Two cracked fillings turned into an $18,000 bill. Get a second opinion before you let him touch…read moreyour teeth.
In my experience, Dr. Doshi cared more about his pockets than my dental health. A second dentist confirmed much of the work he did on me was unnecessary.
I came in to fix two cracked fillings, one on each side. On my left side, he put an inlay, a new and more expensive material, on the cracked tooth. Then he said he needed to replace the healthy fillings on the teeth below it to match. My second dentist said that wasn't necessary. The cracked tooth should simply have been filled to match the material already there.
On my right side, he replaced fillings without ever telling me. When I asked why he'd replaced fillings that had no symptoms, he said he saw an air bubble. He never mentioned that before he started drilling.
After replacing the healthy fillings on my left, he told me there was a 50/50 chance I'd need a root canal because the filling was very close to the nerve. That's when I stopped everything. When I said I wanted a second opinion, he pushed back. When I wouldn't budge, he told me to remember that he never suggested a root canal.
Getting my own x-rays was a fight. He refused to give me digital copies and made me photograph them on my phone. My new dentist needed the digital files for diagnosis, and he still refused, saying his practice never gives out digital x-rays. Only after I showed him that HIPAA gives patients the right to their records, and told him I'd report him to the Dental Board, did he release them. Even then, the pre-treatment x-ray of the healthy fillings he replaced without my consent never arrived. He emailed me saying he had sent it. My new dentist says they still don't have it.
I was so shaken by all of this that I didn't want to set foot in his office again. He still had several inlays I'd paid for, so I asked him to mail them to my new dentist by a specific date, well before my appointment there, or let me pick them up. After a lot of back and forth, he emailed me that he was "cooperating" with my new dentist. I took that to mean they were on their way. But when I showed up for my appointment the following week, they had nothing. My new dentist showed me Dr. Doshi's email refusing to release the inlays and saying he'd process a refund instead. A week later, the only refund I've received is for an implant he never did, which my new dentist also said was largely unnecessary. Now I'm paying $5,000 to have new ones made, and that's still far less than what Dr. Doshi was charging.
The pattern was everywhere. He planned an inlay for one small filling that my new dentist said only needed a simple composite filling. He told me I needed an implant and Invisalign, and my new dentist didn't see a real need for either. Two repairs turned into about eight. From the look of it, it was an ongoing money grab.
The quality wasn't good either. After he cemented the first set of fillings, I had a lot of sensitivity and pain. He adjusted them over and over and never fixed it. On my first visit, my new dentist properly adjusted them and the sensitivity dropped a lot. I still have sensitivity, and I chew harder foods with my front teeth.
Your teeth are with you for life. I feel personally violated that he damaged mine through unnecessary work. In my experience, he was dishonest, unprofessional, and put his profits ahead of my health.
I will be reporting this to the Dental Board of California. My honest advice: go elsewhere. If you do see him, get every procedure explained before he starts, ask for an itemized treatment plan in writing, and be wary of treatment he suggests that you didn't come in for.