I chose this dental office after visiting 3 others for second opinions as I had discovered my dentist of several years missed many problems that had developed with my teeth.
I chose Dr. Santos because I felt she seemed honest and had a gentle chair side manner. I informed her that I had had previous bad dental experiences and was nervous with dental work. I also let her know that I needed a lot of Novocain because my dental nerves were very sensitive. She was interested and took heed for the first tooth root canal.
I took issue with her when she needed to take 12 x-rays for one tooth throughout the first root canal. She said that nobody complained before about taking so many of x-rays.
I have a small mouth and inside it was a suction hooked on the crook of my mouth, a water nozzle squirting water and a large suction controlled by the assistant plus the drill and mirror from Dr. Santos. It was a mouthful and the assistant kept leaving water in the back of my throat which gave me a gagging reflex. They have a Netflix account in the office and set it up so that you can watch it as the work is being completed. The assistant kept watching the movie instead of paying attention to the work going on in my mouth. It required many starts and stops to complete this procedure. She told me that I was being difficult and that I needed to be mindful of her drill. I clearly needed more Novocain and the water cleared from my throat.
The crown came in and fit great after she adjusted the bite.
The next appointment was preping for 2 crowns side by side. It was a longer stay in the chair because of the amount of drilling needed. It started out all right but the drill was close to the nerves and I kept jumping. Dr. Santos gave more Novocain but not enough and I kept jumping. Along with that the lake in the back of my throat would not go away. Finally I choked on the water scaring the both of them. Dr. Santos asked me "what's wrong now" and I pointed at the assistant and said "she needs to keep the water out of the back of my throat. I'm drowning." I was not happy. She did start paying more attention but the rest of the appointment was very stressful.
So then the crowns come in and things got bizarre. I'm a 58 year old woman and looking back it was like I was in high school. As the Doctor was fitting my crowns she started telling me how intimidating that I was. I said "oh? I don't mean to be so." She said "yes, you scare people." I heard the word "intimidating" no less that 15 times throughout the time she was in my mouth. She asked me my heritage. I said that I was almost 100% German decent. She said "Oh, there are good Germans and there are bad Germans. Are there any good Germans in your family?" I told her that my grandmother was very stern. I still didn't understand all of this conversation. Dr. Santos again asked me why I was so intimidating. Finally the work was done. There was a lot of huffing and puffing because I wasn't happy with the bite and she had to keep grinding at the teeth. She was growing very impatient with me. I told her that I wanted to get it right so I didn't have to come back in a week cause I knew where she lived and then laughed. I was referring to the office. She growled at me and poked me hard in the arm and said "I know where you live!" I said "what?" She almost shouted "I know where you live over there on 3rd Street! We were done at that point.
I guess I'm pretty dense because I didn't really understand at the time what was transpiring there. I didn't understand the hostility and frankly still don't understand. I got out to the front and was checking out when the receptionist wanted to set up my cleaning appointment. Then I said what about my husband? We should probably set up a checkup with him. We called Dr. Santos up to the front and her assistant followed. I asked her if she wanted to see my husband in sooner or wait for the cleaning appointment. She said, "Is he German too?" I said yes. She said, "Is he like you?" I just looked at her. She said, "There are bad Germans and there are good Germans, which one is he? I said, "Oh you would like him." And smiled. She huffed and went back to the back. The receptionist looked confused and I told her I would call after I talked to my husband.
I won't be returning which is what she wants. But all that was needed was to tell me just that. "Please find another dentist." Instead I received an ongoing harassment lasting over an hour about how intimidating I was as I lay reclined in the chair at her mercy. Dr Santos was handling 2 of my expensive crowns in her hands and I was afraid that she might drop and break them. I couldn't say anything to upset her more than she was already. Who was the intimidator?
Bottom line is Dr. Santos has little skill and severely lacks professionalism that rubs off on the assistant and for some reason doesn't she like Germans.
I have moved on. read more
