I had to have some dental work done. Three crowns in all. It was a horrible experience. He did give me nitrous oxide, but that did not really help. At some point, the dentist splashed some type of chemical in my eye, which burned like crazy. Then, his drill slipped and cut my tongue. Both he and the assistant gasped when it happened. And, I yelled because, obviously, that hurt a LOT. It’s been a couple of days and my tongue still hurts. I called to ask for a discount because of all the accidents he had. He just acted like none of it ever happened and said I probably bit my tongue because patients do that when they’re numb. Don’t I deserve an apology and a discount?

Steph

Dear Steph,

While you certainly deserve an apology and recognition of what happened, it appears your dentist is in defensive mode and is pretending what you said did not happen. That means you won’t get the apology or the discount unless you push it. There is not enough damage to warrant a lawsuit, but you could tell him you are going to write a negative review if he does not own up and take responsibility. That does have an impact on his business. Short of that, your only other option is to move on and find a different dentist.

If you do go with another dentist, I am going to suggest you find someone who offers dental sedation. You mentioned that the nitrous oxide didn’t help. Plus, with the number of accidents you had, I wonder if you weren’t wiggly. That’s not excusing what happened but would explain some of it. Both of those things together tell me that you have some dental anxiety. Plus, given this latest experience, you’ll have greater anxiety next time.

A dentist who offers sedation will have oral conscious sedation. This is a pill that you will take before your appointment. It is much stronger than nitrous oxide. In fact, you’ll probably find that you sleep through your entire appointment.

This blog is brought to you by Gilbert, AZ Dentist Dr. Matt Roper.