Dr. JoaquinBerron:Incompetent and Crooked Mexican Dentist

Joaquin Berron: Mexican Dentist who is Incompetent and a Crook

On March 17, 2014, I went to Cancun, Mexico to have old implants removed and four new ones put in by the Mexican dentist, Joaquin Berron who is the owner of Dentaris Clinic. Dentist Berron put in a Hybrid type temporary denture that I used until I returned to Mexico on July 22, 2014 to complete the process where I would get a permanent Hybrid denture.

I had an x-ray on March 18, 2014 so the dentist could check the implants that had been put in the day before; that was the one and only x-ray I had while in Cuncun at any time.

Unfortunately I had pain in the left implant a few days after I returned to the US. On March 26, 2014, I called the dentist and he diagnosed the problem as an infection that was introduced at the time when the implants were put in:

On Wednesday, March 26, 2014 11:41 AM, Berron Joaquin <jberron67@prodigy.net.mx> wrote:
Dear Jerome:
"From what you are describing we probably still have some infection in the area, I will change your antibiotic to clindamycine and will put you on it for 15 days, please can you give me the phone number of your local drugstore so I can call it in, I need your day of birth too.Sincerely,Dr Berron
Sent from my iPhone".

Despite knowing I had the infection in March, when I returned on July 22, 2014, dentist Berron did not check to see if the antibiotic had cleared up the infection by an x-ray or even a simple probe. Later on, he will claim he did take an x-ray in July and everything was fine, but that is a total fabrication as I will show conclusively by our email exchange.

From the beginning in March, I had a problem with the temporary denture because it was too short to cover the gums on each side, and it was very uncomfortable to chew. He had also tried to connect the four implants by soldering a steel band across all four implants, but the soldering iron fused with the abutment on the left most implant and was not connected; this left a bulge in my jaw that caused even more uncomfortable to chew. Because the dentist said he could not increase the length of the denture when the permanent Hybrid was put in, I informed him I wanted to have a bar and over denture system, that is, where the abutments fit onto the implants, a bar was attached to the abutment and a  removable denture fits over the bar. I had wanted this type of system from the beginning, but the dentist had recommended the Hybrid that was several thousand dollars more costly than the bar and over denture. This was a part of a bait and switch process where I was given two much lower prices and then a higher one that the dentist  later recommended. He later charged me for the more expensive Hybrid even though I did not receive that system, another part of his crooked practice.

When I finished all the treatment on July 25, 2014  I paid the office manager 4673 dollars, and when I asked her if that was the correct price even though it was higher than it should have been because I had received a lower priced system than the more expensive Hybird one that I did not get.

After thinking about the injustice of paying for something I did not get, and losing all faith in the dentist’s integrity, I wrote Alex on July 27, 2014, and told her I was not going to keep the appointment for July 28, 2014. I also began having a pain in the left implant. I said I did not want to be contacted but would assess everything when back in the US. Fortunately for me, however, the dentist began an email exchange that demonstrates that he is a crook because the emails show I never had a July x-ray that he later claimed I had.

 When I returned to the US, I went to my oral surgeon, and he found the left implant was infected, there was bone loss and a 9 mm deep pocket. Around the implant. He referred me to a Periodontist who confirmed the infection, and referred me to a Prosthodontist. I went to OSU and the dentist there made the same options and recommendations about fixing the problems as the oral surgeon and periodontist. I then saw another oral surgeon who referred me to another Prosthodontist closer to home, and I began treatment with him to repair the damage done in Mexico. Much of the work the Mexican dentist had done had to be abandoned or changed to restore me to dental health.

          The false claim the dentist took  a panoramic x-ray in July.

In September, 2014 after consulting American dentists about the pain in the left implant, I disputed the payment I had made to the Mexican dentist, but on November 12, 2014, I received a letter from my bank telling me the claim had been rejected. They had accepted the dentist’s completely false assertion that he had taken an x-ray in July and everything was fine, that I had been so satisfied with the success of the bar and denture that I had contacted the office and told them I did not need to keep the July 28 appointment.

                Berron’s Reply to my Bank on November 12:

“4 months after returning the patient had a new panoramic taken where the success of the implants as well as the bone grafts could be assessed,the patient was not comfortable because of the occlusion…so the final prosthesis was changed for a haeder bar for an over denture he even asked us for a few extra attachments  in case he required changing them in the future.”

What actually happened is displayed in the email exchanges that show that I never had a panoramic x-ray in July, and the x-ray he presented to the bank in his reply was the only one I had, and that was on March 18, 2014 after I had completed the surgery to put in the implants. He and the Office manager relabeled that x-ray to make it appear he had taken a-X-ray to show his work had been a success.

Monday, July 28, 2014 email from Berron at 7:34 PM
“I am concerned about you,Alejandra forwarded me this e mail and I know you said not to contact you but I like to follow up on my patients and specially when we deliver a big restoration like yours,everything seemed t be fine that day, I just want to make sure you are o.k.”

