I have had a number or oral surgeries including wisdom teeth, numerous root canals, oral bone surgery after a life threatening cellulitis infection, and finally implant surgery and I find Dr. James Reed to be without doubt the worst oral surgeon I have even encountered. About 8 years ago, I went to Dr. Reed for a single tooth implant. It seemed to go okay and so when I found I needed full upper jaw implants I again went to Dr. Reed for the work. We carefully discussed his experience in successfully performing full jaw implant surgery and he confidently assured us that he was highly experienced and confident in his ability to perform the surgery we were seeking. Believe me when I say that the result was a terrible disaster!
First of all, after Reed made terrible mistakes during my implant surgery which caused the destruction of all the natural gums that were supposed to surround the new implants, we had to go to another surgeon and suffer 4 additional surgeries to repair the extensive damage done by Dr. Reed, we discovered that the original implant Reed had done on me had already failed after only 6 years and that it was due to Dr. Reed's faulty technique. Because he adds most of any needed bone to the inside of the jaw instead of the outside, the action of the tongue wears down the bone causing exposure of the anchor of the implant to deteriorate to a point of failure. This is the very same technique he employed with all my upper teeth, trying to stuff way more bone than needed into the inside of my mouth, so much in fact that I no longer had room for my tongue to lie comfortable. He also used implants that were much larger and bulkier than needed thus all the extra bone surrounding them. Additionally, he stretched and sewed the gums (which were supposed to be carefully saved loose for use around the new implants) so tightly that within days the stitches began to tear out. We contacted him about this terrible and extremely painful problem but he declined to help me or to even meet with me until my next scheduled appointment when he observed the mess but declined to do anything to help. After two weeks of agony we finally sought out another oral surgeon who took one look at the mess and immediately removed all the stitches she could find, though some would only be located later as they had completely grown into the gums.
Finally, out of agony for the first time in two weeks, we met again with Reed. He admitted to us that the implants were all misplaced, one being placed in the center of the mouth directly under my nose and another had pierced my sinus because he had neglected to do the two sinus lifts we as we had discussed. We also discovered that he had not even followed the plan we had all agreed upon and I had signed for in the patient consent form. He had changed the plan BEFORE THE DATE OF SURGERY but did not discuss any of the changes with us, changes which included installing only 5 implants instead of 7, not performing the sinus lifts and asking our Endodontist if he could "cantilever" the upper back teeth out over the gums so he wouldn't need to install the back two implants. He never discussed any of these changes with us! He refused to use the guide sent to him by the Endodontist and misplaced his own guide during surgery (for which he charged us an extra $700) causing all the implants to be misaligned. He totally destroyed my all my gum tissue that was supposed to be carefully saved to place around the new implants to the point that they were not saveable and any tooth reconstruction would have to include PLASTIC GUMS!
When we began treatment with a new oral surgeon, he could not even predict whether he could save my mouth from total destruction and the need for removable dentures. Fortunately, after two years and 4 restorative surgeries, including the need to remove bone from both hips to augment the bone deterioration that occurred due to the long time need for reconstructive surgery (and following which I as hospitalized suffering from a pulmonary embolism), I finally was fitted with the only real choice I had left, that of a semi-permanent denture with plastic gums.
I chose to go to the extraordinary trouble and expense of opting for full upper implants so I could have as natural feeling and functioning of my teeth as possible. After ultimately two years of surgeries during which I was put on a soft food diet for the entire time, I have ended up with a semi-permanent denture that does not feel natural and functions much like an ordinary denture with all its discomforts and problems.
Adding insult to injury, literally, Dr. Reed's insurance company, after assuring us that they would pay for the reconstructive surgery as it was performed, refused to pay a penny toward repair of the total mess, forcing us to sue the insurance company to recover damages. It took over 4 years of almost constant litigation for us to finally collect any reimbursement. read more
