I am extremely upset and saddened by the way my mother was treated at Advanced Dental of Holmdel by Dr. Rachel E. Pickworth.
Last week, my mother went to the office to have a cavity filled. After the procedure, she noticed that floss was constantly getting stuck between her teeth near the filling. We called the office and scheduled a follow-up appointment so the dentist could correct the issue.
When my mother returned to the office today, she explained that she was there because the filling needed to be fixed. Since English is not her first language, I was helping translate over the phone. Instead of listening to her concerns, Dr. Pickworth became noticeably rude and was not gentle while examining her. I even had to ask her to please be careful and gentle with my mother, who is an elderly woman with medical conditions and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
What should have been a simple adjustment became unnecessarily complicated. The dentist wanted to take additional X-rays and perform procedures that my mother did not feel comfortable with. Rather than addressing the original issue, the situation became increasingly tense.
A front desk employee named Jennifer was brought in to translate. Unfortunately, she was not accurately communicating what my mother was saying and even told my mother that she was offending the dentist. How is a patient offending a dentist by asking for a recently completed filling to be fixed?
The situation became even more upsetting when my mother became frightened by a large dental instrument that was being placed in her mouth. She felt pain and discomfort and removed it because she was scared and wanted to take a picture of it. At that point, the dentist became visibly angry, and several additional staff members entered the room. My mother felt intimidated, overwhelmed, and unsafe.
No patient should ever feel ganged up on, especially an elderly person who is simply seeking help for a problem related to recent dental work. My mother felt that she was treated differently because of her accent and language barrier. Instead of receiving compassion and understanding, she was met with hostility.
There was also an issue with billing. During the original visit, my mother was told the procedure would cost $130. When it was time to pay, she was charged $158 instead. While the $28 difference is not financially significant to us, honesty and transparency matter.
I ultimately had to leave what I was doing and rush to pick up my mother because she was so distressed. The police were called, and I explained the situation because I was deeply concerned about how she was being treated.
What is most disappointing is that this entire situation started because my mother returned to have a simple issue corrected. A routine filling adjustment should never turn into such a stressful and humiliating experience.
I would strongly encourage anyone with elderly parents or family members who may have language barriers to think carefully before sending them to this office alone. Every patient deserves respect, patience, and professional care, regardless of age, language, or accent. read more
