I hate to give a new practice a bad review, but I will explain why I feel disappointed enough to give the review, and any readers can decide if it seems accurate.
First. and most disappointing, was that we made the appointment with a dentist that was highly recommended, but without our knowledge, was retiring and had apparently sold the practice. However, no one told us that Dr. Manigault had bought the practice and that we would not be seeing him.
This is what took place:
We moved to the area and our realtor highly recommended a dentist he had seen for many years. He was so pleased and happy with him, we chose to drive an hour from our new home to get there. When we made the appointment, we had to wait three months to get in. Then, we received a phone call a week or two before our appointment time to notify us the hygienist was going to be out of town for the week and they needed to reschedule. They rescheduled us in early December. We had already waited three months and now we were having to wait SIX MONTHS. On my call to make the appointment, I had already explained that our previous dentist had me scheduled for replacing a filling after a check up in January 2020. Next, then, a few days before the "rescheduled" appointment, I received another call... they delayed the appointment another week. I told them that if they kept this up, I might not have any teeth to work on.
On the morning of our appointment it had snowed overnight. I called to see if they had snow and to see if they were planning to open.
It was at that time, after waiting more than six months for this "absolutely fantastic dentist!!!" that I was told the doctor we had been wanting to see had RETIRED! and would not be seeing us anyway!!! Having only an hour to decide, and feeling like we probably needed to see a dentist, we chose to risk the drive to Elkin in the snow.
NOT TELLING US FOR SIX MONTHS that the dentist we were to see was retired or retiring, and would not be seeing us, was to me, completely unforgivable. We had waited for months to see a recommended dentist and these people felt it was OK not to tell us the dentist was gone and would not be seeing us. To me, that was unforgivable, But that's not all:
Second, months earlier, when I was first making the appointment for my wife and myself for the first visit, I told the person in scheduling that in January my dentist in Charlotte told me I needed to have a filling replaced. Before I had it done, we moved to this area. I told the scheduler on the first call to make the appointment that I felt like I needed to see someone fairly soon because it probably needed to be done.
I called my previous dentist's office and made sure they forwarded my past records and asked that they make sure to note the tooth that needed attention. I called twice to make sure it was done. I cannot say for certain it was sent, but I called Dr. Manigault's office and was told they received my records from our previous dentist.
When we finally did go in for our appointment and after having my teeth cleaned, Dr. Manigault examined my teeth and was complimentary of the Dr. who had been taking care of past dental work, she finished and concluded that "everything looks good". Did anyone look at my records? Was there not any mention of the tooth that my old doctor said needed a new filling? I didn't ask. After feeling like I had been mislead for six months, I had no plans to come back anyway. On a positive note, Dr. Manigault was friendly, polite and although young, seemed competent.
The third, and last mention, has to do with their accounting department. We have had the same dental insurance for some time and have never had any issues. It's been six months now since our one visit and the charges have apparently not been properly submitted to our insurance company. Two or three times we have received statements showing an open balance on our account. Each time my wife has called the insurance company and we think the doctor's office has the correct information to file the claim. This happened again a few days ago and this time the rep from the insurance claims department took it upon herself to call the dentist's office to (hopefully) make sure the claim is submitted correctly. Hopefully, the third time will take care of their payment.
I don't wish their practice any harm, and Dr. Manigault apparently did purchase the practice during Covid, and that made things more complicated. At the same time, I feel like it was very wrong not to notify existing customers of the change, or at least inform people that were calling in from a referral to the prior dentist. Perhaps they were concerned that many people would choose to find a new doctor. Regardless, I still feel somewhat bitter to have waited that long to see a dentist twice as far away as we needed to travel, based on a referral to a doctor they knew we would not see. read more
