Aspen Dental

This is a follow up from my original complaint titled, Mouth Pain. Peter Schuler: I submitted a complaint a week ago and I haven't received a response.I met with the dentist Patel at the clinic and I tried to explain what happened with dentist Koolick during the filling.She took a new Xray which showed that the drilling and the filling did hit the nerve. She showed me the previous Xray taken a couple months again showing the proximity to the nerve. She said that she would have explained the possibility of hitting the nerve with the patient before she did the procedure. Dentist Koolick didn't even mention it. She said that she didn't want to talk about the dirty gloves, the pressure of the drill to which caused a large wound on my lip and the cheek. She said that the mouth already has many germs. I replied that I have seen a report that our phones are dirtier than a toilet. I said that I didn't want my mouth on the toilet. She said that she wasn't there and didn't know what happened at the filling. As a witness, I tried to tell what the dentist did, but it didn't seem to believe me. I told her that the dentist was careless with the gloves and the damage to the cheek and I believe he was careless with the drilling. I explained that I had no tooth pain before the procedure and 40 days of intense pain afterwards. I told her that the company should pay for this negligence. I explained that I have no insurance left and I would have to pay $3000 for the root canal and 250 for the 3D Xray. I said that I can't afford this. She said that she didn't want to discuss details like money and that this is what the office staff does. I told her that $3250 is not a detail to me. She also asked several times about my health conditions. I replied that I have told the office and every dentist and dental hygienist at the beginning of every procedure that I have lymphoma and they needed to be careful with my mouth. I told dentist Koolick this at the beginning and his reponse was to refuse to change his dirty gloves saying, "it will be fine". He damaged my mouth and then drilling into the nerve. This whole thing is unacceptable. The fellow dentists and staff are going to automatically support the dentist instead of listening to me. Thank you for your concern. Peter Schuler.

Email on 11-13

Those two bills were submitted to my Medicare Insurance Aetna and were denied because the person who performed the cleaning was not registered in the Network for that particular branch (Aspen Dental in Dania).

According with the Fee Schedule from Aetna, the service render on 10-5 and 10-13 were in the approved CPT codes and my co-payment was $0.00, but I was asked to pay before the service was done $465.00 with the understanding that I was going to receive it back when the Insurance paid the bills.

Since October 2022 to this day, I have been in contact with the Supervisor and other person in charge of the accounts and always I have received the same answer "We are working on it, do not worry."

Aetna has closed the Appeal and Dispute, and I brought those papers to the Aspen, but as today, have not received any call or explanation.

Why I have to pay for the cleaning that is cover by Aetna 100%. If the Technician was not in the Network, it was not my fault, I do not have to pay for someone else mistake.

Otherwise, I am very happy with the dental/medical service received.

If you need additional information, please contact me at [protected] or e-mail: [protected]@hotmail.com

Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.

Note: unable to attach the EOBs from the insurance.

On October 4th, I went to the Aspen Dental clinic 2827 Peoria avenue and the dentist Ben Koolick he did 2 fillings on my lower left and the next day he did one filling on my lower right.

Dentist used dirty gloves for the procedure: Before the procedure, took my phone with his gloves and then put it on the table. I asked him to change his gloves because the phone was unclean, but he refused. The whole office knew that I had lymphoma and I reminded the dentist before the procedure. He said that it would be fine. The office had required a signed statement from the doctor before my tooth extraction. He used 3 to 4 shots of Novocain per tooth. I could feel the drilling on the wisdom tooth, so he gave me 3 more shots.

He caused injury to my cheek and lip. During the procedure he used my lip and cheek as leverage for the drill. I told him to stop because this was hurting me even through the Novocain. After the procedure there was a large sore on my cheek and lip with a white center. This caused me considerable pain for two weeks. My cheek was swollen that night and the next day.

When he put a clamp on my gums which caused pain and inflammation for weeks. At the time he apologized saying, "I'm sorry" even though I couldn't feel it at the time due to the Novacain. There was weeks of pain from this. gum inflamation.

Severe pain in every tooth in my mouth, all my gums, my cheek and my lip. The pain in my teeth has continued for one month up until today. I went to see dentist Koolick the day after the second day of fillings. He said that there was no infection and the pain would go away in a couple days. He said

that the multiple Novocain shots had caused a reaction to my cheek muscles. He asked how many Ibuprofen that I was taking. I replied that I took one 200mg at a time. He said take 3 at a time because it would last longer. In

the past almost 4 weeks the pain is extreme and almost constant. I have taken about 4 to 5 Ibuprofen per day since the procedure. I can barely eat and I have been miserable. It is not getting better.

The truth: follow up visit with the dentist Heather on October 10th (I wrote down her last name but I can't find it at this time). She looked at it and told me

that the dentist Koolick had drilled too deep on the tooth number 16 (I think that is the right number). and he hit the nerve on the second tooth he did on my left side. She said that I needed a root canal on that tooth as a result.

