I suppose some new patients are ok with the current situation at Berkeley Dental Center. I had been with the practice for 36 years, received excellent care from Dr. Tennant, then Dr. Gianni, and respectful interactions with the office staff. After Dr. Gianni left, a series of "new" dentists joined. Finally Dr. Tennant retired and apparently sold the practice to a Dr. Evangelista, who is never there.
The "new" dentists I had after Dr. Gianni left never seemed particularly engaged, but I assumed I was getting good care. After the practice was sold, everything got worse. Dr. Jennie installed a crown with temporary glue, but she couldn't get it off to cement it with permanent glue. Next two slimey guys from New York showed up. The one I got stated I needed to replace a crown. It fell off within a year. After that, everytime I went in it was a new dentist who took one look in my mouth and said everything was fine, unless they found some way to try to get more money out of me (eg $200 for Invisiline referral, which of resulted in being told, I wasn't a candidate). Slowly, one by one, the nice front desk staff was replaced.
During the period after Dr. Gianni left and the practice was sold, they referred me for gum surgery with a periodontist. I was assured this fix would last 10 - 20 years. That first round of gum surgeries was ok, but within 3 years, after the practice was sold, one of the new dentists said I needed more surgery, some in areas where I had surgery in the first round. I agreed to start with one surgery in the worst area. The coverage achieved was good, but soon after a sore bump appeared. Dr. Loul couldn't figure it out and sent me for CT scans, then a visit to another specialist who referred me to still another. After over $500, I hesitated to continue this fruitless endeavor and reflected on the timeline. I realized that the "sore" occurred within a month after the gum surgery and insisted on seeing the periodontist to determine if the issue might be related to the gum surgery. I had to wait 2 months, due to my schedule and hers (still another once a month periodontist). By the time I saw her, it had been 4 months of pain. She looked at it and decided to open it up. What do you know - she left a stitch in the gum!
I think I got Berkeley Dental to not charge me for that visit, but that experience, along with the office not accepting my new insurance, cemented my decision to leave, despite having 36 years of records at Berkeley Dental. I was still considering having the added sessions of recommended gum surgery under my existing plan, but decided to get a second opinion. The new periodontist, with a regular office of her own, made a very convincing case for why the surgeries Berkeley Dental had suggested should not be done.
In January, I went for a final cleaning in the new year before my current insurance ran out and while I could use my yearly employee benefit. The charges should have been nearly completely covered, and that was acknowledged by the office. In May(!) I received a bill stating I still owed $400 + a small amount. I called Gloria, the office manager, who stated that insurance had not paid. I explained that I had received an EOB that stated they had paid, although nothing from Berkeley Dental for 5 months. She said she would call them. In August she called me and said, that if I didn't pay the $400 within two weeks, they would be referring the bill for collection. I immediately called Delta Dental who confirmed payment had been sent to Berkeley Dental at the end of January. Called back to Gloria who said she would call Delta, and later she confirmed I was right. I said I would pay the small amount due when I received an updated bill, which took another month.
When I saw my new dentist, the impact of poor dental care for as much as ten years was apparent. At least I feel I am in good hands now. Besides thinking there was benefit in having 36 years of dental records available (they transferred only a small part of the records), Tennile's great cleaning, and Lupie's compassionate care were the only reasons I stayed for so long. Gloria, from the time she arrived and announced penalties if I canceled closer than a week to an appointment (I told her that in 30 years I had never not shown for an appointment, but things happen and that I had been with the practice forever and never been threatened with being billed for something I might not have control of), her crazy and rude management of billing, along with no continuity of dentists and questionable quality of dentists, drove me away.
Maybe you will have a good experience here, maybe the practice will stabilize (I gave them 5 years after the sale, and it only got worse), but be aware that this is not a sole proprietor office. It is run out of corporate along with a number of other offices acquired from retiring dentists. They do not care about your long-term dental health. read more
