If you have insurance, run away.
Like some other reviewers said, they were excited to find a dentist that had great/raving reviews. Woo! I graduated this year and found a great job in San Diego, so I haven't had the time to fly back and see my family dentist in northern California. I thought I might as well find a dentist down here as: 1. I hadn't had my teeth cleaned in over a year, 2. I'm living here permanently so why not?
I yelped some dentists with good reviews nearby, called them up to see if they accepted my insurance, and then scheduled an appointment.
When I got there, I got a great impression of the place. Very cozy, the front desk was very kind and helpful. I got taken to the back, sat down, and they started the x-rays. That took a while, but eventually I was ready to get my teeth cleaned. I met Dr. Oliver and she seemed very sweet and very kind -- reminded me a lot of my mom! So far so good, right?
But then the first red flag appeared.
She noted that I hadn't had my wisdom teeth removed yet. My dentist up north (Nancy) has known me and cleaned my teeth for 20+ years. She has seen me through all my different stages; prehistoric rat teeth, braces, etc. She's noted that my wisdom teeth do not seem to be growing and that I DO NOT NEED THEM REMOVED.
Dr. Oliver stated that I should get them removed ASAP and that she would be more than happy to recommend me to someone. That wigged me out a bit, but hey... things can happen in a year and maybe my wisdom teeth were finally coming in. I asked her, "What's wrong with them? Are they growing in side ways?"
She said YES.
Her response kind of threw me for a loop and seemed kinda weird, but I brushed it off. Whatever. I'm here to get my teeth cleaned. Dr. Oliver then noted that I had two SMALL cavities (this is important!). I kind of assumed that was the case because I hadn't had my teeth cleaned in over a year and... well, I'm not the best when it comes to flossing...
She cleaned it pretty quick and I thought that that was that. She was a little rough, but no big deal. We finished and then I was ready to go.
After the teeth cleaning I noticed that my gums were still a little sore. I know that if you haven't had your teeth cleaned in a while, it can be sore for a few days so I didn't think much of it. What I was most concerned, however, was looking into the wisdom teeth removal. The only way dentists can tell if you require your wisdom teeth to be removed is via a panoramic x-ray -- where the x-ray goes around your entire head. The x-ray they had given me was a bitewing x-ray. When I asked to see the x-rays so I could see my wisdom teeth and understand the situation, they told me that the x-rays did NOT tell or reveal what was wrong with my wisdom teeth.
Sooo why did she say I needed to get it removed ASAP? How did she know?????? That was a sign that she was shady as hell and I should probably not return, but I thought I'd just give her the benefit of the doubt. She seemed to clean my teeth just fine so whatever, right?!
BIG MISTAKE.
I went in for my cavity filling last week and thought that this would be it, I'd just see them in 6 months and say nothing about my wisdom teeth blahblahblah. I've had cavity fillings before and they've never been anything too crazy. I sit back, they fill it in, I'm done. This was not the case. What raised another red flag for me was when Dr. Oliver started injecting my gums to numb them. Nancy always used the gel and it always got the job done without being over the top or too painful.
I assume Dr. Oliver numbed it because she is NOT gentle whatsoever and this gave her wiggle room to be as rough as she wanted, but then she started drilling my teeth, filling it in, and then using one of those UV light to harden the filling... I've never had ANY of this before, so this was super confusing and weird to me. After the filling hardened, she had to shave my tooth down.
This all seemed incredibly strange and suspicious to me as just 2 weeks ago, Dr. Oliver had told me that I had TWO SMALL CAVITIES, so why was she going HAM for two SUPPOSEDLY tiny things!?
Well, it all made sense when when we finished and I went to the front desk. They dropped the following bomb on me: apparently my insurance did not cover the types of fillings they did for my two teeth and I would have to pay $100+ out of pocket to cover the rest.
WTF!?
At no point did anyone notify me of this. They just dropped it on me and expected me to pay right then and there! Dr. Oliver used the most expensive (and excessive) method she could to MAX out my insurance and then make me pay more. BIG WTF!!! NOT ok! Suddenly her wanting me to remove my wisdom teeth made A LOT more sense.
I am never coming back here as, along with all of that, my gums STILL ACHE. She did not clean my teeth thoroughly after all. I'd rather spend $400 to fly home to Nancy who I KNOW will treat and clean my teeth right. Nice people at this office, but they only care about $$$. Avoid. read more