Jack Irwin DDS

This complaint has been ages in coming. The original incident was many years ago, but the problems Jack Irwin caused plagued me to this day. In fact, the tooth he worked on back then was recently removed, with unpleasant complications. Over the month it took me to recover, I decided enough was enough. I have to speak up. If I can help to make sure that others don't suffer the way I did, it's worth it. I went to Irwin for a root canal (right side bottom molar). I'd never had a root canal before. The complications began when he had to put gutta-percha into the canals of the tooth. The first ones he got in with no problem. The last one he had problems with. He kept trying and became angrier and angrier as he kept failing. He went at that last canal with the gutta-percha for a good twenty minutes and got so enraged that he was cursing in my face. It was unbelievable. He was dripping sweat and so red-faced I thought he might have a stroke, and all the while spewing profanities. Eventually, Irwin announced he'd "gotten it" and concluded the treatment. I noticed later that the crown he'd put on did not match. It was the wrong color and substantially larger than the rest of my molars - a good 20% on a guess. Still, I didn't know any better and thought it would be okay. Over the next few years, however, I ran into problems. The first was chronic halitosis. I'd never had a problem like that but no matter how much I brushed, flossed, and used mouthwash, I could not get rid of it. At this time, I was in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and was being treated by a dentist there. I asked my new dentist about the breath issue, but she couldn't find a cause. Eventually, I started getting bad jaw pain. It got worse until even ibuprofen couldn't offset it. The final straw came when I was in my office sucking on ice chips. I accidentally crunched on one and the resultant pain was so bad I nearly blacked out. I walked out and called my dentist, telling her that it was an emergency, that I was coming straight there, and that I needed to be seen immediately. Thankfully, she accommodated me. An X-ray was taken, and it was discovered that there was a one-inch abscess in my jawbone under the molar Irwin put a crown on. My dentist removed the old crown (pointing out it was too big) and found a disaster. She informed me my previous dentist had neglected to seal one of the canals. There was no gutta percha in it. As a result, food particles and saliva got under the crown, went into the canal, and festered. The bacteria had eaten away at my jaw. She explained that it was a good thing we'd found it because if it had ruptured it would've killed me. I was livid. I took a breath, then called Irwin up and calmly asked for my medical records. I could tell from his tone that he knew right away that something was up. He made it a point to say, "Yeah, that was a long time ago, right? I haven't seen you in what, at least three years, right?" This was, in my opinion, his way of trying to inform me that he was no longer liable for a malpractice suit. My lawyer told me that, yes, it was outside the time frame to sue, but because of the date of discovery, we still could. However, he didn't seem to think that it was worth pursuing because the damage I suffered was minimal. Apparently, if the abscess had ruptured, it would've been "different". Since then, I went through crown after crown until finally it had to be removed. It was quite messy. Jack Irwin's "performance" was horrific. He failed to seal the last canal in my tooth, then lied and said he’d done it. He fitted me with an oversized crown. He knew full well what he’d done and, I am sure, was aware of the complications that would result. He basically risked my LIFE because he was too incompetent to do his job. I have seen reviews of him with horror stories people have suffered at his hands. This was worse. People need to know. And Irwin: you can reply to this and say you have "no records of this patient" (per NY state, after more than 7 years you can delete records) But you and I both know what you did.
Jul 2nd, 2019

Dec 12th, 2018

His work had to be repaired by another dentist
Sep 11th, 2018

Great dentist. Small and personal.
May 9th, 2013