ComplaintsforDigital Dentistry

• Initial Complaint

  02/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I went in for a night guard for my TMJ and I was told that the first one would be 475 and then the second one is 875 & that’s the permanent splint. However when I went for my appointment they said they do this in emergencies for people who can’t open their mouth but they don’t even use the material anymore & and they didn’t even have a proper container to put it in. So I take it home and wear it and hoping that the taste of the chemicals was gonna go away but unfortunately It never did go away, despite the fact that I washed, the chemical taste is still horrible. I woke up the next day after wearing it all night, and my throat and chest were burning and itching from the chemicals. I’m terrified of what kind of issue it could cause breathing in and absorbing and basically chewing on that chemical all night that causes burning itching reaction in my throat and chest. It can’t be safe and they are not responding to me about what kind of chemical it is so I don’t know if it’s safe and they said they’re still charging me for it and they’re charging me for 550 instead of 475 for a small splint that I cannot even wear! Not only that, but it hurt my front teeth, it was squeezing them pushing them & they’re still sore days later. I still have a lingering, itching, burning sensation in my chest from wearing it three days later. I tried to call and talk to them about getting it fixed and they basically said they can’t even get me in until March since I cannot make the 8a appt. The receptionist was very rude & argumentative, and didn’t care at all; and said that they would still be charging me and billing me for something like this even though it’s completely unethical. they didn’t even make me a proper, professional night guard that is supposed to be sent to the lab. they sent me home with it that day, they just made it at the office and it’s made out of a chemical that caused a horrible reaction! Now I just got an EOB and a bill from them that they charged even more money!

  Business response

  03/10/2023

  To Whom it May Concern: 
  I saw ******** ***** in my office February 2, 2023. She has had Temporal Mandibular problems since she was 18 years old. She came to me for a new splint. I made her temporary splint to wear until we could have a Full Upper Splint (FUS) predetermined with her insurance. She was not charged for the temporary splint but by a posting error, the FUS was charged out instead of going into her treatment to be predetermined. The claim was sent to her insurance and they paid for the exam and FUS. On February 23, 2023 we sent the money back to her insurance company in the amount of $808.20 for the FUS, check # *****. The check cleared our account on March 3, 2023. The patient was sent a bill in error when insurance paid the claim. It has been corrected on her account, leaving only her copay for the exam, which we will be removed since she does not want to continue treatment with our office. 
  She apparently had some issues with the temporary splint and was not happy with our staff's response to her. We have made these temporary splints for years to help our patients and have never had the type of complaints she was stating. 
  There is a copy of her ledger, her case notes, the returned check and a copy of letter we received from you enclosed. 
  We are sorry for the mistake we made filing the claim but feel we did everything we could to correct it and hope this takes care of the problem. 
  Thank you, 
  ****** ** ******* ****** 

  
  

  Customer response

  03/15/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  

  I don’t believe that they are telling the truth because they told me on the phone that they would charge me $475 for a deprogrammer, and then when I left the appointment they handed me a bill on my way out saying that they were going to charge my insurance $550, and now they’re saying that they weren’t even going to charge me for it….?  After they already overcharged for it. They are only making these changes because of my complaint to you and they never notified me of a single word of any of this. I am only hearing about this because of my complaint to Better Business Bureau, otherwise they’ve never said a word to me about any of the mistakes that they made or any of the corrections that they are allegedly making.

  As I’ve previously stated, I’ve had TMJ problems for over 20 years and I have seen multiple doctors for this and I have never had any issues with any night guard or splint like this before in my life. I am shocked by their disrespect, lack of sympathy, lack of responsibility & lack of communication. They told me they were going to call me back after the assistant spoke to the doctor and they never did. The receptionist was arguing on the phone with me telling me that they were definitely going to charge me for the splint and that they couldn’t get me in for a month if I couldn’t make the 8 AM appointment. Which I could not. The doctor is saying that they did everything that they could and that is far from the truth. They never called to apologize or explain any of the information in this letter to me at all. None of this changes the fact that the splint that they made me is not wearable at all,  it tastes horribly of chemicals and the chemicals burn in the throat and chest that lingered for days after wearing it one night. I’ve never had that happen in my entire 24yrs of TMJ treatment. So, I called them to address it they did not care at all and still no one to this day has ever called me to address that issue. I am happy if they are truly refunding the money so that I can get an actual splint made that I can actually wear properly without risking my health but that doesn’t change the fact that they did not do right by me and that they are only doing this because of this complaint.  Also, if they fixied the invoice then why does it still show that I have a balance? I should not have a balance if they refunded everything, as they should have. It’s also really frustrating that they’re saying that I don’t want to continue care when they are the ones that never followed up with me to see how I was doing or to fix the situation that they caused. So, they’re the ones that didn’t want to continue care for me by doing what was right and taking care of the patient. They made me a splint that was not wearable or safe to wear and I notified them of it and they didn’t care at all to fix it and I never once heard back from anybody.  so that’s why I filed a complaint and here they are writing you that they did everything right by me and I choose not to receive treatment,  and none of that is true. At this point, I don’t trust them and I would definitely like my money refunded to my insurance so that I can go get a proper splint made from an honest and reliable provider that I can trust, that actually cares about my health and well-being. Thank you! 

  
  Regards,
  
  ******** ***** 

   

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the response. If the consumer does not provide a reason the complaint will be closed Answered]

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