Patient sues Eugene orthodontist
EUGENE, Ore. -- After spending over half his life in braces, a former Eugene resident is suing his orthodontist for close to $200,000.
Devin Bost, 22, filed a complaint against Dr. Brad A. Chvatal on Friday, Aug. 24.
KVAL News tried to interview Bost, his attorney and Dr. Chvatal, to no avail.
In the complaint, Bost says he started treatment in 1997, wore braces for 11 years, and had permanent injury to his teeth, mouth and gums when they came off in 2008.
Bost says in the lawsuit that Dr. Chvatal neglected to inform him about the damage that the braces caused during the regular checkups throughout the treatment. He is also suing for the dental care he needed to repair some of the damage to his teeth.
Bost says that he received an urgent call from the Chvatal Orthodontics office stating that he needed to have the braces removed immediately, according to the lawsuit. Bost had his braces removed in early June of 2008 and says that Dr. Chvatal did not inform him about the damages to his teeth at that time, the lawsuit says.
The complaint says that Bost learned from an unnamed source that his orthodontic treatment should have only taken two or three years and alleges that having the braces on for the extended length of time was the cause for Bost's damaged teeth. Bost is suing Dr. Chvatal's offices for the $35,000 in dental work he spent to fix his teeth and for $150,000 in pain and suffering from the incident.
Dental Hygiene Program Coordinator for Lane Community College Sharon Hagan told KVAL News that orthodontists and their practitioners usually work diligently with patients on how to properly care for their braces at home.
"At the LCC Dental Center they have plenty of information available for patients on dental hygiene," she said. "They say it's their responsibility to provide this information, but it's the patients responsibility to take their advice."
colorowdy - I read orefinneje's post to say that she did get the refund, but it was after she requested it.
While I understand that many medical professionals will have a lawsuit filed against them, it doesn't mean that they actually did anything wrong. Let's let all the facts come out in this case before we judge it.
Â
orefinneje - if you do the research, you will find that the prices charged are in line with other practices. As for having an all female staff. Perhaps, and I've seen this in many dental practices, it is because the majority of hygienists and orthodontic technicians are female. In fact, how many dental offices have you ever been in that was not, at least 90% staffed by females?
Â
Lest you wonder, yes I have been a patient of Dr. Chvatal and never had any problems at all.
WildTangent, I'm glad to hear that you never had any issues but when I went in that office for a consultation, there was something about this office that had me uneasy. My daughter just got braces this year (NOT at Dr Chvatal's office) and Dr Chvatal was one of the three offices that I had a consultation at. He was nearly $2,000 higher than the other two quotes that we received and he gave us an estimate of a treatment plan that was 6 months longer than the other two as well. The office does have all sorts of bells and whistles such as video games, computers, beverages, and more however, they aren't fooling anyone with that when their quotes are thousands overpriced. Not to mention, if you don't keep your patients waiting for a long time in the lobby, they don't need all this stuff anyway. We chose the middle priced ortho office of our three consultations and I couldn't be happier. After seeing this article and some of the comments, I'm even more glad that we didn't chose this office. Â
 We did the same due diligence with my Son's upcoming orthodontia needs and we had the same experience with Dr Chvatal's office, they were considerably pricier and he recommended some work be done that none of the other three Orthodontists said were necessary. Needless to say we are getting the work done elsewhere.
 @WildTangent I can agree that each person no matter what deserves a fair consideration in conflict. My point to Oreginneje was to recover for charges that should never have been in the first place. If she was charged not once but twice for a retainer that was not needed it raises questions on how honest the dentist is dealing with the patients. Those types of billing problems should not be ignored by the professional. She requested a refund and they ignored her...not very professional. No one is trying to be judge and jury here about this dentist. I just suggested she pursue a refund in a different fashion since her request was ignored. Without the patients and recommendations professionals do not have a practice. His office should have done right by her and not ignored it.
Our son used to be a patient of Dr. Chvatal's. I felt like he charged way too much. His office in Eugene is very shiny and new with all the bell's and whistles - expensive tea, video games, computers, etc. He had my son wearing a retainer for 6 months that he didn't even need to wear. We found this out when my son accidentally lost his retainer so we had to go back into Dr. Chavtal's office to have a new one made. We paid full price to have the replacement made. When we went back in to pick it up, during the final fitting one of his assistant's realized that they had made a mistake and my son wasn't even supposed to be wearing a retainer at that time. After that happened, I actually had to request that I be refunded for the retainers - both of them. They didn't offer to refund my money, I had to request that I be refunded the money I paid for the retainer my son never needed. Needless to say - we see a different orthodontist now. Dr. Chavtal will tempt you with his beautiful office and the beautiful women he hires (my husband always thought it was kinda creepy how Dr. Chavtal was the only man in the office - at least while we were there...)... but all that glitters is not gold.
 @orefinneje Join up with Devin Bost and get your money back seems to be the only way anymore. So dishonest of Professionals to be so rude to those that provide them with a very good income. Without patients and their recommendations a practice does not exist.