Can you help me with some suggestions?

Ask for a free consult with a lawyer. I am sorry that this happened to you. I would like to sue people from my past; Alas I signed a mandatory form that I wouldn’t sue my university. I would check if you signed a, no sue, form from your oral surgeon when getting treatment.

You can report to Better Business Bureau (BBB) and American Dental Association (ADA).

Did he try to charge you for the visit?

I’m quite shocked by this. It is quite unacceptable for anyone to be treated with such disrespect. I would certainly take it further. I have had lots of dental treatment by lots of dentists over the years and never have I experienced anything even remotely resembling what you were put through. Good communication between dentist and patient is vital and pain management should be the highest priority.

Is this guy even a registered dentist? If he isn’t I would contact the police. If he is registered with the American Dental Association their website may be helpful.

Quite incredible behaviour by a medical professional. I can only imagine how distressed this made you feel.

That is totally unacceptable, My dentist always numbed me, told me what he was going to do and told me to raise my hand if something was hurting. I would not consult a lawyer or pursue a suit which will take too much time and money but I would report him to the dental associations as suggested above. If you are any local fora like Nextdoor, I might consider writing it up there. This sounds like something from Nazi Germany, not modern dentistry.

I’m very sorry this has happened to you!

Also, if you have dental insurance report to the insurer. If it’s through Medicaid report to them.

Lastly, I realized you said it’s an oral surgeon not a dentist, so that might be the American Medical Association (AMA) not just ADA. I assume they are MD’s? You can check if he’s an MD or just DDS.

Plus, the state licensing board.

You can just write up everything one time, and then send it to all of the agencies and associations. Put it all down on a word document and then you can just copy paste, or attach, or print and mail. Most of it can be done online.

I’m so sorry this happened! Unfortunately I have had similar experiences with dentists too. It’s hard to find an honest, professional, kind dentist. My old dentist in Texas (who I did trust) told me that the dentist industry is full of incompetent and money-grubbing people.

This sounds like a violation of “informed consent.” Whenever we performed procedures in our office we would have patients sign a form explaining the risks, benefit, and alternatives to the procedure, give the patient as much time as they wanted to ask any questions they have and were in 100% agreement with the treatment.

I don’t know the specifics of this particular intervention and I’m not a lawyer, but this sounds like a serious breach, and it’s theoretically possible for the oral surgeon to be criminally charged with assault. If you wanted to pursue this matter further, you should speak with a lawyer.

I’m stunned this has happened. I have no additional advice above and beyond what the above jellies have suggested, I just want to tell you that no one in their right mind would think that was okay. I hope this new dentist has a better outcome for you. Hugs.

Also, if they held you down then they committed battery and that is a criminal offense.

I just wanted to check in and tell everyone how much I appreciate the help. My mouth is sore but no stabbing pains. It’s the emotional trauma that is getting to me. My sister things I should report it to the local police, I dunno. I have also been told to get a lawyer, I dunno. But I am for sure going to contact the ADA and BBB.

@anniereborn I added the state licensing board in an edit. I wanted to make sure you saw that. Is he an MD?

@JLeslie I would assume he is a doctor as he is an oral surgeon. But the letters after his name are just DDS.

I think oral surgeons aren’t necessarily MD’s. It might vary by state.

In our state, there is a professional licensing board through the state’s Department of Health where major breaches of professional conduct can be reported.

@gorillapaws I will look into that, thank you

Good gawd! I’m so sorry you went through this annie. What you describe is awful, and the fact this was done by a practicing dentist makes it even more unacceptable.

You did the right thing by going to another provider after this happened. Hope you’re feeling better soon. And it sounds like you’re thinking of seeing a lawyer to find out what action you could take to hold this guy responsible for hurting you. You have every right to do that.

I’m not an attorney and can’t give you legal advice or offer you representation, but I do work with lawyers on criminal and civil matters and based on my experience it seems to me that a good attorney would look at your situation with three possible issues in mind :

• Physical assault
• Unathorized restraint
• Medical malpractice

How all, or any of these might work out in terms of an action in court will depend on the details of your case, and the applicable laws in the state where you live. If you live in Illinois for example (I think you said something somewhere about being in the Chicago area) state law defines malpractice very broadly – But it requires that everyone filing a malpractice claim file an “affidavit of merit” prepared & signed by an independent qualified medical provider. Illinois also gives you only 2 years from the date of your injury to start your case.

If in fact all this happened in the Chicago area, you might start by contacting these guys:
https://www.salvilaw.com/medical-malpractice/types/never-events/lack-of-informed-consent/

But wherever you are you can probably find attorneys that will offer you a free consultation/evaluation, and will usually take a good case on a contingency basis (no win – no fees).

Whatever you decide to do take care of yourself.

@JLoon Thank you for your help. Yes I am in Illinois. And it would never take me two years to get this taken care of. I am all fired up right now! I am glad that I was able to see my sister’s dentist directly after this happened. I am doing okay. I go to see my sister’s dentist again in a week. She may have to shave off more of the bone, but, there will anesthetic!!!

I spoke to an attorney a few years ago about a medical malpractice issue, and he told me that in order to file a successful suit for malpractice (in other words, in order to win), you have to have permanent damage. If you went through some trauma, but are now fine and on the road to recovery, that’s just considered par for the course. Also, if the case goes to court, the attorney will find a doctor (or in this case, a dentist) who will be paid to testify in court. First of all, it’s difficult to find a doctor or dentist who will testify (since they are in effect possibly testifying against a friend or colleague) and you have to pay them for the day. Last i heard, a few years ago, the rate was 20k a day.

