LOCATION: Virginia
Hello! Back in November I went to my dentist to get two root canals done. He never mentioned referring out to an endodontist and I did not sign anything prior to the procedure.
He was completing both root canals in one visit. Everything seemed fine during the procedure, he put a temporary filling on my teeth, and then broke the news to be that he broke his rotary file in BOTH teeth. He didn’t stop after the first one and ask if I wanted to continue. He then referred me to an endodontist. I did not pay for that visit.
I went to the endodontist where I had to pay $100 for a scan and then got quoted for the file removal and root canals. It was over $2200, and I was only going to pay $353 at the dentist. I know specialists are more expensive. There was a charge on the quote of $520 per tooth for the file removal that insurance would not cover.
I reached out to the dentist and went back and forth with him for days to try to get him to pay for something. He did not want to cover anything. Finally he spoke with the endodontist and agreed to cover the cost of the file removal and if I needed new crowns (my front teeth all have crowns on them already). I also got an infection from the abscess in the time between the initial attempt and getting my first root canal done.
I have since had the files removed and the root canals completed. I paid about $1300 total and everything seems to be fine now. I’ve been told by others to seek legal action to try to get some sort of compensation, mostly because he did not stop after the first time and inform me or give me the option to continue treatment. I also missed three days of work for the whole ordeal. Is there anything I can do legally at this point? Is it even worth it? I’m just frustrated I had to spend almost four times as much and he gets off practically free in this situation.