 I replied to the dentist o Monday, July 28, 2014 at 10:32 PM that I was upset over the charges I paid on Friday, July 25 , saying I thought I was overcharged because I did not receive a Hybrid denture, but a much cheaper bar and over denture. And I added “ I have a tendency to be very explosive when I get upset and have to take care to remain calm. Hence, I did not want to keep the appointment . The dentures are o.k.; I have been somewhat concerned about about the left most implant, but not much can be done about it at this point anyway and will see what happens. I will, however, exam the charges next week and tell you what the problems are. I want to feel good about the dentures but cannot as long as I do not think the charges are just.”

In his reply to the bank in November, 2014 after I disputed the charges, he accused me of saying everything was o.k. and I was an old man who must be senile because I said everything was fine then and did not need to keep the appointment scheduled for July 28, 2014. Neither the email to Alex, this email or a later one indicated I was happy with his work. The actual denture or the bar was not then nor later the problem; it was, and continued to be, the implants that caused the loss of the bar and denture because of the infection and the position of the implants.

Notice something else about what he said in his reply.

I informed him about the left implant—the one with the infection previously— and the mention that he wanted me to have a panoramic x-ray, four days after the last appointment on the 25th of July. In his bank reply, he claimed I had an x-ray in July, showing everything was fine. But the following g emails show how this claim is a total fabrication.

 In his reply on Tuesday, July 29, 2014 10:21 AM, Berron wrote:

“I am sorry you are upset. I should have explained why we charged that, [an extra $1000] the bar as you can see has large distal extensions, the lab that did it charges for this work according to the amount of metal that is used in the prosthesis that in this case was the same amount that is used for a regular hybrid….”

“I wanted to have a panoramic x ray taken on our next appointment in order to assess that everything is fine before you leave, a we can check the implant that you are concerned about, I would really like do that so you and I can have an image to compare and do followups in the future even if you do them in the states,”.

Notice that he says he would like to have an image to compare, but had he really had taken an x-ray a few days before, he would hardly need another one. The indications are that he was becoming concerned that I was questioning his work. 


In the same email, he repeated his request that I come for an x-ray:

“Please let me know in you can come for that x-ray, it would be good for the peace of the mind.”

In another exchange of emails on July 29, at 2:20 PM , the dentist replied to me again where I reiterated that I was not coming for an x-ray because the bar and denture had already been put in and there was nothing to be done now to fix the problem, and that I would wait until I got back to the US to have an x-ray done but would not do so in Mexico “as long as I have questions about your costs and procedures.” His reply:

“If you decide to do the panoramic here, don’t worry, I will pay for it but I want to sleep at night and simply follow up x-ray is what is indicated, if your implants were failing they would have not been fixated, meaning when I removed the prosthesis they would have moved.”

Notice  again that he does not say: he took an x-ray showed everything was all right, but only that when he removed the prosthesis the implants would have moved if there was something wrong.

In the same email of July 29, he wrote:

I would like you to show any dentist I the U.S.what we did for you and see what they think. I am sure they would be very pleased with your result, specially if they could have seen how you arrived here. I am sorry but now I am the one who is upset because we try to do our best for our patients and this is the first time I have this kind of feedback and I simply don’t like it, specially since the treatment was a success.”

Like everything else Dr. Berron says, the reality was exactly the opposite, I  have not found a single dentist who agrees the procedures were a success.

 Return to the U.S. and Consultation with Dental Specialists.

When I returned to the US and went to an Oral Surgeon, Dr. David Morrison,  on August 28, 2014 a little over a month since Dr. Berron had completed fitting my bar and denture, the surgeon did a probe and found a deep pocket and bone loss, and then took an x-ray to determine that his was indeed the case.

His report is attached, and it is clear the infection had already made it unlikely I could maintain the implant.  He reports:

” The periodontal  probing is 9-10 mm around the implant with  significant inflammation….I would recommend considering removal of the distal left implant and possibly with distal right.”

Dr. Morrison referred me to a Periodontist, Dr Shapiro, to see if the infection could be treated, but he determined it could not be and would have t be replaced.

Here are his exact words about all the implants by Dr. Shapiro:

“Approximately a 9 mm probing depth noted on the left distal implant….(

“Prognosis: Left distal implant-Unfavorable”
“Right distal implant and two middle implants-Questionable”

“Due to the position of the implant and the depth of the pocket on the left distal implant, periodontal surgical treatment is not likely to provide significant benefit. The other option is to remove the attachment to the implant and cover it with tissue in the hopes that the symptoms will resolve. Alternatively, the implant can be removed. The right distal implant at this time is not showing the same signs and symptoms. Its position does make it more vulnerable to the same problems as the implant on the left side. The patient may choose to maintain the distal right implant at this time or have it treated in the same way as the left distal implant…. If appropriate, the two distal implants can be either removed or covered with gingival tissue to leave the two anterior implants which have better prognosis in function using locator abutments….”

I then consulted two more Prosthodontists and another oral surgeon, all who agreed that the left implant was infected, and the extreme right one was likely to create a problem because it was so close—about 1to 2 mm—from the next one and would not give me ample room to clean the implants easily.

