I made the biggest mistake of coming here and regretted it dearly. Booked an appointment for tooth checkup/extraction and cleaning and ended up spending $750! How did it happen you might ask, well here goes...
The visit:
Came in on a Tuesday morning and checked in, fill out some forms. Then proceeded with x-ray exams assisted by a very courteous and professional young lady. Shortly after Dr Pham came and introduced himself, reviewed my x-rays and sure enough there was an infection on the said tooth - upper left-side molar. It has also lost some bone tissues in the area thus making it loose therefore resulted with an abscess. He'd suggest extracting it and while looking at my x-rays, also recommended extracting another tooth on the lower-right then placed with different options such as a bridge, implants, and along the way with some new crowns for the upper front teeth. He showed me various options then let his assistant Lin took over for the up-sell. Now I don't mind since I have every intention to get my teeth fixed/done. She introduced a series of different replacement types and various materials etc. I finally agreed to do the work in the sum of about $8000, also to do it in different sessions. While getting ready for the process of extracting a tooth and bone-grafting, she recommended I also do a deep-cleaning for an extra $320 (which I hadn't had since my last one more than 7 or 8 years) so I thought it is probably better to get really cleaned while I'm at it.
The work:
Doctor returns to prep for tooth extraction, deep-cleaning and bone grafting. He first shot some local anesthesia, most likely lidocaine to numb the particular molar tooth. Waited a few minutes and comes back to proceed with supposedly 'deep-cleaning' my teeth. He started the cleaning process but none of the gums are numbed like my previous sessions. The cleaning ended in less than 20 minutes and it felt very much like my usual regular cleanings done elsewhere. The deep-cleaning I had before requires two sessions. The one here also stated 'Periodontal and Root scaling' in quadrants from his rate sheet, meaning deep scaling on each quarter for $80. Mind you I'm already missing a couple teeth at the rear with no swollen gums but did not feel any scaling at all other than the machine brushing away on the top surfaces and sides of my teeth, finished with a nice polish by the same courteous assistant. Then he comes back again to extract the infected tooth and fill in some 'bone'. By this time I couldn't speak much but managed to pay, drive home and give him a call later on during the day...
The conversation:
I got in touch with the office for Dr Pham to return my call and I addressed the issue with him saying that I felt the cleaning wasn't a deep-cleaning but instead was just a regular cleaning. I then related to him regarding previous sessions I've had with deep-cleanings that involves numbing my gums and took about 45 minutes for each session to complete. Dr Pham then went on mentioning his technique about being efficiency and that he uses Oraqix, a topical solution to numb the gums, etc, etc..which works efficiently, to make it quick and simple for people so they do not have to come back. Now he did offer me a return visit and willing do it the way I wanted - to numb the gums by injection, deep scaling and however which way, etc, etc...then keeps on addressing this new Oraqix procedure. I'm not questioning about his techniques on how my gums are being 'numbed' but rather the work itself in regard to the cleaning process. By this time I stopped debating and thought to myself whether I should return for the next big step for my implanting and crown procedures, etc...
Conclusion:
In all honesty I was ready to let them do the work, about $8000 worth, maybe more along the way, until I was cheated out of $320 for a regular-cleaning instead of deep-cleaning. When I got home, I use a dental-pick and go deep underneath my gums and scraped some good amount of breakfast chunks/particles still lodged inside. For this I surely confirmed that I did not get my teeth deep-cleaned. The thing that ticked me most and ultimately got me cancelling my next appointment was the fact that he claimed to do things 'fast and efficient'. Now I don't know about you but for regular checkups and cleanings, yes and maybe, but when I'm about to spend in excess of $8K I'd want a doctor to spend time on me, and ultimately to do the job correctly - because I scheduled myself available to you, drove quite a way to your office just so that you can make things efficient for yourself isn't the way for me...especially when I'm about to pour some major dough ($$$) into your office. So instead of spending $80 for tooth extraction and $350 for bone-grafting, I wasted an additional $320 for a regular cleaning in the total sum of $750 that morning. Yep, efficiency = fast $$$ for the Happy Teeth Dental. read more