Terrible experience. I have a dentist I like a lot but he isn't on our ins/dental care can be expensive, esp bc I grind my teeth in my sleep, breaking fillings that have to be repaired, can't use a mouth guard (gag). Scheduled new pt appt w CTDC bc as much as I love my current dentist who is patient & kind, I have to pay out of pocket & it gets costly bc he isn't on our ins. So I scheduled with CTDC thinking it was time for me to be courageous & help our finances by finding a dentist on our ins. Had a minor issue, popcorn husk stuck in tooth making an ulcer, I thought, this will be a less scary issue/opportunity for me to get established w a new dentist who is ON our insurance, get comfortable w them before I end up w another broken filling & need something more invasive which makes a new pt appt scarier. Explained when scheduling about gag reflex/anxiety, that numbing helps, she said that was fine, she was making note. I didn't request a certain dentist, randomly assigned Dr Cooper. I was excited that my finances were going to be freed up for things I love like my fur babies bc my insurance would be paying at this clinic even though I love my other dentist, but I always need to feel new places out due to anxiety. I was taken back to a rm by Cooper's hygienist. She spent 3-4 min w me, I said I had gag reflex & dental anxiety & X-rays come out blurry. She left, came back, said Cooper wasn't going to see me bc he can't work w/o X-rays, that I need to call Dr Cutbirth (isn't on our ins) w an entirely different practice across town bc Dr Cutbirth specializes in dental anxiety. I told her I was willing to try X-rays, she said "No bc I don't want to make your dental anxiety worse." I insisted we try, she came over to me reluctantly & SHOVED film ROUGHLY into my mouth, INTENTIONALLY triggering me to gag. I looked at her desperately, said, "my mouth doesn't open wide enough this way," pointing to indicate vertically. She ROLLED her eyes. I insisted we try again, we did but I gagged. The roof of my mouth isn't high enough to accommodate film. I told her, "I don't understand what part of the film I'm supposed to be biting down on & which side of my teeth does what part of the film go on." She rolled her eyes, said, "just bite down on it." We tried a 3rd X, still gagging. Throughout the process I was engaging in deep breathing in through my nose/out through my mouth, not at her coaching which she did not offer, but as I've been taught elsewhere, but it wasn't helping & I was refused numbing. She said after the 3rd X, "you need to leave, there's nothing we can do here." I spoke with office manager as I was leaving, I would say the office manager had her "nice" personality turned on but in retrospect, she asked me weird questions like "what did the rest of us do to you?" as if she was preparing a defense & she said, as if she was doing me a HUGE favor, "I'll see what I can do, but I'll have to talk to all the other dentists," as if I had some something bad & she was going to plead for me bc she was such a good person. I was in pain- a popcorn husk can cause a lot of pain even though it's minor - I was really frustrated bc I had tried floss & water pick, literally everything at home, I laid awake in pain that night & just thought about how disrespectfully I had been treated bc I have rosacea, heterochromia, frizzy hair, & I'm just not an attractive person who people want to interact with at first sight, plus although I'm 5'3 120 lbs, I am often mistaken for a man even though I'm a biological female since birth. So I think maybe I was judged aesthetically, & maybe there were assumptions made about my biological gender, gender identity, & consequential discrimination. After several calls to the clinic in which I wasn't given a reason as to why I was refused care, Dr Cooper came to the phone. He was extremely gruff. He said "Hi there Brandy." I had to ask who I was speaking w TWICE before he said Dr Cooper. He said he doesn't deal w gag reflex or anxiety. I said his website/FB says he deals w anxiety/gag reflex, he said he would have that taken down but it's still up. He GROWLED at me "I understand from my assistant that you expected me to work w/o X-rays," and I said I was willing to do X-rays but they come out blurry. He asked why I can't go back to my other dentist. I said I can but he's not on my ins, Dr Cooper was EXTREMELY dismissive of the ins/budget issue, said if my other dentist is willing to work w anxiety/gag, "I'm not going to do that for you, he is offering you a premium service & he is worth whatever he is charging you." I said I agree but my budget doesn't always. It was stated as if he would work w anyone else on those issues but not me, it was personal, ended the call that he had pt's to see & didn't have time for me. CTDC is a horrible place staffed by hateful people. Worst dental experience ever. To be clear: I NEVER EVEN MET DR COOPER in person. H literally refused to come to my room. read more
