Much to my shame I have never really used a dentist regularly, and honestly beyond cleanings, I never needed a dentist. I never had any cavities, braces, or anything of that nature. I would see a dentist once every 5 years (yah I know try not to be horrified by this fact). I brush and floss a lot on my own, use antibacterial mouth wash so I am not ignorant how to maintain good oral hygiene. However, there is still the issue of tartar, the development of gum disease etc.
I would like to say that I have zero fear of dentists, and I feel great sympathy for those that do, because I can imagine how terrifying that must be. I mention this because Dr. Elbert and his staff went to great lengths to ensure I felt comfortable, at ease and not preached too. They explained everything in great detail as to what they wanted to perform and why. Dr. Elbert's office has a digital xray system which makes for far superior X-rays, and reduces the need for re-shoots that I remember having to endure as a kid. No disgusting, painful, giant pieces of film to cram into the back of your mouth.
After a very complete examination Dr. Elbert said I had some mild gum disease, but not to the point that it couldn't be reversed with a very deep cleaning in the office and some additional work at home. I agreed and Dr. Elbert suggested that he numb my side of my mouth he wanted to work on. I agreed, and again he went into great detail about how he would perform this, what the drugs were, and what to expect. He was extremely gentle with his hands as he probed my mouth and injected the various compounds. Even before he did the injections he smeared a numbing agent on my gums to ensure that I would not feel anything, short of a slight pinch and some pressure. Let me say, that at my age (late 30s) that was a VERY bizarre experience, I have never, ever had that done to me.
Once everything was good and numb the procedure began, and about every 5 minutes Dr. Elbert and his wonderful assistant would pause and ask how I was doing, if I needed anymore of the numbing agents (I did request one more injection), if I needed more of the suction to keep the back of my mouth clear etc. Very, very attentive to me. Now, I did not ask for all of this attention, like I said I have no fear of dentists, but I think it speaks to how sensitive Dr. Elbert and his staff are, and how they want to ensure that you are as comfortable as possible. He even stated quite firmly to me that a patient's comfort is his primary concern.
That session took over an hour and he and his assistant really had to be aggressive ( Sorry you had to deal with all of that Dr. Elbert). I came back in eight days later and the other half of my mouth was numbed, the deep cleaning was performed and I was sent home with instructions to carry on with the more aggressive cleanings at home. Dr. Elbert requested I come back in two weeks to examine my mouth again and see what kind of progress had been made. Over the next few days as my mouth healed up from the deep cleaning I noticed a significant difference with my mouth, when I brushed my teeth my mouth didn't feel irritated, and just overall the feel of my mouth was so much better. At my recheck Dr. Elbert was extremely pleased with my progress.
A couple months later I awoke one morning and found that I had really bad pain in the back of my mouth on my jaw. I took a bunch of advil which did nothing and headed off to work. I called Dr. Elbert's office at 9:00am, told them the situation and they told me to come in around midday. I am pretty sure the office was not open and was shut down for the lunch hour, Dr. Elbert was alone, had me sit down and took a look, probed around a bit and said my wisdom tooth was infected and would need to come out. He wrote me a prescription for antibiotics and pain medication (thank god for both because I had a low grade fever by this time and advil was as useful and peeing on a forest fire). I was extremely impressed that he suggested I see an oral surgeon, and called a local oral surgeons office for me and set up an appointment for 2 days later for a consult and surgery. He didn't even charge me for seeing me that day. Nearly a year on, and I still love Dr. Elbert, and so does my wife.
His entire staff deserve to be mentioned as well. They are extremely kind, and efficient.
* Follow up 10/7/13 Continue to see Dr. Elbert and everything looks really fantastic. Still no cavities! I would also add that I am very disappointed that Yelp has filtered this review. I spent well over an hour writing this review to express my gratitude and what high regard I hold Dr. Elbert and his wonderful staff. I am a wordy person, and I do not write 2 sentence reviews, I give you all of the details and even the ones you do not want. What is odd to me is that Yelp filtered this review of mine, but did not filter the equally wordy review I did for the oral surgeon I was sent to by Dr. Elbert. read more
