I made the mistake of assuming Aspen Dental was a local practice named for the aspen trees in the…read moreregion, not a corporate conglomerate with over 1000 locations. Still, how unethical can any medical practice be? Well, after a quick Google search, apparently enough to warrant investigations by PBS and Frontline.
Apparently the website states that new patients do not receive a cleaning with their first visit. That's not standard, and should have been explicitly stated by the receptionist when I scheduled my appointment, but I'll admit to my own failed due diligence.
After about an hour with a very polite intern and X-ray tech in a room that smelled like stale cigarettes and corn chips, I was taken to the examination room where two dental hygienists looked in my mouth and counted off gum recession numbers. They weren't as polite. In fact, they kept using the phrase "really bad." When Dr. Gary Minkowitz arrived, his bedside manner wasn't any better. He catastrophically told me that two of my molars were on the verge of cracking, and that if one did, "that's it." He, along with his Hygienist Hype Squad, told me I'd need scaling and root planing, which is simply another term for a deep cleaning, which I've had before.
I'd been to a well respected dental practice in Bryn Mawr, PA less than a year ago, and another in Center City Philadelphia for decades, and I'm aware of my gum recession, grinding, and clenching. At my last cleaning, my dentist said watchful waiting was the best approach. I would have had to have made some very bad lifestyle changes in the last year for any poor dental hygiene to have advanced so aggressively.
After Dr. Minkowitz left, a hygienist showed me out. I was told then that they wouldn't have time for a cleaning, though I now know they never intended to do one. I was waiting for the treatment coordinator, which is Aspen Dental's way of saying High Pressure Sales Rep. Here I was told I'd need the scaling and root planing (i.e. deep cleaning), localized antimicrobials (antibiotics under the gums), and recommended laser periodontal therapy. I was also told I couldn't just schedule a cleaning, deep or otherwise; that the antibiotics and laser therapy were bundled with the treatment and not covered by any insurance. When I asked how much, the timeshare saleswoman - sorry, treatment coordinator - tilted her screen towards me rather than say the number out loud: $1500.
I asked to pay for my visit and leave, and was told it had already been processed. I left.
Here's Aspen Dental's racket: they schedule new patients for a consultation, a "get to know you," I was told, and let their new patients assume it comes with the standard cleaning that comes expected with every other new patient dental exam in the New World. The consultation yields the canned dramatics of a shady auto mechanic, echoed by the doctor's Hygienist Hype Squad, and then the treatment coordinator closes the deal. In fact, Aspen Dental's own jobs site asks its treatment coordinators, or patient care consultants, to "work to overcome patient objections," "support treatment acceptance through sales techniques," and "present financing options." In other words, the treatment coordinator is there to hold new patients' cleanings hostage until they sign a contract for unnecessary, out of pocket treatments. And most new patients, rightly expecting a same-day cleaning, will submit, even to $1500, especially after the treatment coordinator offers them a line of credit through DentalFirst. Sound familiar? It should. You know how JCPenney offers you a 30% discount if you apply for an in-store credit card any time you buy some Jockeys? That's what Aspen Dental's doing, only without the discount.
There are a lot of great, local dental practices in the area. I should have looked at Aspen Dental's 1.1 star review before scheduling an appointment. That's on me. But my mistake is your win. Go somewhere else. If you go to Aspen Dental, you won't get a cleaning; you'll get a bogus exam driven by corporate incentives. If you don't think this practice could be as bad as I say, the information is out there. Just Google it. This is not a dental office. This is a commission driven retail operation. While you might think you're getting healthcare, the staff is running morning huddles gamifying your visit with daily sales goals. Look it up. Aspen explicitly incentivizes their hygienists with hefty monthly bonuses averaging $2000 to $3000 to aggressively push borderline cases like my own into mandatory deep cleanings bundled with uncovered add-ons. From the X-ray tech to the treatment coordinator, they're all part of a heavily aggregated sales pipeline of collection trackers designed to maximize each medical professional's own cut.
If you want to be a metric in a corporate scheme that will reduce its service to the status quo in the name of profit, Applebee's is right across the street. You deserve better. You deserve care.
