This review regards incompetent and uncaring treatment by Dr. Prokes at Casas Adobe Oral &…read moreMaxillofacial Surgery on Swan Rd., not La Cholla, but they seem to be the same organization.
I had appointment for tooth extraction without sedation on 6/12/26. I had undergone 2 root canal (RC) treatments on the tooth with pain remaining after 2 months. My endodontist said I would need to have a 3rd RC (no guarantee of success) or get the tooth extracted (guaranteed success). I chose to have the tooth extracted and thus the appointment at Casas.
I had a referral and also verbally explained to Dr. Prokes what I described above. She seemed confused and left the room to call my endodontist. She came back and said I didn't need any more RC treatments nor a tooth extraction. I was confused but of course happy to hear that, and subsequently left. Turns out Dr. Prokes did not speak to my endodontist, but to customer service who was uninformed.
A week or so later, after my last antibiotic cycle had ended, the pain came raging back, and I found out that the tooth next to the originally infected tooth was now also infected. So I have to make the decision to extract them or more RC treatments on both teeth. Part of that decision is the cost of each option. I decided if I extracted the teeth, I wanted to have sedation. Casas said I had to come in again to discuss sedation with Dr. Prokes to get the cost, which I can't get. (My insurance requires provider to submit pre-estimate request to get quote, which takes minutes at most). I made an appointment for July 8, and was told I needed to get referral for the 2nd tooth before then. My dentist told me by email that he had submitted it to Casas on July 1, but Casas on July 3 still hadn't received it. Both my dentist and endodontist are out of the office this week due to the holiday, so I can't get another referral until Monday (my appointment is Wed.).
To help with Dr. Prokes' confusion, I wrote a detailed history on all treatment, etc. associated with the 1st tooth and the diagnosis of the 2nd tooth. I explained I wasn't sure yet whether to extract 1, 2 or none of the teeth, but needed the cost info to decide.
I got a call from Casas the next day on 7/3 saying Dr. Prokes said to cancel my appointment because I didn't have both referrals. Again I could get the 2nd one on Monday. Also, she wanted to talk to my dentist to make sure I needed the tooth/teeth extractions. This suggests I'm some kind of kook who wants teeth pulled out that don't need to be extracted. Note I have all of my teeth and am 61 years old.
From Casas' website, it looks like there are at least 5 other oral surgeons at Casas. None of the others have had timely appointments open in 1 or 2 weeks....only Dr. Prokes has availability. Now I know why.....apparently nobody recommends her to others. I suggest you don't see Dr. Prokes, who doesn't seem to comprehend the English language nor care about her patients. I thinks it's likely that if Prokes had extracted the initial tooth when I went there for that purpose, the infection might not have spread into the 2nd tooth, costing me significant extra costs and substantial pain. How cruel that because of Prokes, I have to start over with RFQ with another facility, as I certainly won't ever go back to Casas. How hard would it have been to just give me a quotation for sedation, especially since I had already been to the facility? Certainly no harm would come of this. No treatment or tooth extraction was going to be performed on 7/8.....just discussion of sedation (and I've had sedation several times in my life) and finally telling me how much it would cost. I understand needing the referral, which I could have had re-sent on 7/6, and certainly well before any tooth extractions would be performed.
It's just hard to fathom these stupid rules, and the incompetence and lack of empathy of Dr. Prokes.