I was very pleased with the work Dr. Hornung did on my wisdom teeth last July. I'd already been…read morethrough braces, emergency root canal surgery, and having teeth pulled, and yet I was still crazy anxious about having my wisdom teeth out. Once my insurance (and my wisdom teeth headaches) kicked in, I finally started doing research. This was one of the first of three places I called that would take on new patients for surgery, their price was the best (about 1300 or so), and their location was convenient enough for my mom to help me get home post-surgery. Oh, and they had a Mastercard finance plan, or so I thought.
I went in for a consultation. They showed me a video on all the potential hazards that can come from the surgical process (grrreeeat!). They X-rayed my mouth and then showed me why it was imperative that I get it done ASAP. All of my teeth were impacted, and one had a cyst growing around it. (Woo!) So, we scheduled the surgery a month out, enough time to get it pre-approved by my insurance company and all that jazz. A little bit of time goes by and they call me with my estimate and how much I owe them in relation to what insurance was covering. It was not bad at all considering I didn't have the best insurance coverage, but it was enough.
Finally, surgery day arrives! Designated Driver Mom and I got there on time and checked in. What happened next surprised me. The secretary at the front said they need final payment in order to perform the surgery. I asked them what happened to their finance plan and they said they were no longer doing that anymore. Flustered and growing more anxious by the minute, I explained that I wasn't prepared to pay today and had been relying on the availability of their finance plan. She explained that all balances must be paid in full upon the time of surgery, and rather rudely. I looked all over her glass window to find evidence of such a decree, and they did have it written, though small and out of the way. Luckily, my grandmother called us back and took care of the balance (Love you, Mere!) so that I could be pain and cyst free.
After all of the drama, they finally call me back and get me situated. Almost immediately Dr. Hornung was ready to pump me full of drugs. Despite the earlier frustration, he was professional and calm. He told me a bad joke as he was putting me under and in about 10 seconds I was gone. The next thing I knew I was waking up in their comfy "recovery" chair, stuffed full of gauz, waiting for my mom to help me hobble out to the car.
I spent the next 5 days popping Percs, eating jello, and nursing my stitched mouth at my mom's house. Never got dry socket, never pulled a stitch. 10 days after my surgery I went to have my stitches removed. Good as new! However, a week later my right bottom jaw got infected (probably due to a food particle or something) while I was still healing. Woke up in pain with a locked jaw on that following Saturday. I called Dr. Hornung at their Lowell office (which is open early on Saturdays) and got fit in right away. They cleaned it up and put me on a couple of antibiotics to be sure it cleared up for good. Since then there hasn't been a problem!
Just make sure you do your research and make sure if they say they have a payment plan, that it's legit. To the dental hygienists, don't rattle your patients on the day of their surgery. What happened was a mistake, and I understand that, but don't treat me like a child because you failed to inform your patients about a change in your policy.