Dr. Benjamin Fiss - Chicago, IL Review

I told Dr. Fiss that I was having pain in one of my teeth and could he take a look at it. He looked in my mouth and said, no, nothing wrong there. I thought, that's great. But I had an unsettling feeling as I left because although he promised me there was no problem, he hadn't taken an x-ray. Shouldn't he have done that, I wondered. So a month goes by and the tooth hurts even more. I didn't know what to do. Dr. Fiss said there was no problem. But it's a problem for me. So I call Dr. Fiss again and he tells his receptionist to tell me to see another dentist - a specialist I guess.

So I went to this other dentist and she takes an x-ray and said, you have a root canal in that tooth already so I can't help you. I guess she was just a root canal doctor. She said, go to this other dentist, and maybe he can save your tooth. So I go to another dentist and he looks at an x-ray and said, your tooth has got to go. And he removed it.

I wondered later, if Dr. Fiss had just taken an x-ray like these two doctors, couldn't we have taken care of this sooner? But I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was rushed the day I came in with my bad tooth. I thought, I'll ask him if I should've asked him to take an x-ray originally.

So a couple months go by and what do you know, I've got another painful tooth. So I go to see Dr. Fiss. Before he takes a look at it, I ask him, should I have insisted you take an x-ray when I came to see you before? Because I ended up with pain for a month that evidently was unnecessary and the tooth had to be removed. And he said something that didn't make sense so I asked him again, should I have asked you to x-ray that tooth the first time I came? And he said, well, I knew Dr. So and So (that he referred me to a month later) would take an x-ray and I didn't want to expose you to unnecessary radiation. And I said, but you didn't tell me to go see her when I came to see you. You just said that there was nothing wrong with my tooth. You didn't know that a month hence I would be calling you back and you would then recommend me to see her.

Okay so I just let it go because I figure it's obvious he did the wrong thing and won't admit it.

But then - and this is unbelievable - I said, could you take a look at this tooth in the back here, it's sore. He took a look at it and said, nothing wrong with that. It's probably just food that gets wedged in there. Pul-eeese! I know the difference between teeth that need flossing and a tooth that is in trouble. I've had an absessed tooth once. I know how it begins.

And then - unbelievable - he doesn't take an x-ray.

Now I can't go back to him. If I can't count on my dentist to take an x-ray when I say I'm in pain, than I can't count on him to protect the health of my teeth.

I just don't get it. It would have been more fees for him to x-ray me - which could possibly have resulted in him giving me a crown and thus more money. I don't get it. Go figure.

He was a nice guy though.