After having sharp tooth pain for a couple of worrying weeks, I went to First City Dental based on a friend's recommendation. Going to a new dentist for pain is always a risk - if they claim dozens of cavities (and maybe a couple of root canals!), plumping up their bill into the thousands, how would I ever know the difference?
That did not happen at all. Dr. Painter made no attempts to sell me anything extra, located the cavities and did the drilling necessary to fix them. I could tell at least one tooth was pretty bad - I had been having constant pain for a while, and he agreed that I probably narrowly avoided a root canal. Throughout my appointments Dr. Painter was friendly, cheerful, and personable, which really helped take my mind off my ridiculous fears of dental work.
The only bad thing about the office is that Dr. Painter's good reputation seems to have gotten around, and his waiting room was pretty busy. And it doesn't help his waiting time that he is so incredibly careful with his patients - he re-did one tooth from scratch just because he wasn't 100% confident that the filling was perfect. As he said, he wanted it to be perfect. And since I went, it has been!
While I can't say I ever *enjoy* my visits to a dentist, it really makes such a difference when the dentist treating you seems so incredibly competent and careful! read more