Great Dentist. No frills, no upselling, just clean, healthy teeth. 4.5 stars…read more
I moved up to DC a few years ago and hadn't really found a dentist that I like... until now. Dr. Michael was kind, friendly, quiet, confident, comforting, and honest. His wife works the front desk and is lovely.
For me, Dr. Michael did all the work himself (unlike a lot of dentists where the technician does the cleaning and the dentist just pokes around).
He cleaned my teeth, did some flossing and polishing, said that he didn't see any cavities and that my teeth looked good.
He could have easily made a quick profit off of me by doing unnecessary X-rays or "finding" something like "a cavity" or worse... but he didn't, and in the process earned a loyal customer (and another good review on yelp).
The nicest part, I think, is that there are huge windows in the second floor exam rooms with a little bit of a view of some treetops, the sky, and the street-scene. That and the classical music playing in the background made it almost as relaxing and comfortable as a dentist visit can be.
The waiting room is simple, neat and clean with some magazines provided, and rather than trashy Jerry Springer -esq daytime TV blaring, they have the aforementioned local classical music radio station playing.
The sign-in/sign-up process was simple and straightforward (just one page of the usual info). Getting an appointment over the phone was easy. They take appointments Monday through Thursday. I have Aetna insurance (which they accept) and my checkup was therefore free. I think I walked out of the door less than an hour after I walked in.
The office is located in the second floor of an apartment building, they'll buzz you up. The apartment lobby, elevator and hallway were probably the worst part of the experience (they're just not quite as comfortable and slick as some medical center lobbies), but that is largely outside of Dr. Michael's control.
There is metered street parking on Connecticut or Nebraska and un-metered parking on the surrounding streets (but don't park on Connecticut during rush-hours). Right across Connecticut are Comet Ping-Pong Pizza and a great local bookshop called Politics and Prose.
Overall, it was a great experience and Dr. Michael will be my new dentist while I live in DC, I would recommend him, but I would also recommend the following to get a 5 star rating:
1. The apartment building trash-shoot room is in the hallway near the dentist suite and smells a bit, this should be cleaned up, or at least air-freshened.
2. For first-time visitors, it would be nice to have a little more signage out front as it's not clear that the apartment building also houses a dentist office (which is a bit unusual for this suburban Florida kid - apparently is more common in cities). I wasn't sure I was in the right place. Also, some more modern and directional (with arrows and "second floor") signage inside would be helpful.
3. The cleaning/appointment was so painless that I almost wondered if my teeth were properly checked for cavities. My old dentists used to poke and prod and scrape my teeth seemingly as hard as they could to try to "find" cavities (or was it just to torture me?). That was usually the most painful and least comfortable part of the visit. There was a lot less of that during my visit, and I think I would have benefited from more explanation as to why.
4. A plain, simple, static website with a picture of the building, the office, the doctor, and some basic info would be helpful (which insurances are accepted, what days are appointments available, a link to this yelp page, how many years of experience Dr. Michael has, etc.). It doesn't need to be slick or fancy, a basic squarespace site or something would suffice, it could even say that their specialty is dentistry, not websites, that would be fine.
5. They should add coat racks in the exam room so that you can hang your coat/jacket/bag where you can see it, and not worry about your valuables (wallet, phone, etc.).
But like I said above, it was an overall great experience, Dr. Michael will be my go-to dentist and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a new Dentist in the area.
