I live in Westlake, I work in Westlake, I have teeth, and I like eating at Hat Creek Burgers…read more
For providing an important medical service at a convenient location with a baked-in excuse for yummy fast food, Dr. Ho should, in view of the above facts, be a slam dunk for a five star review.
That said, I feel compelled to give Dr. Ho a three star review.
Dr. Ho is a nice guy, and definitely seems to "know his teeth."
However, to continue with the dental metaphors, the lingering taste in my mouth from my visit was one of irritation with the practice's inefficient, time intensive workflow, which IMHO, completely negates the convenience benefits of the practice's location, and for the reasons set forth herein, doesn't really make sense from either a dental care or business perspective.
My routine cleaning and dental exam took over an hour to complete, with at least twenty five minutes spent poring over 3-D scans of my skull and teeth, and Dr. Ho discussing how the 3-D scan showed that one of my sinuses was fully blocked. (regrettably, the fact that only 50% of the cost of the 3-D imaging would be covered by my insurance was not part of the discussion). Fascinating stuff, that rundown on my nasal passages - but a bad use of my time when I'm breathing fine, my teeth don't hurt and I've got to run back home to ferry a toddler to daycare.
Further, about 15 minutes into the discussion of 3-D scan of my head and teeth (including asides on the state of my sinuses), Dr. Ho went from being generally sanguine about my dental health to going back and forth as to whether he saw a cavity . From this, I conclude that there is some probability I have a cavity, and we should definitely keep a close eye on one or more of my teeth.
By my math, my dental visit was made ~20-25 minutes longer and $150 more expensive than it needed to be due to the long winded review of the partially out-of-plan 3-D imaging.
From a business and prophylaxis standpoint, the better move would have been to skip the 3-D imaging, and to the extent x-rays presented a tricky question of whether I have a cavity in need of attention, move up the date of my next checkup to keep an eye on my possibly latently janky tooth. We'd all win this way. I'd get back my precious time, insurance would have paid for everything, and Dr. Ho would easily recapture the revenue from the $%^&-ing out-of-plan 3-D scan in future cleanings and visits.
Further, if routine cleaning/checkups proceeded quicker and did not include a partially out-of-plan 3-D scan as a matter of default, I'd be inclined to send the rest of my family to this practice, so we could all get our teeth done and go for burgers afterwards. But so long as such a visit would foreseeably take four-plus hours and cost me $600 for the uninsured portion of four 3-D scans, that's not a sensible option.
That said, I'm a reasonable guy, and if presented with evidence of shorter visit times and making the 3-D imaging optional, I'd consider updating this review and returning to this practice, as Dr. Ho appears to be a thoroughly competent dentist with an uber-convenient location.