I next went to a Prosthodontist at the Ohio State University Dental College whose recommendations  were the same, as was another oral surgeon I consulted, and the Prosthodontist who has now put in two locator abutments and covered the flawed implants.

 The bar and over denture Berron put in are and have been removed. Overall, Berron put in a flawed temporary denture, a bar that had to be removed and a denture that fit over the bar. Cost, 5700 dollars plus a few thousand more for plane tickets and hotels.

 The Mexican dentist, Berron, refused to tell me the brand name; it is evidently an off brand since my Prosthodontist checked the standard brands he thought they might be.

What I hope to do in publishing my experience is to warn people about Joaquin Berron specifically, and about choosing to go to Mexico for dental treatment: the web sites call these trips “Dental or Medical Vacations” but they can end up like mine being a vacation in hell.

The Mexican dentist also claimed, in his reply to my dispute, that I left Cancun by contacting his office that I was content with the work and did not need to keep the appointment of July 28, 2014.This is a part of a four page email on July 29 complaining about his work.

Part of an email I sent to Joaquin Berron on July 29, 2014 when he tried to get me to come back for an x-ray, and his claim about the success of the procedures. Hardly an endorsement of his work.

Dr. Berron:
“If you considered the attempt to install a fixed denture a success , you have an extremely low standard of what constitutes success in my opinion. You were aware that the result of the operation for the fixed denture was going to have short and long term problems for me. I was missing teeth on both sides of the denture and had to eat totally with my front teeth or try to chew with my gums along with my denture. I was unable to eat anything with comfort; even soft food such as scrambled eggs were difficult to eat. Harder foods were almost impossible to eat without extreme difficulty. In addition, I had a huge lump on the left side where your welding iron  fused with the abutment, soreness from having to chew food with my gums, pain for several weeks, and constant cuts to my left cheek from the sharp part of the left denture. I bit my cheek often as well. You told me right away that you could change to a removable denture, and it did not take me more that a day to know that it would be impossible for me to go through the rest of my life with a fixed denture that indicated, to me, a total failure of  the attempt on your part.
 I would defy you to have any dentist attest to the success you claim. It was not there. You knew that yourself when you said you could not complete the connecting  band because of  fusion with the abutment on the last implant, and I would have a shortened left denture. You also told me after the operation that you could still change to the removable denture option. If you had been successful, why wouldn’t I have left your office feeling that I had made the right choice?”

What I have been left with was the need to get an American dentist to repair the damage Berron did, and at additional expense. Ninety percent of what he did had to me replaced or modified, and much of it has become useless. The temporary Hybrid denture, the bar and the over denture he put in cannot be used, and two of the implants had to be covered up in order to modify a denture that would fit the other two implants that are not infected or too close to each other. A new denture had to be made to fit over the two usable implants at more costs to me.

Whether the incompetent practice of Mexican of Berron is typical of Mexican dentists in general is difficult to say, but there are characteristics of his behavior that call into question the entire practice of going to Mexico for treatment. It is certainly true that American dentists charge far too much for implants and dentures, but when you go to Mexico, here is what you give up:

Accountability. There is no way to hold Mexican dentists accountability; Mexico is a lawless country that means all businesses are not to be trusted. I disputed Berron’s charges with my credit card company, but they just accepted Berron’s totally dishonest response. Credit card companies favor the merchant or else they would not have companies signing up with them.

2. Berron, along with everything else, did a bait and switch where he sent me low estimates, and a high one and then talked me into the more expensive one on the grounds it was the best solution for treating me. But because he was incompetent, I ended up with a denture that is about three times the cost of the same denture and procedures it would have been in the U.S.

3. When you go to Mexico, you have already invested a considerable amount of money in travel and hotels if you are not on the border, and once you are there it is difficult to change your mind because of the expense already incurred.

4. If you ask a dentist in the U.S. to do work for you and do not live in the same city, they are unlikely to be willing to provide anything but emergency service. Mexican dentists, while hundreds or thousands of miles away, will only ask for a few days to do a comprehensive job, and if you need a follow up, you are out of luck.

5. The reason most people go to Mexico is because the price is lower, and that is the lure the dental tourism companies use to attract customers, but even this is misleading, beside from the fact that some times it is cheaper to use an American dentist once you consider plane fare and hotels.

6. Facilities and technology. Berron did not have an x-ray machine in his office, and I had to go to an imaging center for the one x-ray he did have taken. American dentists have x-ray machines in their offices, and ones without them are not going to be in business long. Berron’s office is not very large, and his treatment rooms are very close to the general seating area, making it more likely that one will get an infection from proximity to others in the office or treatment area.

I rejected the advice of many people against going to Mexico for treatment, and I hope that by publishing this report, I can alert others to take a second or third look before making a decision that could result in additional costs and months or years of pain.

I have tried to resolve the issues with the dentist, but thus far have only received distortions about what he did and did not do. I offered several times solutions but he has refused everything I suggested, and he even refused to tell me the brand name of the implants that my American Prosthodontist needed to put in a new locator system.