Cover up/ misinformation. Dentist Heather sent me the tall staff in the front office- I think her name is Emily. She told me that I needed a root canal for took 15(I think this is the right number) and not tooth 16 that the dentist had drilled. She said it was an infection in the root of the tooth that preexisted before the fillings done by the dentist. She showed me a chart with the tooth next to the one that receive the filling. I asked Dentist Heather about this and she said that the information given by the staff was wrong and that they would need to change the chart.

The ultimate insult: The clinic is trying to make me pay $ 3250 for something that was caused by a mistake/ negligence by the dentist. I tried to call Dentist Heather on Monday and the staff reported that she had been moved to another office. She was my only source for the truth.I have contacted Rosa from the Dental insurance company and she is concerned about this situation and the prices. She will contact you with her supervisor. It has been almost a month since the filling was done, and I have been in constant pain- very miserable. I had no mouth pain before the procedure. I deeply regret having this filling done by this dentist. This is a nightmare. I hope that you can resolve this. Thank you.

Peter Schuler

11/16/2023

It started when I had a night guard made, first of all they said, they had to send it over seas. I waited 4 months asking where it was. Finally I demanded it be made in the USA. Now they charged my insurance company and

myself. Well long story short, I went back for a cleaning, this is when I found out they owed me money. Now the money they owed me was more then what they charged the Insurance Company.

In March of 2022 I had my top teeth removed and a temporary denture placed in my mouth. I got the permanent denture in September 2022. It is horrible. I can't talk right and it is very uncomfortable. I went back several times to see if it could be adjusted. I was lucky to get 5 to 10 minutes with a different person each time. They would do something to the denture and until I was home I really didn't know if it was better. It was never better. After 6 months the dentist told me he would keep the denture overnight and they would realign it. My dental insurance was charged $333 for that and I was not told this was going to happen. I thought they should have been willing to fix something that I had less than a year. I cannot talk right with this denture. I don't leave my house. It feels very uncomfortable. I have become a hermit and avoid people. I won't even go to my doctor because I sound so odd. I wrote them 2 letters. If they got back to me they certainly have not left a message or anything. I don't answer if it is just a phone number and no name. I feel like they took my money and just don't want to have anything else to do with me. I have been emailing people asking if they can help me find a dentist that will help me. I would like to leave the house and be able to speak with people again. Do they not have a guarantee for this? This is a miserable way to live. I have no life now because of a terrible denture and I have had the permanent one for over a year so I hope to find someone to help me. I will not be silent about this and let other people go through this experience if I can help it. I recently got an email from them telling me about a new type of denture that can help people talk better and will fit better. I thought I was getting a good denture the first time and I would have been willing to pay for the new one but it would be the same people doing the work and I am not going through this again. I am just going to stay at home and hope someone tells me where to get a good denture that fits comfortably and allows me to speak in a normal voice.

I was informed that if I pay half of my total upfront that it will cover cleaning, few extractions and temporary top denture . So paid1.862.75 to receive the care got my cleaning scheduled to go back 10/9/23 at 2pm. Im called to front desk and the clerk told Mr I had to pay another 1,000 for me to receive the care . I didn’t even receive what I already paid for . Im not paying another dime until I get what’s owed to me . Im really upset. Very misleading on y’all’s end from shy I was told n very beginning I did my part I paid 1,862.75 up front I trusted y’all with everything . But im seriously diapointed mislead and never received the dental work so I need my 1,862.75 back today.

All I had asked for was to get my broken tooth pulled. I had made an appointment on 5/10 but when I went in was told they had double booked appointments and rescheduled mine for today. (10/11/2023) They may have called to let me know instead of letting me come in. During the xrays the Tech took off the safety vest before telling me I required a full exam and they didn't have time to work on me today. I didn't get to see the Dentist to ask how much time he needed to pull a tooth.

On September 18 went into the Tucker Ga. office to recieve my final bottom dentures they were place into my mouth they felt good. On previous visits I had problems with the dentures they made fitting correctly. They made a new bottom denture. Upon arriving at home, I looked in the mirror I notice the bottom dentures were purple in color. My top denture is pink. Whoever the technician that made the bottom denture must have looked at my dental chart and saw I was a Black American and took for granted that all black Americans have dark gums. When I returned to the Aspen Dental office on September 19 and spoke with the office manager, she informed me they would have to remake a new set of bottom dentures and they were not going to do that nor refund my credit card charge payment already made.

Signed up for Aspen Dental Savings Plan 8/30 for $39 + $20 for dependant.

Called to make an appointment; staff would not schedule appointments we requested.

Called to cancel Aspen Dental Savings Plan; Told us our accounts could not be found because we had just signed up..told us to call back in a few days.

Called again 9/12/2023 and spoke to a man who gave us his email address: miroslav.[protected]@aspendental.com. He again told us our accounts did not exist. We sent him a screen-shot of our accounts as we were able to see all of the account information. He said we would receive a call in 2-3 days..we did not receive that call. 9/12/2023 emailed a written request to cancel and refund.

10/3,10/4 and 10/5 have forwarded the 9/12 email, have sent screen-shots of 9/12 email; unable to be refunded even though your terms are 30 day full refund. We have provided written request after trying to cancel several times over the phone.

So extremely disappointed in this entire experience.