When the dental clinic near Gangnam Station asked for my medical record and diagnosis certificate, they called the police and drove the patient out.
In case there is any misunderstanding... the top image is before orthodontic treatment, and the bottom image is after treatment.
Even so, they claimed, "We did our utmost for the orthodontic treatment. The orthodontic treatment was successful."
From your point of view, which of the two, top or bottom, looks more balanced in terms of the teeth?
As a result of six years of doing their utmost, my midline became more crooked than before treatment.
On the 13th, at a dental clinic near Gangnam Station, I received clear aligner orthodontic treatment, and due to failure to inspect the appliance, I suffered an injury inside my mouth, that is, negligent bodily injury, and then
A hired doctor who was not even listed on the hospital website, the lies of the doctor, and the orthodontic treatment, while the patient did not even know that he or she was bleeding
The post I wrote, based on recorded conversations and facts, about insufficient explanation of the appliance type and the treatment at the start, frequent changes in staff, and the truly worst possible customer service, was taken as defamation, so I came to the clinic to prepare legal action.
At first, I was told to wait about 30 minutes, so I waited outside for 30 minutes. They said I could wait inside, but since they kept bringing up obstruction of business from before, I waited outside.
After 30 minutes, they suddenly notified me by phone that it would be difficult to issue the medical records that day.
I went back to the clinic and asked again for the medical records, but they said they could not give them to me.
When I asked again, they threatened me by saying that if I kept doing that, it would be obstruction of business, that they were in the middle of dealing with customers, and that they had CCTV.
So I quietly moved to the consultation room and waited about 15 minutes.
The consultation director came and said they absolutely could not give them today, so I asked why not. I had already waited about an hour because of the medical records, and I had come all the way from Yongin.
I told them, "You are the ones suing the patient, so why are you acting like this?" Then they said, "Why are you raising your voice?" (I did not raise my voice. I have a recording.) They said they would call the police, so I told them to go ahead. Then they said that because they were a woman, a male patient had come to the clinic and was obstructing business, and they asked the police to come and help them... saying they were so scared...
I played the recording for the officers, and I had the part about the medical records written down in the statement.
After that, I reported the clinic to Seocho Public Health Center, the clinic received an administrative directive, and I have now filed a criminal complaint against the clinic for not issuing the medical records on the same day. Before that, the defamation case naturally ended with a decision of no charges, and the clinic filed another complaint over the same content, so after being investigated, I am preparing a complaint for false accusation.
The reason I am writing this is to explain that failing to issue medical records is illegal, and to share my experience with the public so that people can know their rights and how to respond.
I also state that the clinic's claims are false and that there was no defamation.
Below are the articles.
https://news.naver.com/main/read.naver?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=001&oid=014&aid=0004651916
https://n.news.naver.com/article/014/0004664230
If you want to read more about what I experienced, please read the summary below.
Around 2015, I started clear aligner orthodontic treatment at a dental clinic near Gangnam Station. At the time, I was young and started what felt like hellish orthodontic treatment through a Facebook event entry, at a price that was not cheap even now looking back.
The clinic says I signed a paper about side effects during orthodontic treatment, but when I later requested it, they refused to issue it together with the medical records.
When I started treatment, I naturally thought I was being treated by a properly licensed dentist affiliated with the clinic, not a hired doctor listed on the clinic website. Since the story would get long, I will only write down what I experienced. <The doctor in question was a doctor from a clinic where the former chief physician of the once-famous Apgujeong clear aligner dental clinic had worked, a person who produced fraud charges and many victims, and that fact was hidden while the doctor worked there even now as a hired doctor with their background concealed. In the 2017 profile too, you can see that record was removed. So they do not appear on the clinic website. When I asked to see the dentist's profile, they kept refusing, saying they had no obligation to show it. In the end, when I searched on Google, the profile from that clinic used to exist, and in the comments below it said that this was the person who ground down my teeth and ran away.>
1: I received treatment from a doctor who was not even on the website.
2: At the start of treatment, I was told it would be finished in 6 months to 1 year, but I received treatment for over 6 years.
3: After treatment began, they clearly acknowledged to some extent that interproximal reduction had been done incorrectly, and said that if the space did not close because of it, they would definitely fill it in somehow. But in the later medical records, the teeth that had undergone interproximal reduction were not even written down, and moreover they sued me, falsely claiming that I was spreading false information that I had not had interproximal reduction done at this clinic and had instead had it done at another clinic.
