4 for November 3, 2000

Complaints.com received this e-message on November 2, 2000:

From:

RE: Sears Dental Center

I wanted to still pursue the complaint against Dr. Ronald Picchetli of Sears Dental Center at 400 Golf Mill Mall, Niles, IL 60714.

I now am ready to file my complaint.

Dr. Picchetli extracted a molar from the left upper side of my mouth. He works for Sears Dental Center. The tooth has a crown on it.

The crown was recemented on the tooth by another dentist at Sears Dental Center whose name is Dr. Trakhos. It was not the first time the crown was placed on the tooth.

I think the dentist may be a swipe some of the cement on the crown and left cement in between the tooth in the space between the two teeth when he had placed the crown on the tooth.

I could not see the extra cement because it being in an area that I could not see. There is some cement around the area where the decay took place.

The dentist did not properly clean off the cement after placing the crown on the tooth. It was in an area between two teeth so it would have been necessary for him to floss off the extra cement. It took a couple of years before I notice an unfamiliar feeling in the crown.

I think it took awhile because of my good oral hygiene. I floss and brush my teeth regularly. When I felt the discomfort I could not point out what it was. I was unusually afraid of the dentist at this point for some reason. Maybe because of what was about to occur.

I was afraid to face this situation because I knew I would need supreme help to correct the following error that was to occur. The type of circumstance that I was in where the stress level is unnormally high and I could sense the level of error that could be made if things were not done correctly.

The type of situation where you would complain to the highest authorities to make sure it is done correctly. I needed to make a simple situation turn out right, but because of the ungodly, cruelty involved it turned into a simple situation becoming a terrible disaster.

If it could have been handled in the right manner the outcome could have been correct. But that stress was there, the kind that cause the worst to happen instead of the best.

The stress I am talking about is the stress you feel when you know that the dentist (Dr. Picchetli) you are about to see is going to completely misdiagnose your dental needs.

I must have had too much trust for the dentists at Sears Dental Center. They advertise that they are competent but this lesson proves that they are not competent enough to see patients with real dental needs.

They do not have the medical expertise necessary to treat a real dental need. It was a case of the doctor over reacting. I called the dentist several time and complained about the discomfort. The first minute I felt the discomfort should have been the correct time to have the dentist repair the tooth.

But again the empathy from the Sears Dental Center was not there. The dentist made it appear that their dentistry was untouchable and there could be nothing wrong with the tooth under the crown because they placed the crown on the tooth.

I could not see the decay because it was in between the two teeth so when I complained the dentist made it appear that I was over reacting and did nothing to fix the tooth. So he would do nothing and the tooth was not treated. Which I think is immorally wrong for a dentist to do.

It is definitely not correct. The tooth needed to be repaired. I called several times and the same reaction. It was either one way or the other. They did not even seem to understand that decay under the crown was causing the problem.

Their answer was to just do nothing and hope it would get better. When I really became persistent, I went over there and asked the dentist if he could remove the crown, he said why go to all the trouble and destroy the crown.

Still at the time, I did not know the decay was under the crown. The dentist gave the impression it was not the tooth and it could get better. The next time I became persistent and went to Sears Dental Center he took an x-ray. Then he prescribed penicillin.

He gave no indication that there was decay under the crown. I think the first time I mentioned discomfort it should have been obvious that the tooth must have some decay on it and the correct treatment would be a filling. I would then have to replace the crown if it needed to be replaced.

I took the penicillin for a week and still and it did not get better. Because of the discomfort in the tooth, the area had some soreness. If the dentist had removed the crown and treated the decay or problem the area would not have been irritated.

The dentist over reacted and did not diagnose the problem correctly. It was the decay in the tooth causing the irritation in the mouth.

The dentist did not even imagine the decay was in the tooth. I went home again and tried to decide what to do. Should I trust this dentist? I wish I never had. I should have gone to another dentist and had him repair the decay and I would still have the molar.

