Screwed by Dentist ?

[whoknows87]

So I have a family member who started wearing braces about 1 year ago, went through this dental practice because they took her insurance, put a small sum as a down payment and the rest arranged payments monthly , here is the dilemma , 1 year has passed and the dentist decided to take the braces off due to swollen gums? and will not put them back on.... my issue is that this family member was under 18 when treatment started so insurance covered her braces ( a portion of it) ,so if this guy decided to take them off and not put them back on , she is pretty much screwed and a year worth of payments just went down the drain, another thing that bothered me is that why not put them back on? swollen gums can be treated I'm sure, I've heard it's a very common thing to occur while wearing braces so why not have them get treatment and then come back and have the same dentist put them on to avoid getting screwed by Dental Insurance ( she is 18 now so I believe they won't cover her anymore) any advice on what to do ? seems a bit shady to me so I decided to go with her next appointment and explain the insurance situation to the dentist ( I'm sure he is aware) and explain that time and money was invested into this and this swollen gums excuse seems a bit shady to me a reason to just terminate treatment and pocket the money and screw the patient, If she was under 18 I would've told her to find another dentist, but now she is in a tough situation in regards to her braces being covered by insurance thoughts?

 

[rei101]

You will probably get a better advice in a forum dedicated to that topic and not about computers if you want a realistic answer to your case.

 

[maflynn]

I'd not look to the internet for medical or dental advice. Seek out another dentist for another opinion.

 

[Shrink]

Screwed by Dentist

My dentist doesn't offer that service!

He's not that cute anyway...

Seriously, I fully agree with maflynn...this is not the place for medical/dental advice.

Get a second opinion from another dentist...

 

[velocityg4]

Before just presuming that at 18 insurance is just cut off check with the insurance provider. Usually a child is covered under a family plan until around 25.

 

[Huntn]

I view this forum as a perfectly fine place for advice "lite", a source for possible options and/or to just talk about it as long as you consider the source. My assumption is that other resources will be called upon to resolve an issue like this.

For this case, in my opinion, this is a matter for the insurance company, another dentist, and possibly a lawyer and or your State's Attorney General, but not to punish but to achieve resolution. Both myself, wife, and son had braces and we did not have a swollen gum issue, but it certainly sounds like an unforeseen complication. Since insurance companies offer things like deductibles and if you have paid the deductible and money is now an issue, but you are not being taken care of, a lawyer or the State Attorney General might be able to help. My impression is that the monthly payments are to pay for a service, that was paid for at least partially. And if that service is not going to be performed, then some kind of mitigation is in order. If it has not all ready been done, first stop is full engagement with the insurance company and find another Dentist. I'm sure you'll be talking about money.