I received absolutely appalling care and treatment by Dr. Fan.
I had broken a tooth while grinding my teeth in my sleep. I was uninsured and making minimum wage at the time, so the experience of an active dental emergency felt even more stressful than usual when I knew that I could not afford treatment. The HR staff at my job recommended me to Dr. Fan and assured that he would be able to help me; she uses his services herself and she sends everyone she knows to him.
When I made it to Dr. Fan's chair, I felt shocked by his unsympathetic and condescending bedside manner. He told me that I had a sizable cavity and that he could either fill the tooth for $75 since he believed it would have enough structural integrity to support a filling, or he could extract it for $65. I told him that I would prefer to fill the tooth if possible and his tone completely shifted.
He insisted that I should just have the tooth extracted because it would be cheaper and that filling it isn't actually a viable option. He changed his mind about the structure of my tooth and pushed me to get it extracted so I could get implants later. I told him that I couldn't afford that option, but he pressed that they had financing options for implant packages and that extraction was my best bet. I needed to think about it and he snapped that I had better hurry up because when he came back after seeing his other patients, I had better be mentally prepared to either have my tooth extracted or get out of his chair and stop wasting his time.
He spoke so cruelly to me that I broke down and cried in the chair. While he was away, a technician came in to talk to me more about the implant package. She pushed it really hard, kept telling me that extraction isn't so bad, and that she and her coworkers in the office had plenty of extractions and implants installed by Dr. Fan, but nobody on the teamed looked to be over 30 and it made me question whether the extractions Dr. Fan prescribes are truly necessary or rather just a means to sell implant packages.
When he returned, he said "It's a miracle! I can fill your tooth after all," and kept warning me that the filling would only hold up for two years, so it's not the best option, but he'd do it for me anyway and that he'll be ready for me again once I have to eventually come back to get it extracted. After he was finished, he said that I should keep in mind that he just did something "really nice," for me and pressured me to leave a 5-star Yelp review to repay his kindness.
When I got home, I noticed that the filling was uneven, had gaps that tore up dental floss, and I had a food pocket between my teeth. My understanding is that none of this is normal for a filling. By the time I was insured through Medi-Cal and able to get a second opinion, decay had already set in through the gaps in the original filling and I needed a root canal and crown... but extraction was never medically necessary for that tooth.
Overall, my experience with Dr. Fan has left me feeling as though he creates artificial dental problems so he can sell implant packages and bullies good reviews out of his patients. I don't have definitive proof, but I couldn't help but feel like he did a subpar job filling my tooth on purpose so he could make more money off me later. Needless to say, I will never set foot in his office again and I strongly encourage others to look elsewhere for dental care. read more