I was eating a burger from a local fast food restaurant, and bit into a piece of bone, my tooth kind of throbbed all day, woke up that night with pain, can feel it all the way in my ear, went to dentist the next day they did x-rays cannot find the issue, so they want to open up the filling inside the tooth and see what is going on...

contacted corporate office for burger place, have filed a claim waiting on adjuster to get back to me, they want me to give them the bone that I still have... should I give that over... also I have had to miss work because of this will have to miss more work, and I have the deductible to meet, I may need a route canal or more I have been referred to a specialist...

will my preexisting issue of having a filling there already prevent me from getting my claim accepted, will I get my days I had to take off paid for, how long could this drag out for, this happened Tuesday, filed the claim todasy on Thursday

As far as getting your days paid for and the pre-existing issue of the filling, you will have to check that out with your office. We don't know their protocol.

If the burger place wants the bone back, take a picture of it so you will have your proof, have them sign for it, on the picture saying it is the piece of bone from the burger place.

I must say, though, normally in a healthy tooth, a piece of bone would not do any damage but you did have a filling, maybe an old one, that was probably stressed already. This has happened to me before and I didn't pursue it. It wasn't worth my time and money.

Tick

I'm an accident investigator. Do NOT hand the only evidence (the piece of bone) to the (potential) Defendant. Once it is out of your hands you have no control over it.

A lot depends on what/how much you want to settle the claim. If the company won't take a look and make an offer consult with an Attorney.

Did you immediately bring this to the attention of the restaurant?

You have a very iffy case here. As tickle said the fact that the problem may have been been caused by a weak filling will mitigate the restaurant's responsibility.
Also you did not report this immediately so the bone is almost worthless ans it could have come from anywhere.

Also Judy is correct you never turn over your evidence except to the court. What you should do is take pictures of the bone from several angles next to a ruler to show the size, you can then turn over those pics.

I am awaiting the call from the insurance company for the restaurant, I would not pursue this had my dentist not referred me to a specialist, and now I am incurring high costs due to a .99 cent cheeseburger, I do feel a bit petty about contacting them over this but the fact is that my tooth my have had a filling that is barely a year old, and the dentist could not confim a crack or damage to the filling, so this is outside of my prior dentail work and issues, if it were simply me replacing the filling not an issue but not I have to have the tooth opened up to look at...

Also, if I fail to give them the bone, will they deny assisting me? What if I take a picture and make them sign off me giving them the bone

Again, give THEM the pictures. Don't you have dental coverage?

It was a to go order that I ate at work, oh and I contected them within 48 hours, after I went to dentist because as I said I wasn't going to do anything with this but now that it is costing me, got lucky enough to grab the bag out of the trash the next day when I got back to work

I do have insurance thank god, (becuase most I know do not have this), which is why I was not going to contact them but now that I am having to pay out of pocket the part that the insurance is not paying, since they have to take the filling out and open the tooth up to look at it, this may need a root canal so I don't have the money for a crown and a root canal, before I get done with this .99 cent burger I am going to have spent hundreds

My dental insurance pays 80% of my dental bill. So if I go for my regular check up every sixmonths, I stop off at the accounting and they tell me what my balance is after they submit my claim. I pay it with a cheque. Be thankful you have dental insurance. What percentage do you pay after the coverage ? Not much I assume. You are not sure about the root canal, you don't have to have a crown, I didn't on my last root canal because I requested it being done that way. At 67 I have all my teeth, so am thankful for dental insurance.

You are assuming and asking us to confirm what you think.

So just get all your 'ducks in a row' ducky and go from there.

Are you in the UK by the way ?

Ms tickle

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by britt.biaso

it was a to go order that i ate at work, oh and i contected them within 48 hours, after i went to dentist becuase as i said i wasnt going to do anything with this but now that it is costing me, got lucky enough to grab the bag out of the trash the next day when i got back to work

---

I think you are going to have to settle for whatever the insurance company is going to give you for what they will consider a nuisance claim. 48 hours AFTER the incident may very well be seen as insufficient notice.

If you pursue this your Dentist would have to testify that it was a healthy tooth/filling and the piece of bone caused the damage. Without that evidence you have problems proving your case.

As far as photographs are concerned, yes, you can photograph it from various angle using a ruler BUT the adjuster (if he/she knows his stuff) will ask you to bring it in to his/her office or will come to your home and do his/her own photographs. Let them see it. Just don't let them take it.

This is basically a nuisance value case. Sorry to say but bones in hamburger are an every day occurrence in fast food restaurants. Regardless if the tooth never had a filling in it or not is basically irrelevant. You broke your tooth. You had to pay for it's restoration. If the insurance company pays your dental bill on this incident, be thankful.