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Woman Says Her Unlicensed Dentist Turned Her Into A 'Monster'




When the dentist told Xu Feng that she needed 12 crowns, she believed him, and handed over the 1,200 pounds ($1,862). "Once the anesthetic wore off, I was in more pain than I could ever have imagined," Feng said. After dentists removed the faulty crowns, and healed the infections and abscesses that covered her gums, they discovered that Feng's unlicensed dentist had ground down her healthy teeth into stumps, reports the Daily Mail. Now when she opens her mouth, she says her one-year-old daughter cries.

Feng received her treatment in Chongqing city, central China. Unlicensed dentristry is a scourge in certain parts of Asia, and Fiji's Department of Immigration is currently investigating a Chinese couple who had been running an illegal dental surgery near the country's capital. "The council is urging the public to be mindful of such unscrupulous dentists and run background checks on them before seeking their services," Fiji's Ministry of Health said in a press release. "People must ask the name of the dentist who is to perform the procedures on them and also ask to see his or her registration certificate."

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Unlicensed dentists have become so popular in Indonesia that the government passed a law last year, which took effect in April, to make their practice illegal. Many opposed the new regulation, however, saying it would make it impossible for many low income people to get dental treatment at all, since the country suffers a serious dentist shortage, and unlicensed practitioners often charge four to five times less, reports the Dental Tribune Asia Pacific.

An unregulated dental industry in Asia even affects the mouths of Americans. As of 2008, five percent of dental restorations were made in China. Dentists could buy them for $30 to $50 a pop, and then sell them to their patients for over a grand. A genius plan, except that some of those crowns were tainted with toxic levels of lead. After four incidences of lead poisoning, the U.S. National Association of Dental Laboratories was forced to issue a statement warning patients about the problem.

But none of these cases were as severe as what happened to Feng, who says she now looks like a "monster." "They stole my smile," she wept. Her lawyers are now in negotiations with the clinic, according to The Daily Mail.




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Claire Gordon

Claire Gordon

Claire Gordon has contributed to Slate's DoubleX, the Huffington Post, and the book Prisons: Current Controversies. While an undergraduate at Yale University and a research fellow at Yale graduate school, she spoke on panels at Yale and Cornell, and reported from Cairo, Tokyo, and Berlin. Follow Claire on Twitter. Email Claire at claire.gordon@teamaol.com. Add Claire to your Google+ circles.

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Tomas

what Rose replied I am taken by surprise that you can earn $7516 in 4 weeks on the internet. did you read this webpage MorePay3

July 12 2012 at 12:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Crabella76

Sorry but no matter where you are, do your research before letting anyone work on any part of your body. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Even in 'third world' countries, people should have SOME type of common sense.

July 09 2012 at 12:12 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
Grandma

if you have ever had full crown work in the US, your teeth are ground down just like hers.-they have to be so the crown will fit over it.

July 09 2012 at 10:33 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sarah Janes

Unlicensed dentists use unprofessional ways to treat their patients. It costs too much in the end. I am very sorry for Xu Feng. She trusted a unprofessional and unlicensed dentist.

Sarah

July 09 2012 at 8:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
alfredschrader

Yeah, but now she can eat spaghetti by slurping it and play three harminicas at the same same and strip wire for cheap electronic products made for Wal Mart.

July 09 2012 at 6:02 AM Report abuse -2 rate up rate down Reply
msdsandpiper

The article states: "After dentists removed the faulty crowns, and healed the infections and abscesses that covered her gums, they discovered that Feng's unlicensed dentist had ground down her healthy teeth into stumps." The procedure, I am told, does involve grinding teeth down so that the crowns will fit over (the "stumps.") But, this dentist was not licensed and he did something(s) wrong, which caused her to have infections and abscesses. Once she gets a (licensed!) dentist to apply crowns, correctly, she'll be fine. Perhaps, with a nicer smile than she had imagined.
Now, I would like to address : sigmanuvj, if you are serious (about your personal comments) and still "out there." You gave Feng, the woman in the article, positive advice. You - hold on to that positive attitude. Let who you are, inside, come out. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. I, myself, find some "handsome" or "pretty" people - unattractive - if they aren't good people, inside. And, those who most wouldn't look at once, let alone twice, I find most attractive - if they are good people. There is a thing about one's inner beauty. Let yours shine through. Re- identify who it is that you think you are. Look at yourself and see your inner beauty. Attitude is everything. If you see it, you can believe it. If you believe it, you will see it!

July 09 2012 at 5:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kim

Crowns in our area go for 800-1200+ a piece! That would have been my first red flag! She paid 2000 for 12 Crowns!!! So I'm not saying this dentist was qualified. Different countries allow things that the US would never allow!

Also, these teeth have been crown prepped. "Crown Prepping". it's a process to making a crown. You have to prep the tooth down so you can have enough material in the crown itself to withstand the forces of chewing. If you didn't prep the teeth in this manner the crowns would be so thin they would break in two when chewing your food! If you have a crown on your tooth the tooth underneath looks similar to this! We put temporaries on the teeth and send you home. But if we didnt' you would look like this! (although he may have taken a bit more than needed) it doesn't look that much different than what we see everyday!

Someone is trying to get money!! This story looks like something out of National Enquirer.....

July 09 2012 at 5:42 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Kim's comment
MistysBarn

Kim, the charges are in Chinese Dollars (US$1.00 equals HK$7.00) so it amounts to the same thing.

July 09 2012 at 6:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
undianablycute

I have had 3 crowns done, I have never had a time where my mouth looked like that. That woman better find a better dentist and get those crowns on ASAP. @bch444 Her teeth have been filed down to fit the crowns, the dentist never put the crowns on, that's why her mouth looks like that. I doubt she will need dentures to look better.

July 09 2012 at 4:57 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
shkharbouch

That is the process for putting in crowns. First the dentist takes impressions of your natural teeth with a clay-like mold, then he grinds your teeth down to stumps, and (in the states) he puts temporary plastic crowns on while your porcelain crowns are being made. It generally takes 1 to 2 weeks for the porcelain crowns to be custom made from the clay mold, and then your dentist will permanently affix them over your stump teeth. I have had 2 crowns put in that way; it looks like the dentist just didn't finish the job.

July 09 2012 at 4:57 AM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
bch444

that poor woman. The pain alone should net her big money. Obviously she is going to need full dentures to be able to smile with confidence again.

July 09 2012 at 4:04 AM Report abuse -3 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to bch444's comment
karenpaula

that is the exact process to having crowns. that is what anyone's teeth look like. A professional dentist does grind your teeth down to that size to fit the crowns. i have them. I have no idea what they thought the story was here. Unless its about the abcesses and subsequent infections. As far as making her healthy teeth look like stumps? Thats what they all do.

July 31 2012 at 5:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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