Millbury Family Dentistry

After explicit instruction to only do work covered by my dental insurance, Dr. [redacted] repaired 3 cavities that were not covered by my insurance. Not only was I handed a bill in excess of [redacted] but the work was poorly done. My teeth felt fine before the fillings, but since, the left side of my face is in constant, sometimes, intense pain. I cannot floss at the repair site on the bottom of my mouth (no space and intense shooting pain), and on top, attempts to floss cause pain. I've called repeated looking for answers to questions but the Dr. has yet to contact me and they only want me to come in to fix the mess created by them on their terms/availability. They also said they would send me paperwork to request my own medical records be sent to me but to this point they have not. They lied to me and my fiancee at every opportunity. The insurance company themselves said that 80% of the complaints are from patients saying that their dentist didn't disclose what they were doing and that the particular work that was done on me is very lucrative for the doctors. Whether it be forgetfulness, inconsideration, or blatant disregard, I am now left with a hefty bill and mouth in need of immediate attention. That seems to be of little concern to the doctor now that the original work was done and payment is expected. Customer service has been abysmal. I was never given the option to approve work to be done at the cost requested. Had I known that the doctor intended on doing work not covered by insurance, I would have gone to someone to do the work that is covered by my insurance.Product_Or_Service: DentistryDesired SettlementRepairing my mouth to get rid of the pain and adjusting my bill to what it should have been doing the work covered by my insurance. I also want the paperwork I was told to I would get, so that I can get my medical records (information/xrays). Business Response The complainant is a fairly new patient at my office. He came in for a comprehensive exam, at which time we determined the work he needed done. He had several procedures before the appointment in question. All procedures scheduled were sent to his insurance company prior to the appointments for pre-estimates so the patient knew what was due at each appointment. For the fillings in question, a pre-estimate was also sent to his insurance. Both we and the patient received it prior to scheduling his appointment and therefore everyone, including him, were aware of what he owed for the three fillings on that day. In addition, we have an office financial agreement on file that the patient signed at his first visit which states that he is ultimately responsible for all payments of services rendered and payment is due at time of service. It also states that if insurance does not pay for services rendered within 60 days of the procedure, that the patient is responsible for the bill. At all of my patient appointments, including his, I stated what procedures we were doing, and he agreed. During the filling appointment, one filling was very deep. I placed a medicated base under the filling and let the patient know three different times during the appointment, as noted by my assistant and charted, that he may have pain with this tooth and to let us know. He may need a root canal. The patient stated he understood. One week after the fillings, my administrative staff got a phone call from this patient who was irate, ranting and raving that he didn't know about how much the fillings were and he wasn't paying. My staff said they would discuss it with me to see if anything could be done. At that, he stated that his fillings were killing him. My staff offered him an appointment which he refused. When brought to my attention, I let my staff know that even though we did our due diligence with the pre-estimate, as a courtesy for him, that I would offer him a payment plan, interest free, to pay off his balance over a period of six months. I also told them to make him an appointment to check the "pain" he was complaining of. My staff called him three times that week, speaking to his wife once, regarding finances and trying to make him an appointment. He called back finally at [redacted] on a [redacted] afternoon screaming at the front desk again. They offered him several morning appointments, as he requested, to have his "pain" checked to which he replied "why do I have to come at your convenience???!!!" He then went on to threaten my front desk and myself, saying he would call me up on the weekend and have me come to the office so he could "let me have it". He then hung up on her. I do not tolerate bullying in my office, nor do I tolerate workplace violence. I sent the patient a letter explaining this, and that I no longer felt comfortable treating him. I let him know where he could go if there was an emergency of the next thirty days (UMass Medical) and reminded him of the financial policy he signed. After that, he submitted this claim. To settle this, I would be happy to see him regarding any pain in the fillings I did, as long as it is during business hours, as he makes me nervous for my safety and my staff's safety. However, he still owes his bill for services rendered.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)[redacted], has a distorted view of the events and has lied consistently throughout her response. From day 1 I have lied to and misled by herself and members of her practice. Prior to ever been seen by her, I had my dental records and most recent xrays forwarded to her office. I called and scheduled a cleaning for my 1st appointment. Much to my displeasure and shock, once I was in the chair, I was not getting a cleaning but would be getting a complete new set of xrays and exam, something I never asked for or wanted. She then collected the money from the insurance company for that visit. Then, I did agree to a "deep cleaning", and paid for full. Prior to those cleanings, I specifically and clearly stated to [redacted] and [redacted] that I wanted to know all costs, charges and what is due on each visit. I also spoke with my dental insurance company about the procedure because I had never had this type of cleaning.I was told that I needed 3 fillings. At the time of exam, I never agreed to do more than 1 fillings at a time and if we could, I was to be told what exactly what was going to be done. I also clearly told her staff that I needed to be informed of what is covered by the insurance company and that to NOT do anything not covered by insurance. Despite [redacted]'s assertions, I never received a "pre-estimate" and was not aware of what was scheduled to be done or what the cost would be. I would have only agreed to regular fillings which are covered 80% by my insurance. I was never told what kind of fillings they do, and never made aware that the fillings they do are covered at a fraction of the regular fillings. After speaking with the insurance company they stated that 80% of their complaints are from patients stating that dentists are not making them aware of the work being done and that the fillings that [redacted] did were "very lucrative" for the dentist. What is also very important to note is that since her staff and [redacted] are belligerent and unresponsive to the numerous calls I made to the office. They have lied every step of the way. Even in a call made by my fiancee in which she spoke with [redacted], they were completely defensive, in denial, and not forth coming and truthful. Perhaps the divorce that [redacted] is going through is clouding her judgment and affecting her staff. At multiple stages through the filling visit, she mentioned that she is going through a divorce and seemed extremely distracted. Her staff seemed sullen and distant. They seemed hesitant to respond to [redacted]'s comments about her poor relationship and the strain it puts on being with her daughter. She wants to say that I had a deep cavity and a root canal was possible. However that was not brought up when the xrays were done. I'm sure the fact that root canals and crowns are expensive isn't lost upon [redacted]. Her present financial situation and her divorce may be a factor in her poor work performance. She seemed distracted and it's not one tooth that hurts. It is all 3 that are causing me problems. Her work is completely substandard. I cannot even floss because there is no room between the teeth that she worked on. I'm not paying for terrible work. I could care less if she offers to fix her terrible work at no charge, I wouldn't want to be seen by her because she practices price gouging, deception, has a terrible attitude, a horrible and deceitful clerical staff, and is not a good dentist. I am filings a malpractice lawsuit against her. I never threatened her staff. I am upset at the terrible service that I have received. I do have the recorded messages that [redacted] and her staff have left me along with the dates and times of each instance when I attempted to reach her with no luck. She is paranoid. A professional should be able to the trials of daily life and not bring it into their practice. Clearly [redacted] is going through a tough time right now, but I refuse to let her situation be taken out on me. I am the victim, not her. If she doesn't find a way to fix her errors and appease me, we will end up in court. She seems to forget that I am the paying customer that now has 3 teeth in severe pain because of her actions. 3 teeth that were fine before she started her "work".