Call Kurtis: Ron Larsen, DDS

Paying for anything up-front can be risky. In this case it cost a viewer in Auburn nearly $8,000.

"I can't chew properly; I have to avoid certain foods most of the time. It's just a hassle" Luisa McCaffrey says while carefully eating a small cookie and sipping tea.

She has been living with seven temporary caps on her molars for the last five months.

She's been trying to get crowns for them; and her problems began when her dentist, Sacramento's Dr. Ron Larsen, showed her the first set.

"I said those are not my teeth. And he said 'yeah, I thought so as well.'"

She says the size was wrong, so she had Dr. Larsen send them back to the lab.

But she says the second set was wrong too.

"They were so big I couldn't even close my mouth.  And again he agreed and said he would change the lab he was working with."

Luisa says they tried six times to get it right, but by this point she wanted to change dentists.

"And he said absolutely. That's fine with him. I should make an appointment and pick up my check."

She says she never got the refund check. Her own detailed calendar shows many lost opportunities.

On one date she reads "Larson called to cancel again."

When Luisa finally confronted him she says he told her he has to pay his lab for all of those crowns they made so she wouldn't get much, if any, of her $7,800 back.

"And I said to him 'so you're telling me that you're stealing my money? That's what you're telling me?'"

That put a bad taste in her mouth, leaving her feeling "duped. I felt like it's perhaps a fraud; lost my money, uh, I feel terrible."

We tried to talk with Dr. Larsen, leaving him messages, but he didn't return our calls.

Meanwhile, we encouraged Luisa to follow through on her plans to take Dr. Larsen to small claims court. And she did. She won her case in mediation.

Now she can take her refund and find another dentist to put the finishing touches on her winning smile.

Dr. Larson called us after his day in court. He said he offered to send Luisa's crowns to another lab but she refused to let him. However they did agree on a refund amount in court mediation.

He gave her a cashier's check for $3,200.

Of course it's never a good idea to pay for a service up-front.

If at all possible, work out an arrangement to pay a percentage down, and the rest when services have been rendered in full.