I went in to Fundamental Dental as a new patient on November 17th, 2023, and I will not be going back.
My appointment was for 4pm, I checked in at 3:57, and I was about to walk out at 4:29 when they finally came and got me. So, I got to spend a half hour in their lobby with a giant TV playing a super low-quality version of Avatar: The Way of Water, while the 3 or 4 staff told the exact same joke over and over and filmed TikToks.
They took a bunch of X-rays, and I mean a BUNCH, before leading me back to the room I'd be cleaned/examined in. The whole place seemed relatively high tech and modern compared to other dental offices I've been to, which was nice; with all of the staff being a bit younger than I'm used to (I'm 28, and I think I was older than everyone except the main doctor).
I reclined in the exam chair and immediately noticed the tv mounted to the ceiling directly above me, with a bunch of movies on Plex ready to go. I thought to myself, "It's cool that they may want to distract some of the more nervous patients or keep people from being bored, but who's going to bother putting on a movie when a cleaning takes like 15 minutes?" Surprise: It took much longer than 15 before they finished with me.
After politely declining 3 times for the staff member to put on a movie for me, she started playing 22 Jump Street. "Nah we'll set you up with a movie." So I got to experience my cleaning and checkup with frat boy humor and excessive profanity played a little too loudly.
The dental assistant seemed nice enough, as he took his time cleaning my teeth. He then made some small talk and poked around in my mouth a bit more, before struggling a bit with putting a live video feed onto the TV so I could see inside my own mouth with his handheld camera. That was actually pretty cool; I wish the tech cooperated better. He pointed out 3 areas that may need attention due to staining.
He then pulled up my X-rays and showed me an area that had been marked by their "A.I. Software" that automatically looks for potential cavities and such. Here's what happened over the next 20 minutes, and when the doctor came in:
Assistant: You've got 2 areas we want to keep an eye on for next appointment, and 1 spot that we may prescribe you special toothpaste for before it becomes a cavity.
-Assistant calls for doctor.
Doctor: You've got 2 areas we want you to treat with special toothpaste and 1 minor cavitiy I think you should have us fill in. Now please watch this 4 minute video on how to brush your teeth, starring me!
Me: *Looking at assistant* I thought it was no big deal and wasn't a cavity yet? Isn't that supposed to be what I treat with the toothpaste?
Assistant: Oh you must have misunderstood.
Me: But you just told me it wasn't a cavity and the other 2 spots were fine...
Doctor: It's a cavity. Our A.I. pointed it out. *Shows me exact same x-ray from before*
-Both of them leave as I watch the video.
Staff: Okay you're all set. Here's a printout of what your insurance will cover for your 3 fillings.
Me: Huh? Three fillings?! The doctor just told me I needed one filling and some special toothpaste (the printout showed 3 as well)?
-Staff member leaves and gets Assistant
Assistant: Oh you must have misunderstood. The doctor wants you to get all 3 of your cavities filled before they get too bad and you need a root canal.
Me: So how did 1 potential issue and 2 odd-looking areas turn into 3 full-blown cavities in 20 minutes?!
Assistant: It may be confusing, but the doctor wants to take care of these issues before they get too bad.
Me: But at the beginning, you said...
Assistant: Sorry for the misunderstanding. You can check out at the front desk.
I went to the checkout counter and the staff member explained the pricing of my needed services. She then proceeded to NOT try scheduling my cavity fillings, NOT give me any special toothpaste or a prescription for it, and NOT give me the goodie-bag that most dentists give out (was also mentioned in the video they showed me). All she did was ask to schedule my next normal cleaning.
I don't know what the heck is going on with these dental "professionals", but I'm not about to trust them with my health if they can't even make up their minds about what is wrong with me or pass information between each other properly. A terrible experience. read more