The few +'s: The blond woman, front desk, who was new. Very warm, kind - a total sweetheart. With a…read morecouple exceptions - everyone was very smiley and polite; it was a bit forced, but - beats rude! The office manager was also professional, fine; I had no issue with her, either. The rest, though.
1. Intake + 1st appt. scheduled same day. Gave Me pause, becuz...no time for records from previous dentist, you know - the insurance coverage situation (redundancies not likely to be covered)? But I thought maybe they had some hack for that. Let it slide. Day of My appt. - they did NOT request My records, nor even show interest as to what I might have already had done or not, before proceeding (and I couldn't remember for certain - which I told them). EVEN WHEN I SUGGESTED, THEN EXPLICITLY REQUESTED THEY DO SO - THEY DIDN'T. What they DID do - was pretend to check, then come back and lie to My face saying everything was fine. After which, I proceeded - only to get a letter from My insurance co. later, stating redundancies. Ultimately, they were willing to make partial payment - still leaving a balance. New Era hasn't asked it of Me, yet; and they better not - as I won't be paying them ****. I reported them to My insurance.
2. Encountered a baffling paperwork error during intake, where the wording made the PATIENT responsible for payment directly - in spite of having accepted insurance. Not talking a misunderstanding about copays, etc. I'm very familiar with legalese, and not confused by such nuance. Which was what they kept claiming until this dark-haired woman in the back office (exception #1) finally jumps in, admitting it was a typo they need to fix (yeah - ya think?!). She had the nerve to get funky about it, as if the error was Mine instead of theirs. Said to just ignore it. Pointing out it's the document and not their verbals, which would carry legal weight before a court, though - I corrected it in the document Myself, before signing.
3. Kaya (sp?) The young girl who did My x-rays. In spite of her incessant niceness, cheesing, affirmative responses - she was abrupt + graceless in her handling of oral tools, and impatient - even though I told her of the nerve damage to My face, as well as an immune disorder which made stress positions difficult for Me. She'd nod and smile, but kept hastily jamming right back into My mouth when I needed a break. This is the same girl who lied to Me, waving it off, claiming everything would be fine re: My insurance coverage for this visit.
4. Same girl took FOREVER to finally complete My X-rays. Kept having to repeat them over + over... I seriously wondered whether she knew what she was doing, at all. 2nd girl had to come in to help. I know the x-ray bits can be awkward or even uncomfortable in a spot or two - but in all My dentist visits in life - I've NEVER had it take so long OR hurt so much! Not even close! Both the time they took + the pain, were some 4x more than the usual! I literally had to refrain from reflexively shoving them off of Me, it was so torturous. Ridiculous!
5. The head dentist, Luba (sp?). Exception #2. Though a bit curt + abrupt, she seemed pretty nice overall; until she asked / commented about My weight being the cause of My high blood pressure. ??! But yep - not two seconds into her intro with Me, she's like - your HBP...is it because of your weight? And I'm looking at her like - excuse you? WTF?? And she's like - well, its just that being overweight can cause it. (Uh, so can a HOST of other things!) Using humor for diplomacy, having a pretty thick skin - I jokingly hinted at the inappropriateness of her question / commentary, and let her know it actually ISN'T because of My weight (though I have some extra - I am 6'1", and not even visually obese. Not that it matters). She only doubled down - totally tone-deaf and blind to any sense of decorum. So here's the thing, Luba (sp?) dear (who is no slim barbie, herself): As a dentist, not a medical doctor - the CAUSE of any patient's medical condition, is utterly irrelevant to you. All that concerns you, is the WHAT - not the why. So aside from being completely superfluous to the exam - such questions and commentary, are overtly both extremely unprofessional - and just rude as ****, in general.
6. Gemma. So when I dropped this place + called New Era to request My records - I got this girl, who didn't want to give them to Me. Said to have My new dentist request them; they'd send them to THEM. HIPAA violation. In calls between her, Myself, My new dentist - it became increasingly clear she was playing games, running us around. When I called her on it - she claimed she couldn't help; said she'd have to wait for some other girl to be there. I was supposed to be emailed a form to fill out + send back, then get My records. She claimed I'd have them by Monday, end of day. I never got the form or records. No follow-up phone call, either.