Kristy Crouch v. Aspen Dental Management, Inc. d/b/a Aspen Dental, Jonathan Vo, D.M.D., and Jonathan Vo, D.M.D., PLLC
What's This Case About?
Let’s get one thing straight: this isn’t about a cavity or a chipped tooth. This is about a woman who walked into a dentist’s office with four dental implants and walked out with permanent nerve damage, a dislocated jaw, and a mouth that no longer works like a mouth should. And the worst part? She says an unlicensed assistant was jamming dentures into her face like a DIY project gone horribly wrong — all under the supervision of a dentist who allegedly responded by forcefully yanking the thing out again and again, like he was playing a sadistic game of Operation. Welcome to Crazy Civil Court, where your warranty doesn’t cover nerve trauma, but apparently, a $500,000 lawsuit might.
Meet Kristy Crouch, a regular Tulsa County resident who, like many of us in our 50s and 60s, had invested in dental implants to avoid the denture dance of slipping, clicking, and constant adhesive refills. In 2021 or 2022, she got four implants in her lower jaw — a major procedure, not cheap, and thankfully under warranty. She went to Aspen Dental, a national chain that promises “smiles made easy,” which, let’s be honest, sounds more like a gym slogan than a dental philosophy. The man behind the chair? Dr. Jonathan Vo, D.M.D., operating under his own PLLC and backed by Aspen Dental Management, Inc., the corporate dental machine that’s popped up in strip malls from coast to coast like a fast-food franchise for molars.
Things started going sideways — literally — in October 2023, when Dr. Vo told Kristy one of her implants might be failing. A few months later, in April 2024, he confirmed all four were still intact. But the dentures on top of those implants? They kept breaking. Like, five times. That’s not bad luck — that’s either shoddy craftsmanship or a systemic failure in fit. Either way, Kristy was back in the chair, over and over, trying to get a set of fake teeth that wouldn’t snap in half when she bit into a granola bar.
Then came the day. April 3, 2024. Dr. Vo’s assistant — not a dentist, not even a licensed dental professional, according to the filing — tried to fit a new denture. But it was the wrong size. And instead of saying, “Hmm, this doesn’t fit, let’s try again,” they kept shoving it in. Eventually, it got lodged. Stuck. Trapped in Kristy’s mouth like a dental booby trap. And here’s where it gets wild: the assistant was allegedly not licensed to perform this kind of procedure, which violates Oklahoma law (59 O.S. §328.19). That’s not just a paperwork issue — that’s negligence per se, meaning the law itself says what they did was wrong, no debate needed.
But the horror show wasn’t over. Dr. Vo himself then stepped in — and instead of carefully removing the denture, he allegedly forcibly yanked it out, multiple times, causing Kristy “considerable pain.” And get this: on two of those occasions, he gave her numbing injections without her informed consent. No forms signed. No “Hey, I’m about to inject your face, cool?” Just boom — needle time. After repeated trauma, her jaw dislocated. And the numbness? It didn’t go away. Not after the anesthesia wore off. Not after a few days. Not ever.
Four days later, her mouth was so swollen, even Dr. Vo couldn’t remove the denture. It took three weeks and multiple anesthetic sessions before he finally got it out. And by then, the damage was done. Two weeks after the incident, one of her implants — the very thing she paid thousands for — fell out of her jawbone. Just… popped out. Like a loose screw in a wobbly chair.
She saw an oral surgeon, Dr. Christopher Ray, who confirmed the nightmare: left lingual nerve injury — meaning permanent numbness on the left side of her tongue. No surgical fix. No recovery expected. He also noted generalized bone loss, worst on the left side, and recommended immediate action to save the remaining implants. But Aspen Dental? They refused. Ignored the recommendations. Left her hanging. Even sent her to their own oral surgeons, who confirmed the damage — and still, nothing. No corrective care. No warranty repair. Just silence.
Then came the neurologist, Dr. Farooq. His verdict? “No neurological intervention possible.” The nerve damage is permanent. Kristy will never feel the left side of her tongue again. She bites it constantly. She drools. Her sense of taste is altered. Her jaw pops and aches — TMD, or temporomandibular joint disorder — likely from the unstable bite and repeated trauma. And the implants? One is broken, half stuck in her jaw. One’s gone. One’s dislodged. The last one’s hanging on by a thread. Replacing them all? Around $35,000. And that’s if she has enough bone left to even support new ones — which, thanks to the bone loss, might not be possible without grafts.
So why is she suing? Because this wasn’t just bad luck. It was a cascade of failures. First, letting an unlicensed assistant perform procedures they’re not legally allowed to do. Then, forcing a denture in and out like it’s a stuck drawer. Then, injecting someone without consent. Then ignoring expert medical advice to prevent further damage. The legal claims? Negligence, obviously. But also negligence per se — because violating a state licensing law is an automatic legal wrong. And breach of warranty — because those implants were under warranty, and Aspen Dental isn’t honoring it, even though the damage was caused by their own team’s actions.
And what’s she asking for? $500,000. Is that a lot? For a few cracked dentures? Maybe. But we’re not talking about dentures anymore. We’re talking about permanent nerve damage, chronic pain, disability, loss of function, and emotional distress. We’re talking about a woman who can’t eat, speak, or even control her own mouth the way she used to. We’re talking about future medical costs, lost quality of life, and a corporate dental chain that treated her like a warranty claim, not a human being. In that context? $500,000 isn’t greedy — it’s reasonable.
Now, here’s our take: the most absurd part isn’t even the nerve damage. It’s that a national dental chain — one with the word “professional” in its branding — allegedly let an unlicensed person jam a denture into a patient’s mouth until it got stuck, then responded by ripping it out like a caveman with pliers. This isn’t dentistry. This is dental demolition. And the fact that they still refused to fix it, even after multiple specialists said the damage was preventable? That’s not just negligence. That’s corporate callousness at its finest.
We’re not saying every dentist is a menace. But when you turn oral healthcare into a high-volume, low-overhead franchise model, you start cutting corners. And sometimes, those corners are nerves. We’re rooting for Kristy Crouch — not because she wants half a million bucks, but because she wants accountability. She wants to know that when you trust a dentist with your face, they won’t treat it like a prototype in a lab. She wants to be able to taste her coffee again. And honestly? So do we.
Because if this can happen to her at Aspen Dental… whose mouth is next?
Case Overview
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Kristy Crouch
individual
Rep: James R. Hicks, DBA #11345 (BARROW & GRIMM, P.C.)
| # | Cause of Action | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | negligence: negligence per se and breach of warranty of the implants | Plaintiff seeks judgment against Defendants for negligence and breach of warranty, alleging that Defendants' actions caused her permanent and irreversible injuries. |