4: Whenever I called, they had set instructions so they would only answer the phone when I dialed *23#. Furthermore, they would not answer even when I called from my family's phone number. When I claimed this was blocking my calls, I was again sued for false statements.
5: I repeatedly asked for the medical records, but they refused, saying same-day issuance was difficult. Furthermore, on November 13, 2020, in the very windy early winter, they made me wait outside for 30 minutes, saying they would give me the medical records, then suddenly said they could not. When I went back and asked, "Why can't you give them?" they said they were in the middle of dealing with customers and made me wait another 10 minutes. As they kept making excuses, I said three times to give me the medical records, and the female consultation director said she was scared and called the police, so I think they abused public power by using force and intimidation.
6: Around the fourth year of orthodontic treatment, when I was abroad, I was in contact through KakaoTalk and asked the doctor in charge for a consultation about the appliance defect and the sensitivity caused by the interproximal reduction. But even though they knew I was overseas, they made one phone call and then said they could not consult because I did not answer the phone, leaving the patient unattended.
7: At the start of treatment, they did not explain the retainer properly, and even though they said there would be no additional cost for the retainer later if I paid in full at once, they suddenly demanded payment for a fixed retainer and brought up something they had never mentioned before treatment. So, not trusting them, I asked them to return the 1 million won I had prepaid for the retainer, and they started bargaining, saying they would give me the fixed appliance for 100,000 won, or if not, since it was their mistake, they would do the fixed one even without a refund. I tried to pursue a legal dispute through the Consumer Protection Agency and legal consultation, but the deputy director pretended to be generous and refunded the money that should obviously have been returned, after deducting about 1.5% card processing fees. The clinic told the police that this was them doing their utmost.
8: I was in severe pain because of the interproximal reduction, but they kept trying to frame it as if I simply could not brush my teeth properly. So I recorded videos of myself brushing my teeth for about 7 days and sent them to the doctor in charge. At that time, the doctor in charge naturally had nothing to say about my brushing, because I really do brush my teeth well... And unlike the university hospital opinion letter, they gave no treatment to reduce the sensitivity symptoms and only kept repeating that I should keep wearing the appliance and brush my teeth diligently.
9: Once, I brushed my teeth immediately after arriving at the clinic and then saw the doctor. I brushed using a toothbrush at the clinic, and of course, because they had only cheap disposable toothbrushes, plaque would remain no matter how well I tried to brush. They used that to tell me, "Look at this. You are not brushing properly. Why don't you brush your teeth before coming to the dentist?" I was so wronged that I said I had brushed for more than 3 minutes as soon as I arrived, and then they asked the desk staff whether I had actually brushed. It was truly absurd. Of course, at that time I had asked the desk staff for a toothbrush to brush my teeth, and when that staff member said that Mr. XXX had taken a toothbrush earlier and brushed, they had nothing to say.
10: Isn't it standard that the doctor in charge gives the orthodontic appliance to the patient before it is handed over? It seems this clinic has assistants handling the appliances. In the recorded conversation too, they say things like, "Our staff made a mistake in the inspection." It was truly the worst. Because of that appliance, the inside of my gums and the inside of my cheeks were completely bleeding and ulcerated... At that time, I should have gone to the clinic and gotten a medical certificate. It was at least a seven-day injury... But the deputy director at the clinic tried to brush it off as if the sore inside my gums was no big deal. Also, the consultation director did not apologize even once and instead said something outrageous like, "Then we just need to file down the sharp part of this appliance, right?" I was so fed up that I asked where the doctor in charge was, and they said he came only once a week... as expected, a hired doctor... So when I said, "The patient was injured and not even one apology?" they only then said, "I'm sorry now, okay?" I could not believe my ears.
11: As mentioned in the recorded conversation, the content from the first consultation and the later content at this clinic were very different, each consultation director said different things, and they also made excuses. I suffered many other things as well.
12: Finally, I will write about why I am writing this post. This is not a post written to criticize the clinic, damage its reputation, or spread false information. I tried to write as objectively as possible, but I am also human, so some emotion may be felt in the writing. However, I state that there is no false information in the content of this post, and furthermore, I wrote it to share the experience of someone who had orthodontic treatment at this dental clinic with people who may later consider orthodontic treatment at this clinic, in order to provide them with the right to know.