Sorry guys, I'm not feelin the love for Miswak Dentistry. I found Miswak on Yelp because I needed some emergency dental work. I've only ever needed emergency dental work once before and I figured the same thing was happening this time. I had a ton of pain in my bottom right gum or molar or somewhere. The gum tissue hurt, it hurt when I bit down, everything. The entire area was even so swollen that my cheek was swollen - you could see it when you looked at my face.
So, Miswak seemed like the place to be since their reviews are great and they were able to get me in on very short notice. I arrived, they accommodated my insurance (even though I was out of network) and worked with me to get some full-mouth x-rays to see what was going on in my mouth.
So, the hygienist took me in back and started with x-rays. I wasn't sure where the doctor was, but she asked me several questions and then went about her business with the x-ray taking. After a ton of time (full-mouth takes awhile) she left and I assumed I was waiting for the dentist to take a look at the films and come talk to me about them.
Once the dentist arrived, he told me my x-rays looked great. No signs of cavities, infections, root issues, etc. I explained once again that my mouth was killing me so he finally decided to take a look at my teeth. He only had his hand in my mouth for a couple of seconds before he said that I likely had an ulcer in the back of my mouth. That would explain why the gum was inflamed and painful. He also decided that, since I grind my teeth at night, I needed a night guard to sleep with and the pain would go away since it seemed like the pain when I bit down was related to TMJ.
And that was it. Nothing for the pain, no diagnosis of an infection even though my gum tissue was inflamed and sore, that was it. Less than one minute of actually looking in my mouth with his poker and mirror and that was his diagnosis. I opted to get the night guard since I have always had teeth-grinding issues, so I was fitted for that and told it would take a week to arrive. Once it arrived, I was going to come in for a cleaning and test out the night guard.
Fast forward one week, I called to ask if I could come in for my appointment earlier to get my night guard and teeth cleaning. I was told that my night guard hadn't arrived yet and that they would call me when it had so I could get it and do the cleaning at once.
Two weeks go by... no call. I call after Christmas and leave a message on their machine that says they'll be back in the office on December 26, which is when they'd return my call. No return call. I call again on December 30 and they answer, put me on hold for about five minutes and then begin to explain that there was some kind of mixup with their lab and the night guard still hasn't arrived, they're so sorry for not calling, etc. Still no word on when it will actually arrive.
Still waiting for that to happen, actually. They said they'd call once it arrived in the office and I still haven't heard from anyone. So, I went to another dentist because my mouth still hurts, there's still a sore back there and my jaw still aches when I bite down. I called Miswak to send my x-rays to my new dentist, they said they'd do it in "five minutes" and I'm still not sure if the new dentist has actually received them. I know they may not have completed it in an hour, but over a day has gone by and no one has sent anything yet?
All in all, not one of the best experiences I've ever had at a doctor or dentist. The receptionist is really friendly and attempts to be helpful, but it seems like it's just a facade. Miswak isn't really the place to go for "real" dental work. A cleaning, perhaps, and some periphery maintenance but not for anything serious or grand.
Turns out, I have a bone fragment protruding from my gum and that's what's making my mouth sore, painful and creating a "bump" back there. The dentist totally missed it and just said it was an "ulcer" as opposed to something that has to be surgically removed. read more
