My family and I have been going to Dr. Atiga for 2 years now and sadly I've had to move onto another dentist. Dr. Atiga herself is very nice, and ditto for her hygienists Im just starting to really question some of the practices and policies. The front office however has gone down hill since they lost Liz.
It started last year when I called to get my 3 year old in for his first appt. After 2 weeks of trying and being promised a return phone call (which I never received) I called to let the office manager know. A call back was returned, within a few hours, and all was resolved. I strongly believe in letting businesses know where they may have lacked and allow them the chance to fix it.
Fine, done, moving on. When my 6 year old was seen, for her cleaning, it was stressed that she needed to have 2 cavities fixed immediately because Dr. Atiga was worried that it would get worse fast. We scheduled an appt and waited for the day to come. Because my daughter was anxious last time she had a cavity fixed Dr. Atiga recommended nitrous and so I paid the $200 deposit. Well yesterday I took my daughter in for the fillings. They put the nitrous on her and immediately started working but my daughter started crying (I was a little confused because I thought you had to give the nitrous at least a few mins before it kicked in but hey Im not a dentist so I left that alone without asking, my fault) Dr. Atiga went on to ask my daughter whats wrong, and then telling her if she doesn't communicate and stop crying then we will have to start all over again or reschedule. Geezzz we were only 2-3 min into Dr Atiga sitting down, not even numbing medication had been applied yet. Hearing this made my daughter even more upset. Dr. Atiga asked my daughter if she wanted her to take the "nose" (nitrous) off and my daughter said yes. Dr. Atiga does and as she turns the knobs off on the nitrous canisters she says "Oh I only had the oxygen on". (Huh I wonder why it wasn't making my daughter calm) Dr. Atiga said that she would only be able to do the sealants and not fix the cavities since my daughter wouldn't cooperate. I said "Well I was told that those cavities HAD to be fixed immediately" Dr Atiga responded "We can just monitor them and make sure she flosses. If I wanted them fixed right now she would have to have my daughter put under" I can't decide if my daughter NEEDS to have it done now, that's why we trust a dentist... At this point Im peeved but move forward with at least the sealants.
When I get to the front desk they said that I will be getting a credit back of $38 out of the $200 deposit. I asked what about the cost of the "nitrous" because it was only like 4-5 min of oxygen" The lady went to talk to the office manager and came back to tell me "Sorry its $150 regardless if its used or not, its the policy" I said "The last time this exact thing happened, when my daughter was 4, Dr. Atiga removed the charge and that time she only used the nitrous for 10-15 min" A confused look on the schedulers face and some "umms and ahhs" and I decided to leave, gather my thoughts, talk to a friend who is a pediatric dentist in Las Vegas, and call Dr. Atigas office with logic and not emotion. Thats exactly what I did and when I received a call back from the office manager saying again "that is their policy and its costs money to 'set up' the nitrous so no they will not give me ANY portion of the $150 deposit back. Also I should have asked questions before hand about the policy" Well setting up the nitrous didn't look like anything more than wheeling two tanks into the room (again Im not a dentist but no explanation of the setting up process was offered) and I didn't think I should ask questions since I knew how she handled the situation before. I asked if we could settle on $50-$75 for the time they spent setting up but the answer was no. Basically all blame was placed on me and of course the passive "Im sorry that you feel that way". Listen I get it, Dr. Atiga put a lot of time, money and effort into her practice and Im not trying to insult anyone but come on they would rather keep $150 and lose 4 patients they've had for 2 years without offering any solutions? Also why was I being told that these cavities HAD to be fixed right away when now they can just be monitored and she should floss more? It makes me start to question some of the other things we were told. I also wonder how many other people pay $150 for 5 min of oxygen...
This whole situation is sad as I have referred many people to Dr. Atigas office, even had her on the top of the list for my referrals in my business. Just like it's their policy to charge whatever they want for services, rendered or not, customers also have policies. read more