My mom paid $3,000 cash at the dentist, but the receipt only shows $1,500. We don’t know what to do.

Location: California

My parents saved up a little over $3,000 in cash so my mom could get an implant procedure. Before the appointment, she counted the cash, and my mom brought the full amount to the dental office. She was told she could either: pay $3,000 upfront OR pay in installments ($1,500 now and $1,600 later), totaling $3,100. The $3,000 was meant to cover the entire implant procedure, which was to be completed over two appointments.

Since she had the full amount saved, she handed over the $3,000 at the front desk before the procedure began. The receptionist counted the cash in three stacks. My mom then immediately went in for the procedure. No receipt was given at the time, which she found a bit unusual, but didn’t question, since she’s been a patient there for 10+ years and has never had issues.

After the procedure, she was handed a handwritten receipt and a printed statement showing her previous payments and current balance. She didn’t check it at the time, since she was disoriented, and again, no issues with payment ever (she regrets this not doing this and learned her lesson btw).

Weeks later, she finally looked over everything while cleaning up her paper and bills and realized that the receipt only shows $1,500 paid and the statement says she still owes $1,600

This doesn’t make sense though. She handed over $3,000 in cash that day, not $1,500. She counted this stack at the house and upon arriving at the office.

We contacted the dentist (who owns the practice) to ask if there might’ve been a mistake. Instead of investigating, he was extremely defensive:

• Said it’s impossible for them to make a mistake
• Mentioned he made $1,700 cash that day and spent it all on dinner and wine with his family
• Told a story about once returning $800 he found at the bank
• Said his staff are all single moms with decent salary, very honest, and one even tried to return a $20 overpayment
• Insisted we were “accusing them of theft,” even though we only asked about the discrepancy

We also asked if there were security cameras that could be reviewed. He said there are no cameras. The entire procedure was paid out of pocket in cash, no insurance and no digital record on our end.

We can’t prove the $3,000 was paid unfortunately. But the remaining $1,500 isn’t here at our home. It’s just “disappeared” on our end. They claim only $1,500 was received.

But from our side, we know exactly what my mom handed over. My parents are older and saved this money carefully. I can’t help but feel they’ve been taken advantage of. I don’t know what to do next. Has anyone else been in a situation like this? What are our options?

Edit to clarify: The $3,000 was meant to cover the entire implant procedure, which was to be completed over two appointments. The understanding, based on what was told to my mom, was that if she paid in full ($3,000), it would cover both visits. But now, because the receipt only reflects $1,500, the office is claiming she still owes $1,600. So when she goes in for her next follow-up appointment, they’ll treat it like she hasn’t fully paid, even though she already handed over the full $3,000 to cover both sessions.