Sorry for this long review but my visit to Dr. Bird's office was not good. His dental hygienist was great. She did fine. But HE was not so great.
My visits began in November, 2015. After a cleaning and x-rays, my next appointment was to get a composite filling (tooth colored filling) in tooth #17 and #4--or maybe it was #16 and #4, can't remember). He gave me two shots and OMG! They both hurt terribly! And I'm not the kind of person who is afraid of shots. In fact, I used to be a dental assistant for many years and am used to shots. No big deal. So when Dr. Bird was done, I told him that they hurt terribly. Then he and his assistant both chanted something like: "If it's not painful and not stinky, then it's not good dentistry." What? That is totally not true. My wonderful dentist, Dr. Chris Clark in OKC, retired, which is why I was looking for a new dentist, and in the 20 years I went to him, he never once hurt me. And when I worked as a dental assistant for several different dentists, they didn't hurt patients with their shots, either.
Next, he put a composite filling in #4 and must have put a sealant over it--only thing was--the sealant went between tooth #4 and #3 and I couldn't floss that night when I got home! It was sealed shut! I called his office and left a message. Luckily, the next morning I tried again and was able to push the floss through the sealant. Then he called me back and left a message that he could meet me at his office, but by that time, I didn't need to meet him.
Next, the composite filling he put in tooth #17 felt very rough to my tongue, like sandpaper. And not only was the sandpapery feeling on #17, but he had also gotten it on the tooth next to it and my tongue kept rubbing both spots. So I went back again and he tried to smooth the spots. On #17, he put another type of composite filling over the filling he had previously put in and then said he would, and I quote, "use me like a Guinea Pig." Ugh! Those were his exact words! He also said he was "interested in seeing how long that filling would last."
Next, he was kind of rough. At one point, his drill hit my two front crowns as his drill was exiting my mouth. He hit them pretty hard. Yet he didn't apologize or even acknowledge that he had hit those teeth. I found that rather odd. Yet, for the dentists I had worked for in the past as an assistant, that would have been unusual and they would have acknowledged it to the patient.
About a month later, something felt very rough to my tongue. Tooth #17's filling had a chunk of composite filling missing and the entire tooth looks cracked. No pain, yet, but I know I need to get that fixed and I'm sure it will be costly.
THEN, my husband went to him about the same time I did. He, too, had a filling done. He said Dr. Bird's shot hurt so badly that it about made him come out of the chair and said the new filling Dr. Bird put in was rough as sandpaper. Then the filling came out just a couple days later. That very same week!
To Dr. Bird's credit, he apparently was voted "Best Dentist" four years in a row and had his awards hanging in his reception office. But I really don't know how he got those awards. It definitely wasn't for the type of dental work that he gave to my husband and I. Or maybe we just caught him on a bad couple of weeks. I've read his other reviews, and those people must have been happy. Though if they didn't know any better, like I do as an ex-dental assistant, then they may be accepting bad dentistry thinking it's good dentistry and just not know the difference. They may think every dentist gives terribly painful shots. And that fillings come out the same week they were put in by accident. But they don't. That's poor dental work.
I've never asked a dentist for my money back--never--but with him I did and he sent me $23.00 out of the approx. $175 that I had paid (the balance of what my insurance didn't pay). I'm still wondering how he got those awards....maybe friends with the judge? Who knows! read more