I went back to the dentist the next day and asked to have the crown taken off. The dentist extracted the tooth. When I looked at the decay on the tooth I was furious. Why didn't he just repair the tooth. I had promised myself never to do this to myself and I can't believe I believed this unknowledgeable dentist.

The tooth only had a slight area of decay and there was no reason for an extraction. I think I should be compensated for this error. The last resort is an extraction, maybe when there is 20 - 30 percent of the tooth left. Not when the tooth is so God Damm healthy.

The tooth is a very healthy tooth and should have been saved if only the dentist would have diagnosed the decay and treated it. There is no reason on earth why I would have let that dentist extract my tooth if I could have saved the tooth by dealing with the decay in the tooth.

I showed another dentist the extracted tooth. He asked me if the dentist who extracted the tooth asked me if I wanted to save the tooth by doing a root canal. He thought it should have gotten a root canal.

The dentist at Sears did not ask me if I wanted to save the tooth, which is what I naturally wanted to do. Monetary compensation would be great.

That tooth was not cheap, with all the crown work done on it. The dentist not saving the tooth also brought more harm to my oral health than if he would have saved the tooth. To put the tooth back in the mouth would be the correct thing to do.

Please return correspondence to:

Regards,

Sheila Rose

Revised:

I want to file a complaint about Sears Dental Center in Niles, Illinois in the Golf Mill Mall. The following is the incident that took place. The incident that took place is that a Dr. Picchetli extracted a molar from the left upper side of my mouth.

I think the tooth could have been saved and on several occasions he had the chance to do that. But because of his medical ignorance he did not proceed with doing right thing in my situation.

A molar is not something I can take lightly either. I need that molar in my mouth as much as I need my right arm attached to my body.

And I expect some kind of reimbursement on this situation. The tooth he extracted had a crown on it. The crown was recemented on the tooth by another dentist at Sears Dental Center whose name is Dr. Trakhos. It was not the first time the crown was placed on the tooth.

I think when the Sears dentist put the crown on the tooth he may have swiped some of the cement on the crown and left cement on the tooth in the space between the two teeth. I could not see the extra cement because it was in an area that I could not see.

Because of this excess cement, food particles would catch on the cement, even though I cleaned in between the teeth. This caused some decay. The dentist did not properly clean off the cement after placing the crown on the tooth.

It was in an area between two teeth so it would have been necessary for him to clean and floss off the extra cement. It took a couple of years before I notice an unfamiliar feeling in the crown. I think it took awhile because of my good oral hygiene. I floss and brush my teeth regularly.

When I felt the discomfort I could not point out what it was. I was unusually afraid of the Sear's dentist at this point for some reason. He seemed to have a very bad attitude when I had him treat me. Also, maybe because of what was about to occur.

I was afraid to face this situation because I knew I would need supreme help to correct the following error that was about to occur. The type of circumstance that I was in was where the stress level is unnormally high and I could sense the level of error that could be made if things were not done correctly.

The type of situation where you would complain to the highest authorities to make sure it is done correctly. I needed to make a simple situation turn out right, but because of the ungodly, cruelty involved it turned into a simple situation becoming a terrible disaster. If it could have been handled in the right manner the outcome could have been correct.

But that stress, of Sears being incompetent was there, the kind that causes the worst to happen instead of the best. The stress I am talking about is the stress you feel when you know that the dentist (Dr. Picchetli) you are about to see is going to completely misdiagnose your dental needs.

I must have had too much trust for the dentists at Sears Dental Center. They advertise that they are competent but this lesson proves that they are not competent enough to see patients with real dental needs.

They do not have the medical expertise necessary to treat a real dental need. It was a case of the doctor over reacting. I called the dentist several time and complained about the discomfort.

The first minute I felt the discomfort should have been the correct time to have the dentist repair the tooth. But again the empathy from the Sears Dental Center was not there.

The dentist made it appear that their dentistry was untouchable and there could be nothing wrong with the tooth under the crown because they placed the crown on the tooth.

I could not see the decay because it was in between the two teeth so when I complained the dentist made it appear that I was over reacting and did nothing to fix the tooth.

