I want to preface this review with the fact that I did not receive dental care by the dentist. However, that is in itself part of the problem. This is a rating of this office's ethical standards and not their dental care. I have no idea if he is a good dentist of not. I can however comment on the used car salesmanship I experienced while negotiating my dental treatment.
I recently moved here from out of state and had X-rays from a recent dentist visit (out of state). I scheduled an appointment for a cleaning and a consultation about work I wanted done on broken fillings and a couple cavities. I chose his office because this office is close to my apartment. The dental assistants texted me the day of, saying they need to do the xrays again, but that they can do it for the special price of zero dollars up front from me...It will all go to my insurance! Fortunately, I know a little something about annual maximums so I declined, saying I would just complete my work with the same dentist office out of state. They replied that I should come in anyway and we can see if we can work something out.
Upon arrival, the dental assistant approaches me and says, "there's good news, we only need to do some of the X-rays again, because the previous dentist didn't get the roots of the teeth in the x-ray". I pulled up the pictures, which clearly showed the roots of the teeth, and asked for clarification on what he can't see. She said, "I don't know, I am not a dentist", to which I replied, "well, I will just speak with the dentist during our appointment, and he can clarify". She left and returned, and said, I just got clarification, that we only need 2 x-rays (she pointed out 2 that were of my bite and not x-rays of the root) and we can do it all for only $100 against your insurance. At this point, I am more than a bit weary at their constant bartering of services and inconsistent messaging about what is wrong with the X-rays. I say that I am OK without the X-rays and we can cover it when I speak with the dentist.
While doing my cleaning they bring a liability waver in the middle of the procedure, incredibly similar to what Mariam E below wrote. She explained that because I refused the X-rays, they wanted me to sign, which made sense as he can't identify problems which may have arisen since the X-rays. I signed and finished the cleaning.
After the cleaning, I was aggressively pursued by multiple people to schedule the next cleaning, which is normal enough I guess. They also attempted to bring me to the x-ray room, which I declined. Finally, they brought me to another dental assistant that again tried to sell me on the booking my next cleaning, before telling me that the doctor will not be meeting with me for the consultation. He said he could not diagnose anything from the xrays, which is ludacris, the X-rays are very clear and of high quality. I pointed out the problem areas (clearly illuminated white spots where fillings were laid and dark spots where cavities have formed) and said, "I can even make these out". To which the dental assistant responded, "I don't know, I am not the dentist", as if her years of training and time working in a dental office have been spent pressing a button and that only a dentist can notice the contrast of black and white.
To summarize here, the dentist wanted to make money on X-rays, which I get -- they have staff to pay, there is probably some confidence gained by doing them yourself, and you can perform your own methodology. However, to have your dental assistants haggle the price or number of x-rays in an effort to squeeze what you can out of my insurance is just sleazy. Furthermore, to not even show your face and cancel a consolation I set an appointment for and made time in my schedule for, is insulting and a bit spineless. I am a bit relieved that I didn't move forward with the dentist in the end. I truly believe there would have been some kind of retribution, whether in quality of treatment or hidden cost, for my refusal to do x-rays. read more