not be having these issues now

We made patient cast partial.  He broke it, which is extremely hard to do.  We made patient a complete new cast partial at NO CHARGE to patient. He came in with part of clasp broke off.  We repaired clasp & sent information to his insurance on that repair.  By law, we have to...

send all work done on patient into their insurance for their records to be complete.  We reimbursed insurance for that visit so that it would not cost the patient any funds.  Once again another visit done @ N/C.  When he came back in with a part broke off our lab said that they would not repair for free again.  We told patient that he would be responsible for lab fee, however we would not charge him any Dr.'s fee.  He was upset that we would not cover lab fee also.    Patient has had numerous visits done @ N/C to him.  We have gone above board to try to please this patient.

Review: I had the dentist make me a lower denture. Throughout the entire time I requested the company to make me the best denture possible and I told them that that I needed something that would stand up well. Although it took the company a considerable amount of time to have my denture completed after the impression I tried to be patient since I thought that I was getting a quality product. Not long after receiving the dentures I was eating a piece of steak and they broke. The employees informed me that I had to have my teeth cleaned in order to keep the warranty intact and they always made the comment that the insurance company would pay for the service. I informed the employees that I did not like having to have my teeth cleaned since I only had three natural teeth and I was able to clean them as well as my dentures. After receiving a considerable amount of pressure from the employees about the warranty on my dentures I went ahead an agreed to have the warranty intact and my three teeth and dentures were cleaned. Although I was not pleased, especially feeling like I was taking advantage of my insurance company by their paying for a service that I felt that was not needed. After the denture broke and another according to the dentist heavier duty set made (something that I had informed the staff that I wanted from the beginning) was made. Employee ([redacted]) informed me that there would be no charge however after checking with my insurance company [redacted]. Representative Ms. [redacted] I was informed that they had charged them for the service. I called the office and the employee stated that there was an accounting error and accidentally billed the insurance company. I called the insurance representative and told her what the employee informed me and she in return called and talked to the employee and was informed, according to Ms. [redacted], that there should have not been a charge as well and both of us were told that they would reimburse the money paid back. However, after checking with the insurance company recently I was informed that the reimbursement still has not been made. Shortly after getting the denture back I was eating a piece of cake and the retainer wire broke. I called the office and spoke to one of the employees and was told that she would educate the dentist about the problem and call me back in regard to the matter. Later on she did call me back and informed me that she had told him about the problem and that he stated that there would be a charge for $175.00. Although it was to my understanding that my denture was warrantied since I had my teeth cleaned and then too I feel that the denture should have been a much better quality then to break when I was eating a piece of cake.

I sent a letter similar to this one to the dentist and also to the insurance representative (April 7, 2015) asking him to reconsider and repair my denture at no charge since according to what I was informed by his employees that the warranty would continue if I had my teeth cleaned which I did and then too the quality of the dentures, in my opinion, should have stood up better then to break while eating a soft piece of cake and they broke twice since they made them in a very short period of time. Although the letter was addressed directly to dentist, Dr. [redacted]. and I forwarded a copy to Ms. [redacted] at the insurance company which she stated that she received, I did not hear back from him. He also needs to pay the insurance company for the charges of the first denture breakage since both the representative and myself were informed that there should not have been a charge and that they were going to put to send the insurance company the money back.

It also took the company several months to complete the denture during this time time although I am a case manager and constantly talking to people, I had to wait all this time for any teeth.

The actual cost of the denture was a 50 - 50 arrangement between the insurance compnay and myself.Desired Settlement: The dentist office staff needs to pay the insurance company the amount that they owe them back for the first denture damage. I feel that since I was informed if I got my teeth cleaned which I did, that they should pay for the second denture damage (retainer wire breakage) in the warranty. I also feel that they should be reponsible for a period of time to keep the warranty in tact that I was told that they would do so if I had my teeth cleaned again which I did.

Business

Response:

We made patient cast partial. He broke it, which is extremely hard to do. We made patient a complete new cast partial at NO CHARGE to patient. He came in with part of clasp broke off. We repaired clasp & sent information to his insurance on that repair. By law, we have to send all work done on patient into their insurance for their records to be complete. We reimbursed insurance for that visit so that it would not cost the patient any funds. Once again another visit done @ N/C. When he came back in with a part broke off our lab said that they would not repair for free again. We told patient that he would be responsible for lab fee, however we would not charge him any Dr.'s fee. He was upset that we would not cover lab fee also. Patient has had numerous visits done @ N/C to him. We have gone above board to try to please this patient.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Regards,

[redacted] I strongly disagree with the comments made by this dentist and find much of it to be inaccurate. It is stated that the initial cast partial should have been extremely hard to break, in my opinion if it had been made right it would have been. But I feel the cast partial wasn’t made correctly and the design was changed when the new one was made which should have been done in the beginning since I requested the best and heaviest one possible. I was informed by the office staff that there was a warranty on my dentures but the only way to keep it intact was to get my teeth cleaned, which I was reluctant to do because I only had three natural teeth. I also told my insurance representative that I did not feel that it was right to have them cleaned just to keep the warranty in place. After more harassment from the staff I agreed to have my teeth cleaned which was done before the dentures broke. I was informed by the office staff that there would be no charge for this service but after talking to the insurance company representative I was informed that the office had been billed. I called [redacted] at the dentist office and was informed that there was a mistake and there should not have been a charge, I called [redacted] at the ( [redacted] office in [redacted] and she in return called and spoke to her too and was told that the money would be returned right away. On the day that I filed this complaint I called the insurance representative and was informed that the money had still not been received from the company. However, a few days after I received notification from your office that you had contacted the company I did receive information from the insurance company that they had received the payment for this service. Again, according to the staff I should have had warranty on the dentures and also in my opinion if the dentures had been made correctly they would not have broken as easily as they did and the design for the dentures would not have been changed. I later was eating and a retainer wire broke, realizing that I should have a warranty on the dentures based on what had been told to me by the staff, I called and informed them what had happened. I did not go into the office for this service because I was informed that they would speak to the doctor and get back with me. They told me that the doctor stated that it would be a $170.00 charge for this service. There was not mention of a break down in charges and I would not be charged a doctor fee and only a lab fee. I asked the staff member to please speak to the doctor again because based of what they informed me I should have warranty since I had my teeth cleaned. She called back and stated that the doctor stated the fee would stand. I waited several days after speaking to the staff member and after contacting the insurance office on regular bases to determine if they had received the money owed from the company and being told that they had not I wrote the doctor a letter and forwarded a copy to the insurance company asking him to please pay the amount owed to the insurance company and reconsider repairing my dentures since I was informed that I had a warranty on the dentures since I had them cleaned as requested. After waiting for a considerable length of time and not hearing back from the dentist whom the letter was addressed directly to but being informed by the insurance representative that she had received her copy I contacted your office out of concern. They state that I received numerous visits at no charge and that they went above board to please me, in my opinion this is incorrectly unjust because they kept me waiting for several months for the dentures and me having to work in business toothless like I did. I would call and ask when the dentures would be completed and they informed me that they were working on them. After getting the dentures I did have to go back a few times which they told me was included in the high cost of the dentures since they could never seem to get the adjustments right. I think that my insurance company and myself both will agree for the most part when I went to the office we paid for the services. In my opinion if they had honored the warranty and done what they should have done and as requested we would not be having these issues now.