I had a lawsuit (not a malpractice suit but one that was going to involve needing a doctor to testify) over 20 years ago and at that time, the rate was 5k a day. You’re shelling that out of your pocket, since the attorney is not going to risk that without a guaranteed return. No lawsuit is guaranteed to win, so you will be paying that fee up front.

@jca2 Well then I shall do everything in my power that doesn’t cost.

In cases like this I think the main hope is to let the doctor know he will be reported, that he should rethink when he does and doesn’t use anesthetic, and that he should warn the patient and give the patient the opportunity to opt for an anesthetic, and that holding a patient against their will is an assault.

In other words, it’s mostly about helping the next patient, but I know when I’ve had bad experiences like this I did really care that the doctor was brought to task and really cared I helped the next person.

Moreover, the woman who assisted him needs to learn it was wrong and get a new job or stop aiding and abetting the dentist in his bad behavior.

If you write all of the agencies he will have to take the time to respond, he will be required to, and that will annoy him, and you can take some pleasure in that. The agencies will either show you his reply, BBB will do that, or tell you their judgment, the licensure board will do that, and so he doesn’t get to just brush it aside and completely ignore you. You should expect the licensing board will probably side with him as a standard of practice. Still write them.

When you get on the BBB website you will be able to see if there are other complaints about him.

That is unbelievable. Barbaric. Yeah sue his incompetent ass.
Let us know.

I’m with @jca2, I think suing will cost you time and emotional energy and money and will not get you anything useful. After all, it would just be he said/she said and the nurse would probably side with him. It was barbaric and cruel and I think he should be reported to all the agencies possible but I don’t think consulting a lawyer will get you anywhere.

((Hugs))

@jca2, @janbb – Not exactly correct regarding costs & fees in cases taken on contingency. When an attorney accepts a case “on contingency” they agree to pay all expenses (filing fees, expert witness costs, and any case related bills) up front from their own resources. If they win a jury verdict or secure an out of court settlement, those expenses are calculated into the payout and subtracted from the client’s share. If the the case fails the client/plaintiff owes nothing.

But if a claim seems uncertain some attorneys may suggest a “hybrid” agreement that would require a client to pay expert costs & some other expenses out of pocket, but waive attorneys fees if the case fails. Like most other service contracts, agreements for legal representation are negotiable.

And as far as referring complaints to regulatory agencies, professional oversight boards, or consumer protection agencies – sure why not? But understand that route can be just as time consuming, emotionally stressful, and eventually frustrating as any court action. Administrative decisions on professional discipline can take up to a year or longer to decide, an injured party can be requested to submit to interviews or examinations, and some findings or sanctions are never made public.

The final choice of what to do and when, should always be up to those who believe they’ve been harmed. But it’s a decision everyone should make with their eyes open.

Could the other dentist be a witness for you?

@JLoon: If she loses, she’s going to owe for the doctor’s testimony. If the attorney thinks she doesn’t have a chance of winning, he’ll tell her right off the bat and he might want the payment up front if she insists on going forward with the suit. He’s not going to put himself in a situation where he is out 20k.

I have to agree with @jca2.

@jca2 – No. Just no.

What you’re talking about may have be what your attorney required, and what you agreed to in your own case – But that’s not a standard contingency agreement for personal injury cases with good odds of winning.

Here’s an example of what I mean:
https://www.millerandzois.com/sample-contingency-fee-agreement.html

But really there’s no point in the two of us kicking this back and forth here. It’s Annie’s decision to make, she hasn’t talked to an attorney yet, and no lawyer has agreed to take her case.

My first though is she doesn’t have good odds of winning, @JLoon since what it comes down to is pain during the dental procedure but she’s not permanently maimed or disabled. I do agree with you it makes no sense for us to bicker about it, though since she is not seeming to want to pursue it.

I won my case, but it was not a medical malpractice case. It was settled out of court, so it didn’t involve the doctor testifying.

@jca2 – I understand you feel some sympathy for Annie and probably want to help a little. So do I.

But speaking for myself, it makes no sense to try and guess her odds of winning something in court – or getting some professional regulatory body to take an administrative action.

I just don’t know enough facts at this point. I don’t think any of us do. But whatever the details may be she has a right to make informed choices in her own best interests.

I wish her good luck and hope she feels well again soon.

No argument there, @JLoon. She has the right to pursue whatever she wants to and she should, to get some closure.

I am so sorry this happened. Please make sure to document everything that could be related to this case, including your physical health, costs of appointments with other providers, therapy/mental health services, etc. This is so egregious, I would consider talking with the police.

At minimum, this office desperately needs training on informed consent, communication, and trauma-informed care.

Please be gentle with yourself. You are precious and deserved much better treatment than that.

You might want to check with the ACLU. They probably will not help you directly, but they may point you to someone who can.

I just wanted to check in again and thank you all for your advice. At this point I haven’t done too much. My appointment with my sister’s dentist has to be moved back to this Saturday.
The weather here is really really crap so I have been trying to not go out too much. I do intend to file a police report as soon as I can. (It’s a half an hour drive away).
I have put up some reviews like on Google etc. I’ve been having a tough time emotionally so I am not as on the ball as I’d like to be.

@anniereborn You do what you need to do to take care of yourself and don’t beat yourself up with “shoulds.”

@janbb Thank you for your kind words. I really do want to get to this as soon as possible, because I am very angry about this. It’s just second fiddle to other things right now.

Good idea filing a police report. They may decide it’s worth arresting his sorry ass.
((Hugs Annie.))