FOOLED BY HIS WINNING SMILE AND ADORABLE DOG IN HIS AD: I thought I was signing on for an old-school, thorough dental care when I contacted Dr. Meshnick's office. It all STARTED OUT GREAT: Lisa and Sussn( ?) answred the phone in a polite, professional way.I WAS OPTIMISTIC. NOTE: Despite their limited office hours, they seemed friendly and warm, and they excepted my Blue Cross Blue Shield dental insurance. So I scheduled the first appointment for my exam and consultation. THE GOOD: Dr Meshnick seemed to be listening to my concerns throughout the consultation. I knew I had some deferred care that needed attention, particularly with some previous emergency work that had been done several years prior. THE WORK: Post and crown work to fix the previous emergency work. This was done PRE-COVID-19.
OVERSIGHT: despite the fact that I had expressed concern about a chipped tooth on the other side of my mouth, the Doctor dismissed it as fine.
COSMETIC: The last item I discussed with the doctor during the initial consultation was a long-term strategy to improve the alignment of my teeth.
I scheduled the post and crown work and had it completed. My insurance covered paid about half and I was sent a bill for the remaining balance.
THE BAD: shortly after having the post and crown work completed, the suspicious tooth that I had pointed out to the doctor broke off. I reported this to the doctors office via voicemail message.
THE UGLY: fortunately, the affected, broken tooth, is in the back of my mouth and is generally unnoticeable. REMEMBER , During my initial consultation I had called attention to a potential degradation of the very tooth that later broke. I was told by Dr. Meshnick that the tooth was fine. Just weeks after the post and crown, the tooth broke. The gaping hole that was left requires additional caution and care to prevent infection.
STUCK WITH THE SITUATION: My travel schedule picked up again and I did have to reschedule hygienist appointments each time reminding them of the gaping hole and making it clear that I was disappointed by the oversight and the failure to notice the issue. THATS THE DENTIST's JOB, right?
COVID HIT AND I became ILL. I spent months in self-quarantine. The very last thing on my mind was calling the doctor again about a broken tooth when I was so ill. THE MONEY FACTOR: although During the COVID PANDEMIC I received bills to pay off the balance of about $240 dollars, not once did anyone at the dents's office express concern or empathy for my dental situation which I believe was due to lack of thorough care of the consultation stage. INSTEAD, when I spoke with Lisa today to provide credit card information for my final bill, she denied receiving any information from me about the broken tooth and my disappointment in the care I received. Instead, the previously-polite Lisa became defensive and curt. Not in any way apologetic, in fact she was borderline sarcastic, making feeble excuses for the deficiencies in care and tried to make it seem like my fault that the issue was not picked up sooner because I rescheduled my hygienist appointments well-after the work was done and the second tooth broke.
THE FINAL DECISION: she claimed that I never reported the damage to their office. Malarkey. As expected, she defended the doctor. Of course she should do that. She's employed by him and it is not a comfortable discussion to have. I get that. But turning the table and blaming the patient for the business' mistake is not acceptable. The fact is that I could have received the proper care before Covid if the doctor had paid closer attention to my complaint and investigated it further.
THE RESULTS: In my opinion, I did not have to walk around for months with a broken tooth during a pandemic. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Dr. Meschnick seemed to be a very nice person and I'm sure he was a very proficient dentist during most of his career. At this stage, I feel like he msy be in semi retirement mindset. THE SIGNS I MISSED: Limited hours and a lack of thoroughness.
I will not be returning to this dentist. read more