One common theme is misdiagnosis. Dentists might misdiagnose a tooth problem, like thinking it's just a cavity when it's actually a more serious issue like a cracked tooth. Another is poor dental work. For example, fillings that don't fit properly or crowns that are made wrong.
Well, I heard about a patient who went to a Western dental clinic. The dentist there used old and unsterilized equipment. This led to a serious infection in the patient's mouth. The patient had to go through a long course of antibiotics and a lot of pain before the infection was finally under control. Another horror story is that a person got veneers, but the dentist used the wrong adhesive. The veneers started to come off within a few days, and the underlying tooth was damaged in the process.
One of my dental horror stories was when I went to get a wisdom tooth pulled. The dentist didn't numb me properly. I could feel every tug and pull as he tried to yank that tooth out. It was excruciating pain that I will never forget.
One horror story is when the dentist accidentally drilled into the wrong tooth. I was in so much pain and shock. It took a long time to fix the mistake and deal with the extra damage.
One horror story is about a patient who had an implant that got severely infected. The pain was unbearable and it led to swelling that affected the whole side of the face. It took multiple rounds of strong antibiotics to get it under control, and in the end, the implant had to be removed.
Well, a patient told that they had an appointment at Aspen Dental for a routine check - up. But during the examination, the dentist recommended a whole bunch of unnecessary procedures like root canals and crowns. The patient felt pressured to agree. After some of the procedures were done, they had extreme pain and swelling for weeks. Another horror story involves incorrect diagnosis. A person was told they had several cavities when in fact it was just some minor staining. The unnecessary drilling and filling caused a lot of discomfort and damaged the healthy parts of the teeth.
I knew a person who had a cavity that grew into a huge problem. Since they had no dental insurance, they couldn't afford to go to the dentist right away. By the time they finally managed to save some money, the cavity had turned into an abscess. The pain was unbearable, and they had to get an emergency extraction which was very expensive and also a very difficult procedure because of the advanced state of the problem.
One horror story is about a patient who went abroad for cheap dental implants. When they got back home, they had constant pain and infections. It turned out the dental work was shoddy, and the materials used were of low quality. They had to spend a lot more money to get it fixed properly in their own country.
I've known of a situation where a dental hygienist accidentally dropped a tool into the patient's mouth during the cleaning. It was a small instrument but it still startled the patient and could have potentially caused an injury.