I would never go to this place ever again.
This was one of the most convenient dental surgeons I could go to with MEDI-CAL/DENTI-CAL.
I was told by my normal dentist to get a CT scan of my mouth regarding my wisdom teeth and the positioning of what he could see.
After finding a dentist who had the CT scan available, and paying 275$ for the scan. That dentist had explained to me what I would need done in my surgery for extraction. Regarding the placement of my lower jaw nerve and how I would need to be put under anesthesia.
I then took my dental CT scan to this FIRST DENTAL GROUP when i arrived for my consultation. They proceeded to take their own x-ray (not a CT scan) for insurance purposes, which I can understand. and then they sat be down to wait for the surgeon for the rest of consultation. When he arrived he said that they could do the surgery, that he didn't need to place me under anesthesia and was very pushy about getting my OK for the authorization. He never even looked at the CT scan (which i still held in my hand) i asked if he was sure about it, that he hadn't looked at the scan and I had explained what my other two dentists had said before me going there. he said no it'd be fine and we sent the authorization in to Denti-Cal.
I left in tear, my anxiety level was super high and it just didn't feel right. I couldn't see why my original dentist would send me somewhere else (unaffiliated with him) to pay 275$ for a CT scan i didn't need. and Why the CT scan place would be so adamant about explaining this to me regarding further treatment I would be seeking. He seemed to not really care at all and was just trying to get to the next patient.
I then had decided to check out another dentist (Western University Dental Center) which was much more helpful and calming, they greeted the CT scan with open arms, looked at it right away, broke down the CT scan for me in layman terms, and said exactly what the other dentists had said. Needless to say I felt much more comfortable and safer with this experience so I decided to continue treatment with them. This however was not my last interaction with FIRST DENTAL GROUP
I called them that day to cancel my authorization with them, and after what seemed like pulling teeth to get ahold of a lady over the phone to cancel it, and met with attitude, they had told me they did.
Flash forward to a month later, i get a call from Western saying the authorization was denied due to the fact that FIRST didn't not cancel the authorization. So i called FIRST and Adriana(handles authorizations), who was not in, she was at lunch, was supposedly given my name and number and issue and was to call me back after she had gotten back.
Two days later, I call her and track her down, she says my authorization cancel was submitted March 6th, and it takes some time for it to go through. I asked if I could get an email with a conformation number or something stating that they had submitted the cancellation, to which she told me MARIA handles that and she's not in today, she'd be in tomorrow, and she'd be able to handle writing me an email with the cancellation numbers etc.
I will be calling Maria tomorrow to get the email. Due to this I now have to wait several weeks to get authorization for my new dentist, and these wisdom teeth are causing me extreme amounts of pain. This is unacceptable and I feel like I've been given the run around. I would say they lack customer service and empathy for their patients. I would also go to say that they are disorganized and because of this its causing people discomfort and inconvenience.
I will be filing a complaint with Denti-cal as well regarding this office.
I WILL UPDATE AFTER I HAVE RECEIVED MY EMAIL.
-Zoe read more