Zeitz, Fred E. DDS

Review: My complaint goes back to the early spring of 2004. I had a crown finished just a few days before I went to W. Virginia to visit my sister. I felt the tooth break when I was eating Easter dinner on April 11th of that year. I suffered chronic pain from that tooth for several years and had recurring abscesses of the gum above that tooth, caused by the insertion of a root canal post that missed both of the roots, weakening the root which caused it to break where the post came through the side of the root. When I showed [redacted] the tooth after I had it extracted, he said that although he could not credit me for the crown as a lab had made it, he would credit me for the root canal work on that tooth. [redacted] gave me a $200.00 credit, however I was originally charged his standard fee for the root canal so I expected that much credit at least. I feel [redacted] owes me at least another $600.00 credit which is the amount he claims I still owe him.It cost me more than $200.00 to have the broken pieces and remaining nerve removed. I have contacted his office about this several times, yet [redacted] insists on ruining my credit because of his shoddy work. My credit report will only count this against me for another two and a half years, however the upcoming critique of [redacted]' work will remain on he Internet to guide unsuspecting victims for many years longer. I would rather my comments reflect all the good work [redacted] performed for me over the years. I am sending a copy of this letter to [redacted], along with an official complaint to the Revdex.com and the WDA. I will be posting my opinions about [redacted]' work by the end of May on professional review websites.Desired Settlement: I want credit for this as promised, and I would like my credit report to reflect same.

Business

Response:

[redacted] has threatened for us to remove his bill from our delinquent account status. He has been at our collection agency for many years. The tooth in question was worked on for several years and

finally developed a crack. Tim came into our office but was not consistent in his appointments. He also had problems with his account that partially prevented him from maintaining his appointments.

I believe you can not render a judgment as to whether his dental treatment was poor in nature. His statements are NOT accurate and his dental hygiene was not what we expect from our patients. We

(basically) did all we could with what Tim presented us. His letter is full of threats, and if you would publish this it would be inaccurate and slanderous in nature. I have not heard from Tim for

two years, so this is somewhat surprising to me.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.

I have contacted [redacted] by phone several times in the past few years about this, the most recent was in late April of this year just a few days before making this complaint, so [redacted]' "surprise" is a surprise to me. I spoke to the receptionist Jocelyn, who asked me to call back the following Monday for [redacted]' reply. She told me [redacted] had said he already credited me $200.00 for that tooth in the past and would not consider any more.

I was a patient of [redacted] for many years and trusted him, so when he said he would credit me for his work on the "tooth in question". I believed him and expected full credit for the root canal. The fact that he credited me $200.00 together with his own confession that "the tooth in question" was worked on for several years proves that he was indeed aware of the problem with that tooth and that I had complained about it. (Why else would it need to be worked on for several years, and why else would he credit me anything?) The "tooth in question" was indeed worked on over and over again for several years because of the repeated infections caused by "the tooth in question's" root breaking off at the post on Easter Sunday of 2004, just a few days after the completion of the crown. I can remember one time in particular he had his assistants come in to watch the pus shoot out when he lanced an abscess above "the tooth in question".

I have never threatened [redacted] in any way. I did send him a copy of the complaint which I sent to you. I also started posting my opinions about his poor work with a copy of my complaint to you on several dental review and consumer advocacy websites the same day I filed my Revdex.com complaint.

His comments to you about my hygiene were inappropriate, unprofessional and have nothing to do with the fact he put a post in between the roots of the "tooth in question", instead of picking one of the two available canals. I would guess the root he missed wasn't cleaned out at all. I did not complain about his stubbly beard, or his assistant's breath nor did I whine about the time his wife came in while he was working on me, she argued with him and accused him of indiscretions with one of his assistants although it may explain why he missed the root while drilling. [redacted] also stated "He also had problems with his account that partially prevented him from maintaining his appointments." I am not sure what "partially prevented" means. I did eventually pay every bill on my account with the exception of the amount of this disagreement. These comments by [redacted] seem to reflect a prejudicial attitude towards me.

Regards,

Consumer

Response:

Complaint Detail