This was the dentist recommended by my insurance company. I was unimpressed by my two visits to Selden Dental Group and will not be returning.
My first experiences were pretty good. The website is easy to navigate, and you can send forms by email. I was even able to email them my panoramic xrays from a few years earlier.
On the day of my appt (for both an initial exam and cleaning), 5 minutes before I was asked to be there, the office called and asked if I could come on a later date because they were running behind. I had taken the morning off work, and with such little notice I could not accommodate that request, but I told her I could wait. She said that was ok. However, when I got to the office, I was told that the woman on the phone (who had apparently left in the intervening 5 minutes) had actually rescheduled me for the following day anyway, so we had to reenter my info and I had to wait an hour.
I don't see the need for plush, luxurious doctors' offices, and tend to equate posh waiting rooms with inflated health care costs. So the extremely spartan waiting room (uncomfortable stackable Costco chairs, faded inspirational poster) was not a warning flag. The place has a real "free clinic" or "Eastern bloc" vibe to it, so if you need posh, go elsewhere. There were no magazines, so bring a book.
When I was called into the exam room, I was told I'd only be receiving an initial exam, and that the cleaning would be another day. This pissed me off a bit, because it doubled my inconvenience and doubled my co-pay, and because only an hour before they told me we'd still be able to get everything done in one shot.
The exam rooms are also spartan, again not automatically a problem. One of the overhead fluorescent lights flickered the whole time, and the others were fairly dim. I can take spartan, but would prefer that the cost-saving measures err on the side of adequate lighting. Once my eyes adjusted, the first thing I noticed was that the equipment is not in good shape. The stand with the big lighted lens had rust spots, and the cover over its pneumatic height adjustment was taped together with packing tape. The tape edge was peeling and the exposed sticky side covered with dust. I looked into the spit basin and it was pretty gross - orangey-brown film all over the basin.
After five minutes, the dental hygienist (very nice) came in to administer my bite-wing digital X-rays. They popped right up and it was cool to see them so fast. She was about to set up the panorama when Dr. Camesas came in and said no go. I hadn't had panos in four years, and my insurance would have covered it, but he thought it was unnecessary - I remember him saying "excessive testing is not good dentistry". I agree with him in principle, but I'd had a filling since then, as well as a bruxism diagnosis and treatment, so I was a little surprised.
The initial exam was easily the shortest I've had. The doctor spent maybe three minutes total in the room looking at the X-rays and my teeth. There was no head/neck/mouth exam, and no questions about my history or habits. He touched a probe to one tooth for about .0001 second and pronounced me cavity-free.
Fast forward two weeks. This time I got a call the day before, saying they double booked my slot and could I come in two hours earlier? I was able to, and even got a reminder call that evening with the new time. But when I arrived the next day, somehow the time had been changed again - two hours after my original appointment (4 hours after the new time). After I played them the message, magically I was able to be seen right away.
Same room, same gross film in the spit basin. The hygienist was pleasant, but my teeth cleaning was not thorough. Normally they floss you, rinse, scrape with the tools, rinse, use the polish, thorough rinse, and your teeth feel smooth and clean all day. My hygienist skipped the flossing and went right to the polish. THEN the doctor came in and did a bit of scraping, again very short considering I hadn't had a cleaning in 18 months. Afterwards my teeth still felt gritty and unclean; I could even SEE the grit between my teeth! It took a bit of brushing and flossing to get all of the polish out. I've never been to a dentist before where my teeth felt dirtier after the cleaning than before.
If this place is turning a profit, it's because they benefit from insurance recommends, double billings (like my one visit that turned into 2), and 'cost-saving' measures that compromise cleanliness and thoroughness. 2 stars for email convenience and nice hygienists, but stay away. read more
