Previous to this appointment I’d seen an expert in the US that took full dental x-rays and evaluated the health of my mouth. With this knowledge I made an appointment with Alma Godinez to have two teeth removed. The appointment was made weeks in advance.

On the day of the appointment, the office called me less than two hours before I'm to be there to ask me if I can reschedule, my reply was that with such short notice it would not be possible and the woman on the phone asked me to come at the original scheduled time. I arrived at the office 15 minutes early and waited over 45 minutes for the appointment to begin.

Once it began I confirmed that two molars would be removed. Alma then proceeded to begin, without any paperwork reviewed or signed, nor the signing of any medical consent forms, nor confirmation of which two molars she was going to remove.

Alma then began giving anesthetic and shots to my top gums, this was done poorly and I expressed pain several times with noises and raising my hand for her to stop with no adjustment from the her. One injection point had no anesthesia and I raised my fist in the air making strong sounds of discomfort again with no adjustment from the doctor. For an attempt at comfort I put on headphones and closed my eyes. She only numbed the top back gums.

After some time the Alma seemed to finish the top extraction and began to cleaning up as if her work was complete. Noticing this I opened my eyes and asked her if she was going to extract the second tooth on the bottom or if she planned on doing that at a later date.

Alma then asked me why I didn’t point out the tooth earlier and grabbed the syringe to inject my gums. I had to stop the doctor and remind her to numb the area first with anesthetics. She then asked for numbing from her assistant and injected my gums. She then proceeded to extract the tooth and I had to stop her again letting her know it was not numb and that it was causing me strong pain before she’d even started. She then injected me a second time hitting a nerve that caused my tongue to tingle and still hurts to open my mouth. Again I expressed great pain with no adjustment from her. She never took X-rays of the lower teeth which previously she had told me was a necessity and mandatory practice before removing teeth which she had done before.

As she began cleaning up I let her know I wanted to keep the teeth. This is when she counted three teeth as she placed them in a bag for me to take home. As she was packing the teeth she said she was going to give me antibiotics to take home since I had such big holes from the procedure. In disbelief I asked why there were three teeth extracted instead of two. I said "you have to ask my permission before you take teeth out of my mouth" and that "I didn’t want this or ask for this or consent to this". I sat in the chair with my head in my hands saying "I can’t believe you did this".

At this point the Alma Godinez begins screaming at me at the top of her lungs saying "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

After Alma wouldn't stop yelling at me I got up and went to the front with my three teeth in hand and put them in the desk for girls to see and asked the girls at the front desk what I’m supposed to do about this while the doctor sat down the next patient and paid me no attention. While being ignored by Alma, I confirmed with the desk attendant that the appointment was for two teeth to be removed.

The girls at the front desk stood there in silence and one of them said we’ll only charge you for two teeth since that’s what your appointment was for. I keep asking them what I’m supposed to do now.

Alma then came from around the back wall and yells at me again at the top of her lungs saying "I AM PROFESSIONAL!!!!" and then goes back behind the wall leaving the girls at the front alone. I asked Alma why she extracted three teeth instead of two and telling her I never asked for this or consented to this.

I kept repeating my question of what am I supposed to do now and why three teeth were removed. One girl wouldn’t make eye contact with me when the second girl finally said we’re just here to help check people in we can’t help you and the doctor already spoke with you we can't help you.

At this point I paid for two teeth extractions and left without any other interaction from the Alma and without any prescriptions for antibiotics like she said she was going to give me. Alma would not come see me out or talk to me again or make sure I was okay or even ask if I’m okay. Alma just hid behind the wall and gave her focus to the next patient.

Alma never followed up with me and I was the one to initiate contact that we might want to discuss what happened. She remained defensive insisting she is a 'professional'. No one followed up with me. No one gave me a prescription for antibiotics.

Further attempts to address the issue was met with hostility from her as she claimed no error was made and that her protocol is to remove the extra tooth not because she wanted to but because she needed to remove it just as "... if you go to a general doctor and he sees that you have pain in the appendix but apart from the pain in the appendix you have a cancer tumor then the cancer tumor eye". Her protocol ignored the rights and consent and desires of the patient. In the end, Alma blamed me for what happened saying she only did what I asked her to do.

Basic research would confirm that prior to a procedure there must be a willing patient, and a signed consent form from the willing patient, which Alma never received, which opens more questions about what qualifies as abuse of authority from a doctor-patient relationship and just what is considered medical dishonesty and malpractice.

It is my hope that my horrific experience can serve as a benefit to others considering Alma Godinez as their dentist, and to any other patient that suffered as I have. It is hard for me to believe that I was the first person to be treated this way by Alma.