I Need Advice!!!! I Got Taken...

my sister is the office manager for a dentist. I second talking calmly with the office manager. Rather than threaten a lawyer. As a last result, I would threaten going to the state board. Dentist and basically any kind of doctor HATES going to the board. Not only is it a pain, but it seriously called their integrity into question, and can ruin their reputation.

What you need to do FIRST is go in and talk to the office manager. Don't go in with guns blazing. Go in and tell her exactly how things went. Tell her that you will give the dentist the opportunity to make this right when he gets back, but if he doesn't, you will be seeing a lawyer over this. Tell her if it gets as far as a lawyer getting involved, they will end up having to pay lawyer fees.

I would call the insurance company right away and tell them that you don't want them to process a payment yet because of a dispute between you and the dentist. Tell them that you are waiting for him to come back from vacation to try to settle this before you decide whether to get braces or not.

OR, go ahead and go see a lawyer first and get advice. Usually the first session is free. Then you'd be better able to talk to both the office manager AND the insurance company to make sure you don't shoot yourself in the foot.

Good luck,
Dawn

I would just calmly go to the office and let them know that this was not what you wanted. Let the office person know that you made yourself perfectly clear with the dentist that you wanted the EXPRESS only. Give them the benefit of the doubt - perhaps there was a clerical error of some kind. Be nice, and ask them what they can do to rectify the situation.

Don't worry about it. Don't give them any more money, but don't worry about it. If the dentist is gone for a week, you might not be able to do much for a week. But again, don't worry about that. A week isn't going to hurt anything.

Be nice, but be firm. This is not what you asked for. You were very specific about what you wanted. What do they plan to do at this point.

You still do not have to accept a full case. You have the right to not use the full case. I would give the dentist and his billing staff a bit more time. I suggest that if you insist he will get the half case although I don't understand how that works. He has to get approval from someone else?

Anyway, you'll have to pay something for the exam but I suggest that you can ask for the deposit back minus the cost of the exam and not take the full or half case.

There is nothing you can do legally until you give his office the chance to make this right. Just hang in there. Let go of your anger. It's not helping you any. Focus on finding a way to get what you want. Yes, you may have to go somewhere else but you'll probably have to start from scratch and do the whole thing over unless you work with this dentist so that he'll forward his findings to the new dentist.

Be confident in your right to protest with the dentist and I suggest you'll find that you will have less anger and be more successful with the dentist.

What is your bill for? Don't pay it until you get this worked out. It will not be a problem waiting to make payment or not.

what does your contract state? full or express? if everything was verbal - I have a problem with that and your case will be shaky.

does your memo line on your deposit check say FULL or EXPRESS?

I would fight it. ESPECIALLY if I have a signed contract for EXPRESS.
I would also report him to the Better Business Bureau, Angie's list (yes, I know - but they do doctors now too!!) and start a small claims case in your county court.

Tell him what you are going to do if he persists with his "billing" and see if he backs down. If he does - get EVERYTHING IN WRITING.

You can write back on the invoice you received and tell them that they need to RECHECK their paperwork.

Dear Dr PIA.

I am in receipt of your invoice in the amount of $2,500 for the full case of Invisalign. I am disputing this invoice. As we discussed my doing the express Invisalign, not the full Invisalign.

I realize that mistakes happen. However, I expect your office to rectify this mistake.

Respectfully,

Kristin

If they call you back - tell them to put it in writing, say good bye and hang up.

I would state that you plan on going to the Dentistry Board, Better Business Bureau and Angie's list to let them know about your experience as well as his nefarious ways....he did the "bait and switch"...don't let yourself get screwed.

Did you not sign some sort of contract of what you ordered? Our dentist usually gives us a paper, outlining the course of action, costs to me, how much insurance will cover, etc., and if we agree, we sign it and move things along.

ETA - I agree with the other posters... you get more bees with honey. Being the beyotch will probably get you a whole lotta nothing but the same in return. All you need to do is tell them you're concerned that there was a misunderstanding or miscommunication because you and the dentist had agreed on the Express set, but that's not what was ordered or shipped to their office.

Bottom line, give them a chance to fix it before you get buck wild. This is where many consumers go wrong.

I would strongly recommend you not go in "guns blazing" with talk of contacting an attorney or the state board or the Better Business Bureau.

Simply let them know that you received the invoice for a "full" when you had been specific about wanting "express" only and that there has apparently been some error. Wait to hear what they have to say. It's very possible this whole situation can be easily rectified.

If you go in "guns blazing," you put them on the defense. That doesn't usually result in a happy ending. If you approach it as a concerned patient stating that there has been some confusion, you are very likely to receive a much more sympathetic answer.

If this approach doesn't work, you can always turn up the heat. If they don't seem at to be willing to talk to you or work with you, you can contact an attorney or look into other options. But it's really hard to back down once you've already gotten angry with them.

