Dental Drama

[Missy]

In 2004, my dentist did some dental work that affected three teeth. Since then, two crowns broke and the onlay fell out. When the dentist refused to make good on the work (I wanted my money back - I could no longer trust him), I put up a website describing the experience. Obnoxious? Probably but I felt I was within my first amendment rights and just told the story rather than call names.

Now he is suing me for defamation, business slander, false advertising, violation of business and professional code 17500, 17200, unfair business practice and extortion. Can that be right?

It seems to me that I should have some kind of countersuit. Not that I would prefer to sue him but I figure that since I'm going to court I might as well try to come up with some kind of leverage. I realize that statute of limitations has run out on any kind of immediate injury lawsuit but he is minimally guilty of professional misconduct.

What say y'all?

Here is the text of the website:

This website is dedicated to my experiences with xxx, Cerec restorations and sedation dentistry. xxx is a dentist that practices sedation dentistry in xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. xxx owns a Cerec device. The Cerec is a special machine allows dentists to make dental restorations while the patient waits thus making it possible for permanent crowns and other restorations to be finished in one visit.

** picture of damaged tooth **
This is the damage to my tooth. xxx put a Cerec restoration in the tooth above. Because it didn't fit properly, he drilled down the existing crown below, weakening it. Within a very short amount of time, the crown on the tooth he drilled broke. Additionally, he had used the CEREC machine to make an inlay which promptly fell out and a crown which broke.

The entire xx episode was your typical story of an unknowing person with a problem who was sold a bill of goods. No problem - one visit, gas, sleeping pills, piece of cake! It is hard to believe that a dentist would give a patient with extreme dental phobia gas and sleeping pills then wake them up and try to upsell them but that is exactly what happened. Something along the lines of "decay we couldn't see before on a tooth that we weren't going to touch" and do I want to fix it for another $1200?! On the way out, the receptionist presents me a bill that was higher than the estimate by several hundred dollars. Fortunately I noticed and she quickly adjusted her "billing error".
What are Cerec Crowns and why don't they work on molars?

Cerec is a in house method of dental restoration. It is very attractive because it has some of the natural translucency of light, however it is not as strong as traditional crowns. The issue is that the, although less drilling is necessary, the ceramic used is thinner (saving more of the tooth and creating a thinner restoration). Although I don't have any experience on how that works out on front teeth, all of the Cerec work that I had done by xxx fell out or broke within five years. The latest breakage was a piece of molar that broke right off exposing part of what was left of the tooth under it and causing me anxiety and costing me time and money to go to another dentist for a traditional crown which should last me 20 years.

A picture of the Cerec dental restoration that broke coming soon.

More information about CEREC on molars


Estimate for repair to Tooth #30 from another dentist (not xxx, DDS) (picture follows)
Get a second opinion and look for local area Dentists
with the integrity to stand by their work!

[glatt]

You have to be careful that everything you publish on your website is true, especially when your intent is to expose someone. If it is true and you have proof to back it up, then you have a very strong position in court. But anybody can sue you for any reason, and you are finding that out.

I'd hire a good lawyer. You need to defend yourself.

Just glancing at your post above, you say that the dentist "owns" a certain piece of equipment. The word "own" has a very specific legal definition. I doubt you actually know whether he owns it or not. Perhaps you should have said the dentist "has" a piece of equipment. Or "boasts" a piece of equipment. Or that he "uses" that piece of equipment. This is just an example. If the dentist doesn't own the machine but rents it, then a lie on your website has been exposed. Can you prove that every statement you made on your website is 100% factual?

You attacked this dentist's livelihood. He may deserve it, but don't be surprised when he fights back.

Get a lawyer.

edit: (you also say you realize the statute of limitations has run out for a counter suit. Are you sure? the statute of limitations varies from state to state. For example, I believe in the District of Columbia it is 3 years but in Virginia it is 7.)

[sweetwater]

You may want to check into the expected service life of this type of dental procedure, along with any history of other complaints lodged against this dentist, which may provide you with useful information. And lawsuits can sometimes be resolved outside the courtroom, so don't give up. But do get a lawyer.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Or kill him.

[Missy]

Thanks! All good advise. It would be better resolved. If I counter-sue him, it will be very bad for him professionally because he'll have to report it to his insurance company.

[Clodfobble]

Even if you don't counter-sue, you'll need a lawyer right away. But considering it's medical malpractice and damages may be awarded, you can probably get one on contingency (i.e., they work for free unless there's a settlement in your favor.) Beware, malpractice lawyers are about as reputable as drive-through dentists.

[Undertoad]

I had the exact same experience and even tried to get G00gle to link it. Because, fuck them! Fucking asshole dentists!

