Cavity filling fell off, Gum recession unnoticed, Contradictory diagnostic (pictures below) - you get what you pay for, right?
How did it happen?
I found them on this budget-aggregator "MyGon" (Groupon alternative, cheap price deals website). As my parents ever said "you get what you pay for". It couldn't be more real and I've learnt it the hard way.
What happened?
One of my premolars/molars was starting to annoy me. I’ve picked this clinic out of this "hot" deals site. They ran a full mouth x-ray and the dentist spotted the cavity. We booked a second appointment to treat it. The treatment itself went fairly well, although the dentist warned me that "your cavity has some depth and I may damage the nerve treating it. If that happens, we need to devitalise it".
This was undoubtedly the quickest cavity treatment I ever had which sparked my attention. The next few days were unusually painful. I was told it was “okay” to feel some discomfort, however it didn’t stop after 1 week and I called in the clinic to have a look at it.
I got a different dentist; after a few pounding and sensitivity tests, she told me bluntly "it needs to be devitalised". I said "How come?! The treatment was so quick, no nerve damage, how come it needs to be devitalised now?" - she shrugged her shoulders and said "I didn't do your consultation or treatment...". She prescribed some Bruffen for the inflammation. After a week, the pain was still there.
Came out of there thinking “I need to get a second opinion from a different clinic”
Second opinion and gum recession
Went to a different clinic nearby and the dentist spotted a gum recession which had my tooth nerve wide visible and exposed to pain. He told me “that needs to be covered urgently” - how could that go completely unnoticed by Medidental staff?
Back to Medidental
Told the dentist about the gum recession which she acknowledged "indeed, that needs covering. Here’s our price". I replied perplexed "how come you didn't spot it when I first came in?!". After a shrug of shoulders "I didn't do your consultation…”.
Cavity filling fell off whilst eating cereal
Days passed, Sunday night, I was eating my cereal and bit on something hard; spit all the cereals (sorry for the image) and after rummaging on the chewed cereals, found my cavity filling! (photo below). Couldn't believe it. My treated tooth was WIDE OPENED and simply breathing in/out was PAINFUL as hell.
I called up Medidental: closed. I found out this all year round opened clinic that treated my tooth. Weeks passed and I don’t feel any sensitivity or pain, whatsoever.
Medidental complaint and owner reply
We all make mistakes, right? In our daily jobs, we are not perfect and I'm no different from anyone else. Problem is: when you make them, don't take ownership and hide, waiting for it to go away.
Firstly, I went back to the clinic with the loose filling in a tupper to make a formal complaint. "Listen, I had this cavity treatment here, the resin filling fell off a few weeks after. I got it treated in a random clinic on a Sunday night. They were able to fix it in 2 sessions and it cost me 145 EUR”.
Receptionist: “I can’t make that decision, I’ll talk to the manager”
It took Filipe Durao (the owner) 1 month to approach me. His own words “we are sorry you weren’t satisfied with our services.” Could it be a more “copy&paste, saved reply”? Would anyone be satisfied with a surprise like this in the mid of the night? Why not to admit the mistake and offer compensation?
They did offer a 45 EUR refund for the cavity treat I got there and to redo the treatment; which I kindly declined, both.
It cost me 145 EUR to get it fixed + all the dread I went through not even adding to the bill... and they offered to treat me after I had treatment in another clinic… right :/
I got back to the owner reasoning why would be fair getting a full refund. It’s been a month now, he hasn’t come back to me.
I'm getting back to Alcântara clinic to get at least the 45 spent there.
Disclaimer: I had treatment and/or diagnostic in Alcântara & Campo de Ourique clinics.
EN
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