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Alberta Dental Victim resorts to Drilling her own Teeth

By: Issuewire
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Recent Case Exposes Potential Problems with Dental System

Edmonton, Alberta Feb 28, 2021 (Issuewire.com) - A young Calgary woman convinced to have extensive dental procedures later resorted to drilling her new porcelain teeth and procedures in Mexico in a search for a better bite. She claims more and more crowns were performed and many teeth later died, requiring root canals. A dental tribunal decision in Edmonton this month (February 2021) related to her complaint involving dental work performed by a Calgary 'Neuromuscular' dentist provided over $30,000 for lawyers and nothing for the victim. Immediately following the decision the patient, referred to as T. I., reached out to retired dentist-author Michael Zuk for advice and discovered the Health Professions Act allows for a tribunal to consider a refund. While the investigation took 5 years to reach the hearing stage no consideration for a refund was reportedly discussed between the authority lawyers and the patient. The patient received a second surprise when she was told the Alberta Health Professions Act (HPA) states patients have no right to appeal a tribunal decision. The tribunal lasted just over one hour.

From a preliminary review of the case Dr. Zuk, retained as a consultant by the patient, listed a number of possible issues:

1) According to the Health Professions Act the patient is to be notified every 60 days that the investigation is ongoing. The patient claims this was not done.

2) The patient is entitled to be told who the investigator assigned to the complaint is, which she claims did not occur.

3) A 5-year investigation is unacceptable and in comparison BC recently posted a report showing their average time to close a file is 14 months. Patients have a two-year limitation period to file a lawsuit and it is not known if the authority informs patients of this as an alternative to their process. Lawyers are not generally interested in helping dental cases on a contingency basis. 

4) Typically an expert report is requested by the authority to confirm the allegations of the patient and charges by the authority. It is not known if one was performed in this case. 

5) In A similar case in Edmonton (Dr. T. H. vs ADA&C) involving the use of crowns to re-align teeth rather than orthodontic braces the patient was provided a refund. Several expert reports were provided in this case. 

6) The dental authority did not seem to address the question of lifetime costs related to unnecessary procedures. Even a refund would not address the considerable costs of ongoing repairs on restorations which could have been avoided in the first place. 

7) Neuromuscular dentistry is an approach that is now banned in Ontario and Manitoba.  Dr. Zuk has a correspondence with the Ontario authority stating it should not be used as a basis for full mouth reconstruction. Zuk admits alternative approaches may provide help for patients who have exhausted conventional approaches and some providers may use a less aggressive technique under the neuromuscular banner with success. An NYC woman recently sued her dentist following a neuromuscular orthodontic procedure that she claims pushed her teeth out of the bone. 

8) The typical assignment of a generic ethics course to the dentist does nothing to address the questionable approach used in her case. If the training in the area used by the dentist has been banned by some authorities and other dentists with the same approach are also in the complaint system is it time for Alberta to address this as well?

9) Advertising of neuromuscular dentistry and Las Vegas Institute (LVI) credentials are banned in Ontario. The dentist's advertising includes reference to these areas and has included the term 'Occlusion' (bite) specialist. There is no such specialty. Alberta has failed to formulate direct regulation which could address concerns with practitioners under this banner. 

10) A potential conflict of interest involves the fact that the LVI seminars and this dentist have been promoted by a large Calgary dental lab that had a close relationship with the ADA&C. It was the authority's largest advertising client and the lab owner was awarded an honorary membership in the Alberta Dental Association. 

The University of Alberta Dental School also has a connection to the Las Vegas seminar program with a former dental professor who helped pitch the neuromuscular approach to the Nevada Dental Board. 

11) Tribunal members may have had potential conflicts of interest if they had taken the LVI seminars and may have been beyond the term limits. 

12) Due to the risk of embarrassment related to the relationships involved and the authority's position on preserving the integrity of the profession regarding open discussions of unnecessary/scientifically unverified treatment as linked to seminar content this patient's case may have been intentionally delayed and downplayed. 

13) The dentist's suggestion to proceed with treatment without discussing alternatives which could have including doing nothing or using orthodontics for bite changes, lifetime costs, and complication risks involve a serious breach of informed consent. 'Neuromuscular' dentists may use various unsubstantiated health claims to encourage patients to proceed with treatment. 

14) The ADA&C has had complaints about LVI-trained dentists for over 20 years and indirectly addressed the concerns with varying advertising regulations which seems to have been ineffective. Recently the ADA&C posted a TMJ guide warning about the use of short seminars as a foundation for the treatment of patients with jaw problems and advising against irreversible procedures. 

15) A representative of the ADA&C council participated in a Canadian Dental Association Task Force on the Future of Dentistry which concluded the profession 'should' ensure seminar content is scientifically verified and free of bias. A dental lab that sponsors seminars that lead to increased profit for the sponsor could be cause for concern. The relationship between an authority and a seminar sponsor could affect the response needed to address a concern for the public interest - the consideration of dropping all advertising would be appropriate.  

16) Use of lawyers with no formal dental training as primary investigators seems to have led to excess cost and prolonged investigations and hearings. Alberta's dental discipline expenses are higher than province averages and reportedly 10 times that of Canadian physicians. 

17) Some US dental seminars have encouraged dentists to fly their patients for 'live patient training'. Unfortunately, liability insurance plans often have a clause that voids malpractice coverage for procedures done outside the dentist's registered province. Dentists and patients are often unaware of this limitation. 

18) The patient complaint to the Health Minister and ombudsman may not reverse the decision of the tribunal. The regulation allows dentists to appeal a dental tribunal decision but does not afford the same right to the patient. The Health Minister of Alberta has made several recent improvements to the dental discipline system which include division of the association from the college and increasing public member participation.  A recent review of the health complaint system was performed by the Alberta Health Minister and the results have not yet been made public. Shandro could order a comprehensive independent audit of the dental authority as was performed in British Columbia.

19) The ADA&C objected to a 2010 book published by Dr. Zuk on the problems of 'crowning teeth for alignment' stating it harmed the integrity of the profession. Newly found evidence shows an internally published document in the Alberta dental authority's newsletter in 2007 that warned Alberta dentists about overtreatment and questionable seminar content. 

20) Dr. Zuk has been approached by numerous Alberta patients with concerns related to procedures used by dentists trained by Las Vegas seminars.  One victim's story which included her disappointment with the Alberta dental authority's processing of her complaint in the early 1990s helped inspire his book Confessions of a Former Cosmetic Dentist. 

The Calgary victim has pledged to help push for changes in the dental system and to raise awareness of the issue of overtreatment. Other cases involving dentists with similar training are expected to be seen in discipline later this year. The ADA&C Complaint Director involved in this hearing is reportedly no longer in this position and it is not known when the new candidate will be installed. Dr. Zuk recently published a free new book titled The $60,000 Dentist Headache Cure and is working on the next edition. 

For questions and a possible interview with one or more patients linked to this topic please contact Dr. Zuk (senior) directly. 

 

 

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Media Contact

Michael Y Zuk DDS


smilefx@telusplanet.net

403-347-8008

4900 Molly Bannister Drive, Red Deer, AB T4R 1N9

http://www.confessionsofaformercosmeticdentist.com

Source :Michael Y Zuk DDS

This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.

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