Here's the TLDR version:
Convenient off highway, easy…read moreparking, great care & oral health edu, & overall really lovely people I thoroughly enjoyed. Out of 5 stars, I give them 10.
A bit more detail:
Best dental experience I've had. What warm & lovely people. They felt more like new friends I wanted to get to know than new medical providers.
If you are concerned about PPE & clean air, this is a good fit (with one caveat, explained below, related to insurance). I'm medically vulnerable learned about them in a group others practicing a higher level of covid competence. The practice has a one patient policy, so I was the only patient in office. They leave time between patients to filter air before the next person arrives. Once inside, I was offered a brief but thoughtful tour. They both wore PPE, including n95's (3M Aura) + surgical masks over the n95, a face shield, gown, & gloves as needed. The office was shiny, spotless. The actual treatment room had a HEPA filter immediately next to the patient chair. I think Lelah said that they have other HEPA's in the office.
This practice is the only medical or dental practice I've been to that considers past medical trauma, fear of dental work, & how to intentionally engage the nervous system so that the experience is less stressful. I don't really have a problem w/ dental work, but the attention to keeping stress down was really great for other concerns I had. As an OT with an interest in mental health and sensory processing, I was impressed. (A few examples: 1) a weighted blanket, 2) Lelah tapped my arm inviting me to keep my attention on the tapping sensation as the needle was placed for anesthesia...as an OT with sensory training, I considered what was happening in the nervous system with this & was delighted that they'd even consider it, 3) monitor to watch Netflix which I didn't use but was available, 4) just an overall presence of warmth, caring, kindness, & undivided attention...which makes a big difference to the nervous system.)
As someone who is medically fragile and has been really harmed by the covid pandemic (and the lack of public response to it), I've felt unsafe seeing many of my providers. Most just don't seem to be keeping up to date with the silent damage even a super mild covid infection can and has done to many of us. Dr. Samsavar & Lelah were aware that our community has experienced this & offered a space that felt very safe for me, & in the process, I received a better oral health edu than I have in the past.
Having Lelah, a pharmacist, was a notable bonus. When businesses are a family affair, it seems quite natural that they're run w/ more heart and this was apparent. And, with her pharmacy background, she could easily answer questions about my meds impact on oral health.
In terms of physical accessibility, the building was almost immediately off the highway and has its own lot with very easy parking. I walked up a small hill with a fairly short distance to get to the door of their building, but I'm almost 100% that I saw elevators in the parking area that can assist someone who needs to avoid that hill. The walk from the building door to their office was short as well, at least from where I entered (less than a 30s walk).
The one caveat I have is both a pro and a con, depending on each persons life circumstances. They are a "pay out-of-pocket" provider and are not in-network as contracted with insurance. They will, however, send your claim in for partial reimbursement of eligible expenses directly to you, after you pay for their services in full. (Call your insurance first, as different policies will allow for varying reimbursement levels of eligible expenses.) The reality is, if they were contracted to be in-network, they would have an insurance company dictating to them how they can practice & likely have much lower reimbursement which wouldn't allow them to offer such attentive and compassionate care. So, while I did end up paying quite a bit more than I would have had I gone in-network, I had a far more positive experience. An increasing number of providers are heading this way as insurance becomes more impossible to work with, frequently putting providers in painful ethical dilemmas about how they treat their clients/patients, wasting non-reimbursed hours with their errors & endless phone trees that loop in circles, & a whole slew of other unnecessary complexities. We have in our own business for the same reasons. This approach isn't the right fit for everyone, but it's an option that allows for far more personalized and attentive care that is quite opposite from the all too frequent "assembly line" kind of care we often get as we're rushed in and out with a frenzied provider.
I'm really not surprised at all by the stellar reviews here.
Bravo Dr. Samasavar and Lelah. Thank you both for looking after your patients so compassionately and for your good, kind hearts.
May everyone have access to such care.
