Affordable Dentures alveoloplasty and dentures - 3 strikes and you're out!! Anderson South Carolina

I went to Affordable Dentures in April of 2016. My teeth were infected down to the roots and had to be removed. I had 3 removed at Aspen Dental prior to this but changed to Affordable Dentures due to pricing. I had 18 teeth removed in May (I had a severe infection in my gums and had to wait for the infection to go away). The Dentist informed me in April that in addition to having all of my teeth removed, I would have to have alveoloplasty performed (reshaping of the jaw bones) on both sides, top and bottom of my mouth so my dentures would be able to fit correctly. The Dentist did not suggest an Oral Surgeon and I do not know if he is qualified (to this day) to perform alveoloplasty. I trusted that he knew what he was doing and I went ahead with the extractions and alveoloplasty. On the pre-op paperwork, I had listed all of my allergies, etc. One of these is being allergic to dissolvable stitching.

After he performed the FIRST alveoloplasty, dissolvable stitches were placed in my mouth. This created redness, swelling and more infection in my gums and was EXTREMELY painful. In addition, there were places in my mouth where jagged bones were trying to come through my gums. I went back to the dentist. They had sent me home with Polygrip and my temporary dentures and told me to place the dentures in my mouth immediately. No one told me not to use the Polygrip and I used it as soon as I got home. This made some of the stitches come out when I removed the dentures. Apparently there was a paper with post-op instructions telling me NOT to use Polygrip, but this was not sent home with me and was still in my file on my second visit. In addition, the temporary dentures were extremely too large for my mouth and looked awkward and clearly were the wrong size. This created much pain and subsequent re-fittings did not solve this. All the re-fittings did was to cut up my gums on every visit.

Eventually, due to severe pain and discomfort after the attempted re-fittings, the dentist looked at my mouth again and first became angry with me for using the polygrip after the first alveoloplasty and accused me of "picking" at my gums. He was extremely aggressive in his tone and made me feel like all of my pain and discomfort was my own fault. I left in tears at how I was treated and also because I was in pain. He said he would have to perform a SECOND alveoloplasty.

So in June I had the SECOND alveoloplasty performed. The nurses, with the exception of 2, all treated me very poorly and were extremely rough with my mouth and dentures. This time, the dentist used regular stitches. These began to come loose almost as soon as I came home. This made the healing almost impossible. The dentist had to re-stitch my gums. I continued to go back and forth to the dentist to have my temporary dentures adjusted and every time they were basically forced into my mouth, creating cuts and scrapes. All during this time, there were places again, where bones were trying to come back through my gums.

The dentist looked at my gums after about 2 weeks and then informed me that he would have to perform a THIRD alveoloplasty. Again, his tone was an accusing tone that made me feel like I had done something wrong. It had gotten to the point where whenever I had to go back to the dentist, I would get physically sick to my stomach on the way to the dentist office. It was only after I reminded the dentist that I had a terminal illness and just wanted my mouth fixed AND after I had my boyfriend come back with me to talk to the dentist about how poorly I had been treated by the dentist and most of his staff, that he softened his tome to me. I also had listed my terminal illness on the pre-op paperwork. Apparently this was overlooked, as well.

In July, I had my THIRD alveoloplasty performed at Affordable Dentures, by the same dentist who had already performed this procedures 2 times before. My gums were cut open and my jaw bones were grinded down for the THIRD time. (I was awake the whole time during all three procedures.) He stitched my gums so severly and with so many stitches that my gums have places on them now where they are pulling up from the bottom of my mouth and the dentures cannot go into my mouth. After this THIRD procedure, my dentures still did not fit correctly, despite his staff trying their best to cram them in. They eventually agreed that they were not going to ever fit and made a new set. It is now August and the dentures still will not fit. The places on my gums at the bottom where they are pulling upwards hurt. I have at least 5 places where bones are still sticking out and creating extreme pain and discomfort. I eventually went BACK to Aspen Dental for a second opinion. They took x-rays and the dentist examined my gums and have concluded that I need to see an Oral Surgeon for yet a FOURTH alveoloplasty.

I went to Affordable Dentures unaware of the reputation of this company and specifically, this office. I weighed 110 prior to April. I now weigh 93. I have lost 17 lbs and am in severely poor health. I just wanted my smile back. I now have to look forward to another painful surgery and months of recovery that could've been avoided if only the alveoloplasty had been performed correctly in May, or June, or July. I want to full refund by Affordable Dentures and will gladly give the dentures back. I now have to figure out how to pay for all of this again and will use Care Credit for this again, if I can get it back from Affordable Dentures. I have learned a painful lesson from all of this. I urge anyone that reads this to pass on to anyone considering Affordable Dentures.