So he would do nothing and the tooth was not treated. Which I think is immorally wrong for a dentist to do. It is definitely not correct. The tooth needed to be repaired. I called several times and the same reaction. It was either one way or the other.

They did not even seem to understand that decay under the crown was causing the problem. Their answer was to just do nothing and hope it would get better. When I really became persistent, I went over there and asked the dentist if he could remove the crown, he said why go to all the trouble and destroy the crown. Then he would have to remake a crown.

Still at the time, I did not know the decay was under the crown. The dentist gave the impression it was not the tooth and it could get better. The next time I became persistent and went to Sears Dental Center he took a x-ray. Then he prescribed penicillin.

He gave no indication that there was decay under the crown. I think the first time I mentioned discomfort it should have been obvious that the tooth must have some decay on it and the correct treatment would be a filling. I would then have to replace the crown if it needed to be replaced. I took the penicillin for a week and it still it did not get better.

The dentist told to think about what he wanted to do with the tooth. I was so confused I did not know what to do. Deep down inside me I knew it must be decay. But I did not have the authority to take an x-ray or take off the crown which I knew was what was needed.

These office visits were not cheap either. At lease $60.00 at a time. Which was unnecessary when the problem should have been corrected the first time. Because of the decay in the tooth, the area had some soreness.

If the dentist had removed the crown and treated the decay the area would not have been irritated. The dentist over reacted and did not diagnose the problem correctly. It was the decay in the tooth causing the irritation in the mouth.

The dentist did not even imagine the decay was in the tooth. I went home again and tried to decide what to do. Should I trust this dentist? I wish I never had. I should have gone to another dentist and had him repair the decay and I would still have the molar.

I went back to the dentist the next day and asked to have the crown taken off. The dentist extracted the tooth. When I looked at the decay on the tooth I was furious. Why didn't he just repair the tooth? I had promised myself never to do this to myself and I can't believe I believed this unknowledgeable dentist.

The tooth only had a slight area of decay and there was no reason for an extraction. I think I should be compensated for this error. The last resort is an extraction, maybe when there is 20 - 30 percent of the tooth left. Not when the tooth is so God Damm healthy.

The tooth is a very healthy tooth and should have been saved if only the dentist would have diagnosed the decay and treated it. There is no reason on earth why I would have let that dentist extract my tooth if I could have saved the tooth by dealing with the decay in the tooth.

I showed another dentist the extracted tooth. He asked me if the dentist who extracted the tooth asked me if I wanted to save the tooth by doing a root canal. He thought it should have gotten a root canal.

The dentist at Sears did not ask me if I wanted to save the tooth, which is what I naturally wanted to do. Monetary compensation would be great.

That tooth was not cheap, with all the crown work done on it. The dentist not saving the tooth also brought more harm to my oral he could imagine. To put the tooth back in the mouth would be the correct thing to do. I showed the tooth to another dentist and he said the tooth was still healthy.

Just calcium deposits where the Sears dentist left excess cement.

The dentist at Sears did not ask me if I wanted to save the tooth, which is what I naturally wanted to do.

Sheila Rose

Comment On This

I have been going to this dentist's office for years with no problems; they are always great and give excellent care. I would surmise from your grammar, your foul language, inability to even SPELL THE DOCTOR'S NAME RIGHT, and your mention of getting monetary compensation, that you are neither an intelligent woman, nor sincere. Instead of getting a new dentist, or getting anything from this one, you should get an education and practice being a better person. I guess the easiest way to compensate for oneself is to blame their faults on others. Shame on you for dirtying a good doctor's name!!

Comment On This

Take a look at the xray Mrs Rose. The tooth had no bone to support it do to your bad oral hygiene and bone loss. You could have saved it but it would have never lasted.

Comment On This

All I have to say where did you get YOUR DDS Sheila? I love how you say your oral hygiene is great, and you floss every day. But if you flossed shouldnt you find and remaining cement. thanks

dentists of america