I went to my dentist today. One of my crowns developed a "shell crack" along the edge. My dentist did all of his dentist magic. He pulled off the broken crown. Fiddled around a little bit with the stump to make sure the surface was sound. Scanned the new stump with a bit of digital magic.
Based on input from one of my commentors, I informed my dentist that I wanted a porcelain-over-metal crown. He assured me that it wasn't a problem and there was not cost for the upgrade. Notes were added to the file to ensure P-on-M happened.
I showed up today and...it was not porcelain-on-metal.
My dentist apologized profusely for wasting my time. His office was going to "handle it", no cost to me.
Mistakes happen. I get that.
I am extraordinarily pleased by how my dentist chose to handle the situation. No waffling. No excuses. No suggestion that I accept the (now) standard porcelain crown. He might end up eating the cost of the wrong crown...I don't know.
Also a tip of the hat to the dental tech who was prepping me for the procedure. She is the one who caught the switch-er-roo and opted to not yank the temporary crown. She was playing at the top of her game!
The only downside of my dentist is that he is only five years younger than I am (even though he looks like he is 35) so at some point I will be shopping for a new one.
ERJ, at one point years ago my mother went to the dentist they had gone to for years to get a tooth pulled. They pulled the wrong tooth. The dentist was quite up front the mistake: no charge for the service and said he would be her number one witness for any insurance claim. She filed a claim and got an "ugly" letter from the insurance company suggesting she was lying. The family attorney got involved with a "Dear Insurer" letter.
ReplyDeleteThe claim was paid without further incident.
My 40 year dentist retired. Kid without a speck of grey hair replaced him. It may be technology or willingness to adopt tech but the kid is better than the retired guy. Latest crown has no food trap. Meaning the sides of the crown exactly match the sides of the tooth. Cannot say that about the other three. At least I will never have to switch again. :) Roger
ReplyDeleteMy dentist is nearing retirement age, but to my good fortune, my first cousin once removed was in Dental school when he met and married my dentist's daughter, and is now taking over the practice.
ReplyDeletePretty certain I changed my dentist's diapers at one point some years ago.