Problems with a dentist in Poland - is there any means of redress?

A Polish person I know here has been taken for a ride by a dentist.

Basically, the need for one or two fillings has been stretched out to treatments every 2 weeks at about 120zł or 200żł a visit and now the patient has finally discovered he's been drilling the same teeth twice -- and charging twice too.

Treatment has been every 2 or 3 weeks for the last 6 or 7 months. 100 or 200 a time.

His waiting room's always full of people and almost all his reviews online praise him. Because of that, they have put a lot of faith in him but now consider it likely they have in fact been suckered, because the work he did broke, there's been recurrence of pain, and in all these cases he's charged again, and then gone on to do yet more. When asked, he replies "Don't worry, leave it to me, I know what needs to be done!"

So, who is there to complain to, if anybody?

He apparently didn't issue receipts (although I'm not 100% sure on this, but it sounds like that's the case) and am also told he's "a very informal person". I don't really know what that means, but if it means no receipts then I can't say it's a good sign.

It took him that long to discover this?

They didn't tell me what the dentist had been doing. This is probably because I had said right at the start that I didn't like the sound of him, because they had told me a few things he'd said and it smelt like BS to me. But they didn't take my advice and find someone else, and continued with him. This doing the same tooth twice and charging twice has been going on for only the last month, but apparently before that he was dragging on with some very routine stuff. And to me, that seemed highly irregular.

You could report it to the dental council, however you'd need proof.

Firstly, you would have to prove that the dentist cheated you. Do you have X-rays or any other evidence?
You have no receipt for the work.
It would be very hard to convince someone that you (or your friend) thought there was something wrong, said nothing for a few months and continued to go there - and even paid the dentist for the privilege of being cheated.

Put it down to experience - as, at best, it's your word against the dentist's and unless you can prove that you are better qualified than the dentist - how can you build a case?

Tough- but your friend brought it on herself.

Correct. My warning was ignored, and I gave that warning after the first treatment or consultation happened last year. I think I said, among other things, "He sounds like a dodgy BS'er to me. Find someone else!"


I know, seems there's not even a receipt. There might be X-rays but not sure how it can be tied in to prove the dentist did them and the rest of the work.

Additionally, he usually runs very late and a wait of 1.5hrs to 2 hrs in his surgery is not unusual. About 800zł has been wasted on him, perhaps a little less. The total he's received has been over 1000zł.

For all that, my Polish friend still kept going to him, convinced perhaps that such lateness and popularity was a good omen. Kinda reminds me of empty nightclubs that deliberately make a queue form outside.

It has overtones of someone in an abusive relationship who just seems to stay there for no known reason.

Moral of story for anyone in Wroc browsing the forum: 95% positive internet reviews of a dentist (or any trader) don't always mean anything, people can even fake them, and a busy waiting room might just mean people keep having to come back because the dentist messes up or keeps making fresh work for himself. If he doesn't issue a receipt, it could be a big, fat red flag. If he says anything like "Trust me/leave it to me I know what needs to be done/I know what has to be done don't worry" you might want to consider putting your coat back on and leaving the surgery.