Oregon man sues dentist after teeth allegedly rot from 11 years of braces

iStockphoto

(CBS News) An angry Oregon patient who was allegedly advised to wear braces for 11 years is suing his dentist for the cost to fix his now-rotten teeth.

Pictures: Foul mouth: what yucky signs say about your health

Devin Bost, 22, is suing orthodontist Dr. Brad Chvatal of Oregon-based Chvatal Orthodontics for allegedly allowing him to wear his braces from ages 7 to 18. He's asking for $185,000, which breaks down to $35,100 for corrective oral surgery and other expenses and $150,000 for pain and suffering.

"What I'm told by the experts is, 'You can't do this. You can't keep them on that long. It's just not done," Bost's attorney, David Hollander, told The Oregonian.

According to the lawsuit, Bost had the braces put on by another orthodontist and started seeing Chvatal in August 1997 when he lived in the Eugene, Ore., area. Although he didn't visit as often as recommended, he did go to the orthodontist from time to time. It wasn't until June 2008 that Bost allegedly "received an urgent phone call from (Chvatal's office) that he needed to have the braces removed immediately."

As a result of wearing the braces for so long, Bost allegedly suffered serious tooth decay and periodontal disease. Some of his rotten teeth have to be pulled out and replaced by implants, but others cannot be replaced because they have rotted to the jaw, Hollander explained.

The alleged time period means he would have worn his braces from elementary school until he graduated high school. And, according to Hollander, Bost's mother - who is a medical doctor - didn't notice anything amiss.

"We aren't really sure what happened," Hollander said.

The American Association of Orthodontics recommends that children visit the orthodontist for a check-up no later than 7. Most patients begin treatment between 9 and 14. People who need braces typically wear them for one to three years, American Association of Orthodontists president Dr. John F. Buzzatto told CBS station KIRO in Seattle.

However, Chvatal told The Oregonian that it's impossible that he started seeing Bost in 1997. Chvatal has been licensed with the Oregon Board of Dentistry since 1997, but was only licensed as an orthodontist in 2002.

"We have the utmost respect for them and empathy, and treat them - everybody - with the best quality care as we possibly can," Chvatal said, declining to comment further because of privacy laws.

12 Photos

Foul mouth: what yucky signs say about your health

[RubyWalters123]

Wow I didn't realize that this could happen. I am so glad that my <a href="http://www.jensenorthodontics.com/en/">dentists and orthodontists</a> knew what they were doing! I didn't know that braces could be harmful-- how exactly does it cause disease?

[sayl2012]

Teeth cleaning makes all of the difference...If you don't take care of your teeth, with or without braces, guess what??? Your teeth will decay and rot!!! Duh!! Not rocket science!!

[Jaylah54200]

The really sad part is that, for the majority of the time this idiot wore the braces, they were doing him no good at all.

Braces need constant adjustment to work.

You could put braces on, practice scrupulous oral hygiene, visit your regular dentist every three months, and wear those braces for 50 years and your teeth would look just the same when you got them off.

If "he didn't visit as often as recommended" and only went to "orthodontist from time to time", that ain't the orthodontist's fault!

How typical: "I'm stupid and I want somebody to blame for my own stupidity. It's YOUR fault and I want a big settlement to compensate me for my own stupidity."

Not only do I hope this idiot doesn't get a single dime, but I hope he has to pay his orthodontist's legal bills.

[Lerianis4]

No, the bottom line is that after 1 year.... at most 2 braces are supposed to come off for a time period whether the problem in question is corrected or not.

[Mays2011]

He was seven years old when he started!!! where are your comments about the parents?!

[3leu]

Wouldn't your teeth/mouth hurt long before 11 years was up? Hmmmm...

[Lerianis4]

Maybe not. I know many people who have had serious cavities and they only hurt when they get down to the root of the tooth.

[logicalthinker22]

Hmmmm what could cause such serious tooth decay.....methamphetamines maybe?

[sigin88]

Or more likely coke/pepsi or whatever his soda of choice is.

[bobnjersey]

[He's asking for $185,000, which breaks down to $35,100 for corrective oral surgery and other expenses and $150,000 for pain and suffering.]
---------------------------------------------------
when this guy gets the settlement ... he should load up the suv w/ 20 or so of his best 'straight teeth' friends ... and take a trip to yosemite natl. park ... where he and his 19 friends go swimming at the top of vernal falls.

[debbyt1-2009]

personally, I'm glad for this article. Its better than the RNC..

[askagain]

The Republican Convention had substance which this article lacks. But If intelligence isn't your forte, your comment is understandable. You might want to look-up "forte" in a dictionary.

[facelessdrone2005]

Why, who needs to watch the RNC? They've been playing the same record for the last 4 years, "Obama sucks, Obama sucks, Obama sucks, Obama sucks." No substance there. Tooth decay is MUCH more interesting.

[lemur123456]

The article says the mom is a Medical Doctor? She can't even take care of her own kid and make sure he is compliant with general dental care. That is scary if she is actually taking care of real patients. If they win this lawsuit, I think there is a serious defect in this country's system of law. This case should not even make it into arbitration. It should be thrown out for the trash that it is and then this mom's medical practice should be looked into.

[Lerianis4]

lemur, MANY people, even those who have doctor parents/husbands/wives don't go to the doctor nor dentist on a regular basis. It's the whole "If the teeth/body aren't hurting, no reason to go there!" which I personally feel is absolutely true.

[rwsmith29456]

For those that want to know 'what happened' my sister's braces became her 'security blanket' in a similar way and she had Pyarea when the braces were removed. Though highly intelligent (which may have been her problem) she would listen to no one regarding having them removed. That is until she started losing her front teeth.

[hhrdh]

This family is totally at fault, clearly they were not seeing a general dentist. There is no reason why you couldn't have braces on that long in theory as long as you had good homecare habits, like flossing and brushing which I am sure this kid never did, and coordinated care with your general dentist. Minimum every 6 mos to the general dds and actually making your appointments when they are recommended would have kept this kid's teeth in his head. FAILURE OF PARENTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To all of the commenters that are so strongly opinionated but have clearly no idea what they are talking about: Braces are an important key to oral health, if your teeth don't line up correctly it is much harder to keep them clean and healthy throughout a lifetime and depending on how bad they are off it can jeopardize the life of your tooth. We send patients to the orthodontist in their 60's because it's the only way they will keep their teeth for the rest of their lives. Mal-aligned teeth can result in gum recession, periodontal disease, jaw problems, ect. The reason some kids get ortho young is because while their jaw is still growing an orthodontist can help expand the way it grows making it less likely that teeth will need to be extracted. IN short, go to the dentist and take his or her advice or not - but if you don't that's on you.

[DDebbbiee]

The seven years I had braces on, every dentist I called said, "Come in when your braces are off." They would not clean my teeth or take x-rays until they were off. Not sure if this is the way it still is today, but that is the way it was 30 years ago. :)