I just think you're more likely to get what you want if you approach them in a non threatening way.

Ditto was Gidget said - try talking to them first. They may be willing to make an adjustment since you were very specific about what you wanted.

what did your contract say? hopefully there is an out-clause in there. if nothing else, what did you write on your deposit check? I'm hoping in the memo section you wrote 'deposit for express case' or something that signifies your intent. if you wrote that, you should have no problems. if you didn't, still check out the paperwork that you signed so far to see your options.

if you have no contract stating your intentions or your options, and you check said nothing, I'm sure one of the more legal-minded mamas will have some ideas for you. But I will say that the BBB is always an option, and so is the department of regulatory agencies in your state (google that). I guarantee your dentist does not want marks on his record, and those agencies can help advocate on your behalf. He knows it is much easier to eat the cost himself than have a blemish on his record.

So sorry this happened to you. You must be furious. Good luck.

Even though you have a lot of information here, I have no idea.

On one hand no reputable dentist is going to do something that is not a good idea or will make his work look shoddy. The other issue is if you move your teeth too quickly, well I can't remember the medical term, but they die and fall out. Think your pissed now, how would you feel if he gave into your demands and your teeth fell out?

On the other hand you said express or you don't want to move the teeth at all.

Just off the top of my head you should be out the deposit but I don't know what you signed. I did go through braces for me and my kids, they always had a contract so I would imagine you signed something.
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Oh the contracts I signed also spelled out the hazards like teeth falling out and held them harmless so if you have a paper like that perhaps it has the financial side on it too.

He said he would try and see if it would go. That says he tried. You told him you did not want it so you have told them what you are going to do.

I would call his office and tell them that you and he discussed it and something is wrong here. That you did not order this and needed a refund. They should give you money back except for the exam and other stuff they did do.

You can tell them you've contacted an attorney for filing a small claims action in court to see if that makes them want to get rid of it. But you did say in your post 2 different times that he said he'd try. He did try according to your own post.

"I don't REM if I signed something"? If you did, you've just lost your case.

If you didn't, then it's time to call The Better Business Bureau in your area and turn this over to that agency.

I think you need to talk with your dentist as to why it went from express to full.

I went and did some research on Invisalign. Personally, I never even knew there was such an option. I had the full-on, metal bands when I had my teeth aligned as a teenager. My eye teeth on the top and bottom were very crooked and my teeth a bit cramped; my braces were for cosmetic looks only (so that I would have straight teeth). In my particular case, I didn't need to have a lot of work/movement/straightening done; I suspect I got the "tin mouth" because my parents didn't want to pay a lot for my braces. A boy in my class had the "clear braces" with just a hint of metal. I was so jealous! But you know, both our teeth turned out the same way; I suspect his parents paid more for his braces than mine did for mine.

But I'm getting off track.

I think express vs full really depends on how bad your teeth are and how much movement your teeth will have to undergo until they are perfect/straight/the problem is resolved. (And as an adult, it takes longer for your teeth to move/be fixed than it does for a child or a teen.)

As someone wrote into a forum about this question of express vs full, a commenter stated that you could go the express route and, after the recommended number of treatments under the express route, perhaps your teeth have been stubborn in their moving/realignment; so are you then going to spend some extra money having a few more trays made to complete the process and straighten your teeth--or are you going to stop at that point and say, however much your teeth straightened is going to have to be good enough, because you're not going to pay anymore?

You need to find out from your dentist if maybe, after taking measurements, making casts, and looking at how much work there is involved in moving your teeth--maybe your mouth really does need the full vs the express treatment. You won't know unless you discuss it--politely and as an adult--with your dentist. Then it will be up to you to decide if you want to go the full route--and make sure that your teeth are straightened at the end of the treatment plan--or if you want to go the express route--and risk the fact that your teeth might need more trays/treatments after the initial treatments are done because your teeth didn't move as fast or as expected and you then will have to decide if you're going to spend more money to complete the process.

The dentist has NO WAY of knowing how your teeth are going to react to moving/straightening until he starts treatment (you don't state if you're just moving teeth or if you're correcting an overbite or an underbite or other serious problems). I'm also going to state that the Invisalign Web site doesn't state that there is such a thing as an express or a full option, yet people on forums state there is. So perhaps the express option isn't as recommended or isn't available for very many candidates.

He should have called you to discuss it. Try not to stress out. I know a lot of dentists and shysters are not the norm in that profession. Write, email, call, and tell him he should have called you. Tell him you thought you were clear that you would not move forward if a full case was required.
The problem may be that some dentists are perfectionists, and he just couldn't bring himself to do it half assed. In any case, you will just need to be firm that you did not approve a full case and see what he offers for a solution.