BEWARE new patients--they won't clean your teeth the first appmt!
Bait and switch, big time.
I called wilson dental group and requested a routine hygiene appmt. our dental insurance changed so i needed someone in network. I was told that since i was a new patient, there would be an exam and dental radiographs taken during the appmt. I said ok, since every dental hygiene cleaning i've ever had includes an exam by a dentist and i know that full mouth rads are taken every 2 years and bitewing rads are taken yearly. nothing new here.
When i showed up to the hygiene appmt, the assistant took my blood pressure first--odd, but whatever, can't fault them i guess--then said she'd like to explain the process today. hmm, also weird, but sure. she somewhat nervously launched into a rehearsed speech that today i'd be getting radiographs, a gum recession evaluation, and a doctor exam, at which point they would schedule me a return appmt for my hygiene cleaning. ***brake screeching sound***
i said, wait, what? this IS my hygiene appmt. that's what i scheduled.
the assistant informed me that they don't schedule cleanings on the first visit b/c they don't know what level of cleaning will be needed.
1. i called and voluntarily requested a routine cleaning. odds are good my mouth is in good shape.
2. somehow, in my 40+ yrs of life w dental cleanings every 6 months, every other dentist has managed to assess and provide the level of cleaning needed during the scheduled hygiene appmt without the need for an separate office visit and consultation.
i told the assistant that i scheduled a hygiene cleaning and was never told they wouldn't be cleaning my teeth today--i scheduled a cleaning and the cleaning includes rads and a dental exam.
she looked in my mouth, agreed my teeth looked pretty good, and offered to see if they could work me in for a cleaning afterwards. i had allotted 60 minutes for the entire visit. At 45 minutes in, i hadn't seen the doctor yet, and the assistant told me the hygienist would be at least another 25 minutes before she could get to me. i declined to wait further and left.
it seems like a big insurance cash grab to me, from the blood pressure initially, to the insistence that they have to "assess the level of cleaning i need" before cleaning my teeth on a separate appmt day and time.
My disappointment and frustration is from being misled into believing that i would be getting a routine hygiene cleaning, b/c that's what i asked for, that's what i scheduled, that's what i was led to believe was happening.
It is dishonest and shortsighted to lure new patients in under false pretenses. the receptionist who made my appmt should have said "b/c you're a new patient, we won't be able to do a hygiene cleaning on the first visit b/c we require a doctor exam first to assess the level of cleaning needed", at which point, i would have hung up and called elsewhere. which is why they don't say it, but tricking me into coming isn't a great strategy either.
AVOID. or at least, be prepared to go on two separate occasions to get your teeth cleaned, if you're a new patient. unacceptable to me to use my valuable time so poorly and i won't be going back. every other dentist out there manages to get it done in one visit. read more