I wanted to review this business and put a warning out for people that are a little squeamish about dentists. If you are such a person, this is not the place for you. I'm just going to describe my experience yesterday, because I really don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else. I have a tooth that has a cavity and decaying, it's a molar so my dentist referred me to Dr. Pace because he doesn't do root canals on molars. His office staff made me the appointment so I had no interaction with this office before I called the morning of my appointment to ask what my cost and expectations could be. I was concerned right away because when I asked the woman on the phone what to expect she put me on hold two separate times to get an answer and her "patching me up" answer was vague and not super comforting. So I walk into the place at my scheduled time and I'm handed paperwork to fill out, very normal, very routine. What wasn't routine and struck me as odd since I had been to a dentist four days prior, was the consent form that I had to sign warning me that if I contracted Covid at this facility I would not have any legal recourse, very odd and offputting, but these are new times and I signed it and didn't think anything more of it. Until I took my paperwork up to the front desk and realized that perhaps one of the reasons I was signing this form is that their front office staff wears their facemasks beneath their noses, I expected a little more delegation out of a medical office. Then a very young lady came to get me, brought me back to the room where she couldn't get through her "Covid questions" without giggling (not a funny subject) and then spoke to me like I was not a referred patient, like I walked in off of the sidewalk and they had no idea what was going on with me, doesn't leave a very comforting feeling. I just chalked it up to youth and that the doctor would be in shortly and I'm sure he would make me much more comfortable than my experience had so far. Enters Dr. pace, who was "friendly", gave me pretty painful shots to numb my mouth with very little conversation and then told me he'd be back in 10 minutes to check on me. Not even two minutes after I had just had three needles injected into my mouth I was asked to stand up, gather my things and was walked to the front desk to settle up my bill. At this point, I was shaking, because those shots are extremely painful and my nerves after that had really got to me, no one seemed to care and I was informed they needed to close their books out for the day. My suggestion is the next time they have to do this to a patient, come back and let me still be seated as you collect your money. I sat for over 20 minutes waiting for the doctor to come back in, which happens, but with someone like myself and my fear of dentists, having two and three patients going at one time where other people are having to wait in anticipation for their procedure is just not my cup of tea. I've never experienced anything like this and I will assure that I don't ever again. It is such a tiny office, that I was able to overhear two of the nurses in the room next to me having a conversation about their day, both while pulling their facemasks down I guess to be able to talk better, I didn't love the way this office handled Covid. I had made it clear to both the young lady and the doctor that I have anxiety and I was concerned about a panic attack. That's when they leaned me back in the chair and asked me to put a dark pair of glasses on my face so they could both of hover over my head, I expressed some concerns and instead of reassurance or concern for my well-being, it was explained to me by the doctor that this was for his liability and that if anything were to fly into my eyes he'd be in real big trouble. So I guess I can kick rocks, have a panic attack, etc, just as long as he doesn't get sewed. The root canal took forever and I don't believe that I was spoken to for the entire almost hour and a half he was working. He and the nurse talked, even joking about how she doesn't drive on the freeways, as I am laying there trying not to have a panic attack, I just didn't feel like the tone or the conversation were appropriate. I know when I questioned wearing the dark glasses that I upset the doctor and he made that very clear to me from the way he treated me from that moment forward. This place is why people hate dentists and please if you have a small child, do not go here, these type of dentists offices are why I have the horrible phobias that I do to this day. I certainly hope for the sake of my root canal that his dentistry is better than his bedside manner. Lesson learned? When your initial instincts tell you to leave, don't just chalk that up to avoidance of the procedure, I had some significant bells going off yesterday and if I hadn't needed to get done what I had done in a timely manner, I would've walked out. read more
