Though I was Dr. Sayegh's patient at his Glendora office, the dentist and the staff are the same, I thought it might be a good idea to share my experience with Dr. Sayegh at his Glendora office, so people who plan to have dental implant do not make the same mistakes I've made.
On March 7, 2018, I finally had the last step completed for my front tooth dental implant at Dr. Sayegh's office. It was a long way before I found Dr. Sayegh. I couldn't be happier that I found Dr. Sayegh.
Failed dental implant surgery at another dentist office before I found Dr. Sayegh:
In Oct 2016, I decided to have one of my upper front teeth extracted and put in a dental implant because it became darker and darker 17 years after I bumped onto a glass door. I found a dentist office near my house that has 5-star rating online on Yelp and on Google. So, I went to that dentist office to do a consultation. I did have a good impression after the first visit, so I decided to have my dental implant done at that office since the general dentist told me that they do provide dental implant services and my case is a simple case. A month after the implant surgery, I noticed that the gum tissue surrounding the implant has turned to a darker gray color. I strongly suspected the implant was not completely in the bone and most likely the implant was partially in the front gum! I went to visit the dentist who did the implant surgery, and she sent me to a dental X-ray lab to have a dental CT exam. When the CT technician was checking if the image quality was good enough, I also looked at the images because I know how to reach X-ray as I was a physician in my home country before I came to the US. The dental CT shows that the implant was 95% out of the bone, it was literally implanted in front of the bone (see the picture)! The technician was also surprised to see an implant in the images. She told me that she thought the CT was done prior to implant surgery for surgery preparation. She told me that usually the dental CT is done prior to and after the implant. CT exam prior to implant surgery is for placement preparation, and the CT exam post-surgery is to check if the implant is in the correct place. I could kick myself for trusting this dentist office blindly and took their word for it!
Experience at Dr. Sayegh's office:
After that failed implant surgery, I decided to take my time to do a thorough online search to find a good dental implant dentist. My next dental implant specialist must meet the following criteria:
* The dentist must have 5-star rating.
* The dentist must have good reviews on dental implant surgery and have ample experience in dental implant, not just good reviews in general.
* The dental implant specialist must have dental CT equipment.
* The dental office has no billing complaints.
For the next 2 weeks I spent every night searching online and read every review on every potential implant dentist candidate and finally I nailed down to Dr. Sayegh's office as Dr. Sayegh is on the top of my list.
I paid Dr. Sayegh's office the first visit in May 2017. I was the last patient day on that day. I had the dental 3-D CT images taken right at his office. Dr. Sayegh was very patient and very professional. We looked at the CT images together and Dr. Sayegh spent almost 2 hours with me reviewing my case, explaining the next steps needed to rectify the failed implant, and showing me the implant cases he did in the past. Dr. Sayegh did not charge me for the visit, I only paid for the CT exam. I decided to go with Dr. Sayegh for my dental implant.
For the next 10 months, I went through the 4 major steps (surgeries) with Dr. Sayegh, removal of the failed implant & bone grafting, dental implant placement, abutment placement, crown placement. Every staff at Dr. Sayegh is always very friendly and patient. They're Cathy, MJ, Stephanie, Jessica. Dr. Sayegh's office never pushes me to make a payment; MJ always fought hard to try to get the insurance company to pay before he billed me. Most importantly, Dr. Sayegh loves his job and is an expert at what he is doing, and has the 3-D dental CT to prepare the implant placement surgery and to check if the dental implant is in the right place right after the implant surgery. I couldn't be happier with the results.
Three things to take away from my experience:
1. When looking for a dental implant specialist, do not only look at the office rating online, you should also see if they have good review on dental implant surgery or on dental implant specialists.
2. When looking for a dental implant specialist, you should make sure if they have appropriate equipment, such as 3-D CT machine, at their office so the position of the implant can be checked right during the surgery.
3. Price is not everything. A dentist may quote you a cheaper price, but if they don't have what it takes to do the job, the cheaper price may not save your money in the long run if something goes wrong. read more