“To the world, you may be one person, but to one person you are the world.” Dr. Seuss.

As many of you are aware, I provide expert testimony for dental legal cases. Recently, a patient presented to me with the complaint that she had been irreparably harmed at a “corporate dental office”. She had been the patient of a private clinician most of her adult life, but he retired due to Covid, so she opted to try a local corporate dental office.
She had been a regular patient at her prior dentist, but due to the pandemic had not had an exam in over 18 months. Her new clinician advised her that she needed all of her teeth removed, and upper and lower dentures fabricated. There was no other treatment plan offered, as the clinician advised her that her dentition was beyond repair. She had all her upper and lower teeth removed and subsequent placement of complete dentures. Things did not go well for this unfortunate woman, who now has 2 poorly fitting, unaesthetic, non-functional dentures. She asked me to evaluate her situation and recommend a remedy for her present dental situation. Upon evaluation of her records, I found that her previous dental status was actually really good, and that there was no clinical reason for her to have any of her teeth removed.
My writing this is to alert the general population that it is the fiduciary duty (legal) responsibility of a clinician to give a patient all his or her options for treatment and then explain the risk, benefits of that option. The dental field as well as the medical field has changed dramatically, and in my opinion corporate dentistry has changed our profession into a money driven profession, in lieu of the best interest of the patient.
If you know someone who has questions about a treatment plan they have been given, please have them call our office for a complimentary consultation.

Sincerely,
Michael W. Dagostino, DDS.