First, get to the REAL problem. What we have here is a stupid dentist who googled himself, found your page #2 for his name, took it entirely personally and got massively irate.

We have seen this happen many times in similar circumstances, often with massive, inappropriate escalations. "Oh no, somebody wrote something bad about me on the Internet! This CANNOT STAND!" People have been known to take weird revenge. Calling people's employers. Calling people's spouses. Posting their real information on the net. That kind of thing.

But what we have here is a case of this massive anger, and desire to escalate, combined with arrogance and money, and when you have arrogance and money you believe that you can use that money to play the system.

So he then called his lawyer, and said sue for whatever you think you can sue for. And the lawyer, who certainly understood all of the above, accepted, because the lawyer knows the dentist has money and is irate. Dentist screwed you? You've gotten your revenge, because the lawyer is now screwing the dentist.

Now, if YOU have money of any kind, you have many interesting options. I agree with Glatt that you should involve your own lawyer, who will know may more options than we could suggest here.

I would think that an actual judge would see the massive, inappropriate escalation for exactly what it is, and would throw it all out on lack of merit. Of course there's also the possibility that he's with a lawyer who knows a judge and can make stuff stick. But if your lawyer says the whole thing will blow over, then here's what I'd do:

I'd keep the site up... and I'd document the lawsuit, with scans of all related documents. I might make a few changes -- like, if I wrote "Dr. X is a scumbag scam artist" I might change that to "In my opinion, dentists who promote this procedure and fail to warranty their work when it fails are not working in the patient's best interests." Then I'd call Dr. X to tell him that if I didn't receive a complete refund in one week, I'd notify all local media of what was happening.

I'm just that kind of guy, you know?

[Undertoad]

Wait a minute, did you actually get served with court papers -- or did you just get a letter from his lawyer *saying* that they were going to sue you?

[Aliantha]

My brother has had crowns on one of his front teeth all his life (since he was about 8 and his adult tooth came through black after he smashed his face into the side of the bath when he was about 4). He's had to replace the crown a number of times just because over time sometimes they 'fall off'.

From my understanding, sometimes crowns stay on for life, but it's fairly common for them to deteriorate over time.

[Missy]

Undertoad, I'm laughing my ass off. Finally, someone who really feels my pain! Yeah - I got served. Actually, substitute service. I still haven't gotten papers in the mail. I was actually thinking about posting all the documents up on the site so people can see what kind of jerk he is being. I just wanted my money back and he wouldn't give it to me. I didn't even ask for pain and suffering or anything else. Jeez - what if the paper picked it up? Local dentist (in our very small town) sues local citizen who complained that he wouldn't refund her after the work he did failed. This guy is not thinking about his career!

Aliantha - We are not talking about deteriorating over time, we are talking about all this guys work falling out within five years and unrelated teeth being damaged by him.

[SquidGirl]

I was once threatened to be sued for defamation of character and slander as a business I once worked for, I feel, fired me for religious differences. I had mentioned it to like 2 people and then got a letter. It never went further than a warning letter. I think this being a personal webpage, from what I understand might make it easier for you since you aren't publishing it in a local newspaper...this you would have to seriously be searching for, or googling like UT said. I think you SHOULD get the alternative dentistry work done (if you haven't already) and take him to small claims court to pay the bill. Get about 3 other dentists opinions, have it all documented and there you go. He needs to be held responsible for the shoddy work, but I wouldn't antagonize him by posting the documents on the web as depending on the mood of the judge or how deep the dentists pockets are for laywer fees....it might backfire on you.

[ZenGum]

I believe that legally, truth is a defense against a charge of slander.
And while Glatt is probably being prudent about getting all the details perfect, IMHO it is the libelous details that you must have correct to use the truth defense. Incorrect details that do not significantly affect the libelous material should not undermine the truth defense. IMHO, IANAL, ETC.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The problem is convincing the judge, if he's fair and impartial, what the truth is.
You bring 3 experts to say he did it wrong, he brings 3 experts (or more) to say he did it right... and it's your fault for not following the proper maintenance regimen.
Subsequent failure, in 5 years, is not proof he did it wrong, and your opinion is not expert testimony.

Sorry to rain on your righteous parade, but having been fucked over by both dentists and the legal system, I still think the best choice is to kill him.

[Missy]

It makes me crazy to think about how stupid this guy is. If you were a medical professional, would you open the door to any kind of lawsuit? Especially when there are probably trillions of PI lawyers salivating at the opportunity to work on contingency and insurance companies in a hurry to settle.

There are fools and there are damn fools.

[footfootfoot]

Or at least give him a top decker.

And just because I haven't gotten laid recently enough I will point out that "Slander" refers to spoken statements (S like in slander and spoken)
and "Libel" refers to written statements (L like in Libel and Library)