section 75 credit card protection for poor dental work?

[philv]

Hi,

as section 75 of the credit card act is for services and goods, can i use it to claim against my credit card company or poor dental work?

ie
Crown fitted....very badly.
No confidence in dentist now as removing crown carries more risk than fitting.
So i am going to another dentist.

I would like to get back the 214 paid to the first dentist for the poorly fitting crown.

Should i be able to do this?

Thank you

[DocJock]

Have you tried asking the dentist for a refund?

I would never charge for work a patient was unhappy with.

[Mojooo]

yes you could - you would need to demonstrate work was not carried out with reasonable care and skill - which might be difficult if its down to opinion or it is not obvious what it was like before.

you should of course ask for a refund with them first - they could be liable for any remedial work also.

[philv]

I will ask the new denstist for a letter.

It is so badly fitting it is the only tooth that touches the opposite tooth.
And even then i cannot grind.
It also rubs against my inner cheek.

Strangely enough, the dentist gave me the moulds....but for the tooth that had the crown....the top part of the mould is missing.
So the mould for the stump after being prepped is there...but not for the shape of the tooth before prep.
The tooth shape is not even close.

I won`t go to the dentist to ask for a refund as he will only suggest to try and fix.
But i do nto want him touching the teth any more.

[Ozzie Osmond]

philv said:

the dentist gave me the moulds....but for the tooth that had the crown....the top part of the mould is missing.

That's because it's fixed into your jaw. They build the crown on the mould and send the whole lot to your dentist. He takes the crown off the mould, sticks it in your face and hands you the mould.

I suspect you need to go back to the original dentist and tell him you're not happy. Otherwise just go to a new dentist and pay again. It's difficult to play this both ways at once because your rights against the credit card company are only identical to your rights against the original dentist.

[philv]

Ozzie Osmond said:

That's because it's fixed into your jaw. They build the crown on the mould and send the whole lot to your dentist. He takes the crown off the mould, sticks it in your face and hands you the mould.

I suspect you need to go back to the original dentist and tell him you're not happy. Otherwise just go to a new dentist and pay again. It's difficult to play this both ways at once because your rights against the credit card company are only identical to your rights against the original dentist.

I was not given the mould for the top of the tooth.
It had a chip...but otherwise i presume they would have used a mould for most of it.
but maybe not as it barely resembles the original tooth.

I have no desire to discuss with the original dentist.
The job was poorly done and needs to be done again.
But not by him.

[Simpo Two]

This is interesting. I've dealt with Section 75 and also SOGA; not sure how they collide here. Do you have to give the original dentist the opportunity to fix it first?

You could ask 'Driller' for an insider view, or maybe mention something about the GDC...

[Ozzie Osmond]

philv said:

I was not given the mould for the top of the tooth.

I have no desire to discuss with the original dentist.
The job was poorly done and needs to be done again.
But not by him.

• I don't believe there is a mould for the crown itself. The "impression" is usually taken after the old tooth has been reduced and the dentist sends you home with a temporary crown. The impression is sent off to a laboratory. It's like a photographic negative.

• The laboratory makes a mould from the impression. The mould is a positive, the same as your teeth and complete with a stump or post onto which the crown will be fitted.

• The laboratory constructs a crown on the post or stump of the mould. I believe this is done by hand by a dental technician to match up with the other teeth. Instructions for colour will have been given by your dentist from a colour chart.

• The mould and crown are sent to your dentist. He fits the crown in your face and hands you the mould.

If you have problems with a crown it might be,
a) badly made by the laboratory, or
b) badly fitted by your dentist.

Anyway, I think the point remains that unless you give the original dentist at least a chance to look at it and talk about it your credit card company is unlikely to be interested. It's not as if you can go to them and say you have suffered fraud or non-delivery.

[philv]

But, already running 20 minutes late, he was quick to glue the crown on and get get rid of me saying to "give it a week, it's only a 1/3 of a mm off".

That is poor....3 weeks with one tooth touching, not being able to bite/chew properly, trying not to break the tooth above the crown.

I think that is negligent and does not show correct patient care.

I doubt many people would go back to the same barber if they screwed up a haircut.

I certainly am not going back to the same dentist.

I have registered with a new dentist.
If the new dentist can shape the tooth in place i will drop it.
If it has to be completely redone, i will use section 75.

[philv]

Mojooo said:

yes you could - you would need to demonstrate work was not carried out with reasonable care and skill - which might be difficult if its down to opinion or it is not obvious what it was like before.

you should of course ask for a refund with them first - they could be liable for any remedial work also.

If the crown needs redoing, i would think that would be enough.

[philv]

Ozzie Osmond said:

• I don't believe there is a mould for the crown itself. The "impression" is usually taken after the old tooth has been reduced and the dentist sends you home with a temporary crown. The impression is sent off to a laboratory. It's like a photographic negative.

• The laboratory makes a mould from the impression. The mould is a positive, the same as your teeth and complete with a stump or post onto which the crown will be fitted.

• The laboratory constructs a crown on the post or stump of the mould. I believe this is done by hand by a dental technician to match up with the other teeth. Instructions for colour will have been given by your dentist from a colour chart.

• The mould and crown are sent to your dentist. He fits the crown in your face and hands you the mould.

If you have problems with a crown it might be,
a) badly made by the laboratory, or
b) badly fitted by your dentist.

Anyway, I think the point remains that unless you give the original dentist at least a chance to look at it and talk about it your credit card company is unlikely to be interested. It's not as if you can go to them and say you have suffered fraud or non-delivery.

I would argue the service has not been provided as paid for.
Having to redo the crown with a new dentist should be proof enough.

[Simpo Two]

philv said:

But, already running 20 minutes late, he was quick to glue the crown on and get get rid of me saying to "give it a week, it's only a 1/3 of a mm off".

If that was a private dentist it was very poor. The whole point of going private is that they take the time required to do the best job possible.

[philv]

Simpo Two said:

If that was a private dentist it was very poor. The whole point of going private is that they take the time required to do the best job possible.

it was nhs.
But the duty of care is the same.

I am now going private and it will cost much more.

[Simpo Two]

philv said:

it was nhs.
But the duty of care is the same.

I am now going private and it will cost much more.

Duty of care is all very well, and you may have a point, but someone who does a job for 4p in 20 mins can't make the same quality job as somneone who charges £500 and takes an hour. If the 4p 20 min job was 100% good, nobody would go private...

I hope you get your money back without too much of a fight and can start again with a better dentist.