AltMedAngel: Alternative Medicine Angel

Re: Dr. John Minye, DDS

My husband, my son, and myself had been patients of Dr. Minye's from the time he first started his practice in Santa Rosa, even traveling from Windsor to his office when we moved away from Santa Rosa in 1990.

When I needed a root canal on an upper front tooth and requested a referral, Dr. Minye said I didn't need a referral since it was a front tooth he could do it himself. (I had a previous root canal on another tooth done by an endodontist with no pain or problems whatsoever).

When Dr. Minye did the root canal, he said that he was tired and would have to finish the root canal on another day. After the root canal, I was in great pain, and though Dr. Minye said he couldn’t imagine why, he said the thing to do was another root canal which he did four days later. Again he said he’d have to finish it another day. Again I was in great pain. Dr. Minye said he should do a third root canal. When I was again in great pain after it, Dr. Minye said the only thing to do was extract the front tooth and put in a bridge. When I asked about a dental implant, he said I was “not a candidate.”

Later, after being clued in by Delta Dental documents, I consulted and found out from multiple dentists that Dr. Minye had perforated the tooth at a 90-degree angle during the first root canal and had done all of the above to try to correct his mistake. There was no need to extract the tooth as a professional endodontist could have repaired it.

Delta Dental made Dr. Minye pay them back many of the fees he charged for they said he couldn’t double charge, that a dentist shouldn’t do a root canal on a tooth if it isn’t viable and is going to need to be extracted and need a bridge.

I asked Dr. Minye to pay for another dentist to do a dental implant. He refused.

I would have understood and not been bothered by his initial mistake, if he had told me I needed to find a specialist to repair the damage from the first root canal. I could have even understood and forgiven him if he told me that he had tried to repair the damage in the second root canal but was unsuccessful.

Obviously, Dr. Minye did not want to admit making a mistake. A person who refuses to admit his mistakes is more likely to make the same "mistake" again.  Not wanting another person to suffer as I had, I sued for I was told the California Dental Board does not get reports unless they are for $10,000 or more dollars in damages and they don’t do anything until they receive two reports. (I did not sue for emotional distress or any of that although the whole affair and the lawsuit was exceedingly stressful). I settled for over that amount, but then had to pay for all of the multiple costs of frivolous depositions, etc. before my attorney took out his fees

It’s my understanding that a person can request proof of insurance from a dentist, can contact their local county court to see if a dentist has been sued, can contact California Dental Board to see if a dentist has been sued.

Sincerely,

Marta Dee

July 31, 2007

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