I Am Very Unhappy with My Daughter’s Lumineers
Posted by writeradmin
My daughter has always had teeth she was embarrassed about. I decided to invest a huge amount of money to get her a smile makeover. My dentist said he was a cosmetic dentist, but after the disaster I am about to tell you about, I learned that he is just a general dentist. They gave her six Lumineers. We told them what we wanted them to look like and found something in their Lumineers book that was similar. We did say we wanted them a bit more tapered than what we saw in the book. They agreed. They also told us we’d get to see them on first and approve them. When they came in, the temporary ones were done to design them I wasn’t too pleased. They were too big and square. They assured me that they would be just like we wanted when the permanent ones come in. When they did come in, we barely got to see them and even then, her mouth was pulled back so much it was really hard to tell. I was still concerned that they were too big. They suggested that we give them a week. We said we’d try. When she went to school the next day, the kids were merciless to her. They started braying like a donkey behind her back and calling her donkey teeth. She came home and cried for hours. I didn’t make her go back today and am writing you. I called the dentist and they said they’d reshape them a little but if they did many changes they could fall off. I don’t know what to do. Do you have any recommendations?
Jody
Dear Jody,
I am so sorry this happened to your daughter. What a nightmare. First, I want to make sure you understand that there is not really a recognized specialty in cosmetic dentistry. Because of that, every cosmetic dentist is technically just a general dentist. The difference between a skilled and artistic cosmetic dentist and just someone who dabbles is the amount of post-doctoral training they invest in.
The fact that your dentist was offering Lumineers already had me concerned. This is a brand of porcelain veneers that is highly marketed to inexperienced cosmetic dentists as being easy to place. They say this because they are slightly thinner and, in some cases, will not require tooth preparation. However, there is a lot more to creating beautiful smiles than just tooth prep. Plus, most smiles require some tooth prep, even with ultra-thin veneers, otherwise the smile ends up too bulky. This seems to be what has happened to your daughter.
While in most cases, you cannot get your money back simply because you do not like the way the smile looks, you have some things working in your favor. The biggest of these is that they lied to you. When they told you that the permanent ones would look different than the mock ups, that was untrue. Second, when they implied if they “fixed” them, they could fall off, that was also a lie. Unless of course your dentist was so unskilled that he did not bond them on properly.
Do not let them fix these. I have my doubts they can, plus it will not look good for any court case you have if you continue to let them work on her smile. What you want is to get your money back so that you can get your daughter’s smile redone by a skilled cosmetic dentist. I would start out by appealing to your dentist’s sense of justice and ethics first. Let them know that you want to work this out amicably and just want your money back. Tell them what happened to your daughter. However, let them know that you also understand the strength of your case and are willing to go to court if necessary.
If that happens, you will need an expert cosmetic dentist to be willing to testify on your behalf of what is wrong with this smile. I would see a dentist for out of town who is AACD accredited. That is for two reasons. First, AACD accredited dentists are the best cosmetic dentists in their field. That will be who you will want to re-do your daughter’s case anyway. Second, being from out of your area, they are less likely to be “friends” with your dentist. As a result, they won’t feel guilt about saying it was poorly done.
This blog is brought to you by Franklin, TN Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Franklin Weber.
