Late last year I had a terrible cavity in one of my wisdom teeth. The dentist looked at the x-ray…read moreand immediately declared it unsalvageable and beyond his skill to extract. I needed a dental surgeon and a talented one at that. My dentist did what he could to alleviate the pain, drilling out the cavity, but I knew this would end up being an ordeal. Apparently, once you get over 40, wisdom teeth tend to affix themselves to your jawbone and the nerves become a complex bird nest. Simply pulling them out is impossible and they require surgery.
After searching online, I landed on Pashapour Oral and Facial surgery. However, I was a bit concerned as the reviews vary wildly. I selected them over the alternatives, and I was incredibly pleased with the results.
Dr. Pashapour is a surgeon with skills. I can happily state that he got all four of my wisdom teeth out in a single sitting. I have zero nerve damage, and I healed incredibly quickly. After seeing my x-ray and the cat scan, both performed in his office the day of the surgery, he told me the only way we could successfully get these out was under general anesthesia. It made me nervous to do so, especially considering this was not to be done in a hospital, but in his office. Still, I took his advice, and it was the way to go. I have zero memory of the 2-hours I was under, and it seemed to be an instant from my perspective. Dr. Pashapour had to pull some of my blood while I was under to aid in the filling of the gaps that would be left behind, which he explained to me beforehand. He even performed another cat scan afterwards to ensure zero nerve damage took place during the surgery. Despite all my anxiety, between Dr. Pashapour and his nursing staff, they put me at ease and got me through it. I am now two months post-surgery and it's as if I never had a problem. I made the correct decision, and I would highly recommend this service to anyone, whether they are wishing to front-run a problem like mine, or if they are already in complete agony with an irreparable tooth keeping them awake, night after night, and popping Advil just to get a modicum of relief.
I do see some small things they could have done to improve the experience. The front office was able to get me in quickly, which was amazing. This did wonders to reduce my anxiety and limit the duration of my pain. What they could have done better is set my expectations more accurately once I was in the waiting room. My appointment was for 9am but I waited well over an hour because Dr. Pashapour was busy at the hospital due to an emergency, tending to someone with far bigger problems than I had. The front desk should have told me he would be delayed, he's performing an emergency surgery at a hospital, and it's possible I could be in for well over an hour's wait. I understand emergencies, setting that expectation would have led to a better experience. Timing at Pashapour isn't amazing, but the work he does is worth the wait. The second issue I had was with billing. I have superior insurance, and they were opting to not use all my resources. The bill was $3000 and my insurance could cover up to $1500. They intended to leave some money on the table and charge me a bit more out of pocket. Honestly, I don't remember much of this, my fiancée was there to ask questions, and I was nervously waiting for surgery while in pain and not focused on the exact dollar amount. Let me be clear, the price, in my opinion, for a 2-hour surgery, with all the bells and whistles, including 2 cat scans, an x-ray, bloodwork, anesthesia, the expert hands of Dr. Pashapour and the kind assistance of the nursing staff was an incredible deal. Frankly, I would have paid more, I'm so happy with the result. Just use all my insurance. They explained I might need to money later, as it was only August and this was the entirety of my insurance money for the year. I don't care. I'll deal with later when it's later. Also, concerning the price, be clear, I had a complex case. I have no idea what he'd charge a 17-year-old whose wisdom teeth he could simple pop out in 10-minutes after a few shots of Novocaine and not put them under.
They also wanted to sell me some pain management injection for a couple hundred bucks. My fiancée vetoed this for me because we were going to leave with a script for some serious pain meds, so I didn't get it. The work of Dr. Pashapour was so good, honestly, I didn't need it. Frankly, I took zero of the heavy-duty pain meds as well. A couple 800mg Ibuprofens which he also prescribed were more than enough. I attribute this to the excellent work despite my complex case.
So, go to Dr. Pashapour. Don't be dismayed by wait times. Tell them to use all your insurance money possible. I was literally back at my desk the next day working. Two weeks later, the only way I could tell anything had been done to my teeth was the fact that I had 4 fewer of them. I made the right choice and I'm writing this review so you can do the same.