Let me preface this review by reminding Yelpers that those who have 5/5 experiences anywhere are less likely to leave reviews. I receive my primary dental care from Pure Dental Spa and enjoy it.
When I needed my wisdom teeth removed, it was a very convenient process to have the procedure done by their in-house oral surgeon, Dr. Prem Patel, rather than getting an outsourced referral. He is skilled, high energy, and his bedside manner is good. The procedure went well with no immediate post-op pain.
Where Pure Dental Spa struggles is in terms of communication. There is no centralized location for patient info (no patient portal, etc.). This might be a helpful addition, especially with their different locations and expanded services like in-house oral surgery. I was emailed a couple of possible surgery times and replied with my preferred time. I never received a reply or confirmation, so I assumed that this particular time and date was on the books. I had a gut feeling to call the office to confirm my surgery time, and I'm glad I did! The very kind person on the other end did see that the date from the original email was on the books, but that I was scheduled for a different time.
The lack of a confirmation email and the lack of a patient portal could've been very costly ($200, to be exact per their no show/cancellation policy). I did not receive written pre-op reminders until less than 24 hours before my surgery time. Luckily, this was not my first surgery experience so I was able to fill in contextual blanks when needed. I can imagine if this were my very first time getting surgery or IV sedation, the communication leading up to the surgical date may exacerbate any existing anxious feelings. I was also asked if I would be willing to move my surgery time up 2 hours at 6pm the night before the surgery itself. This seemed strange, especially given the late notice, their own 3 day confirmation policy, and the restrictions around food and water intake prior to a surgery like this one. I elected to keep my original appointment time.
As other reviewers have mentioned, billing and insurance is where things get truly wobbly. After my initial virtual consultation with Dr. Patel, I was forwarded an invoice for the procedure according to and adjusted for my remaining insurance benefits. I received two invoices. One just after the virtual consultation and another one business day later. The 2nd (and corrected!) invoice was ~$1,000 less than the original. The office noticed the issue with the more expensive quote and resolved it promptly. Just a note if any initial quotes seem too high, call the office to verify everything is accurate.
In terms of postoperative care, I wish they would have filed any necessary prescriptions ahead of time. Just FYI that this particular office files them on the day of surgery, even when surgeries are scheduled on Sundays. The pharmacist also noted that is not the norm when I went to pick up the meds. I didn't feel I had enough gauze in the post-care bag given (only a few strips), so you might have to grab extra from the pharmacy while picking up those meds! I'm also thanking myself for pre-ordering the ice pack headband featured in just about every wisdom teeth recovery video. I mention this because a single disposable ice pack is given with your post-care bag. Depending on where you stay in the city, that ice pack will be gone with the wind (melted) before you get halfway home.
Overall, a quick, solid, and painless surgical experience, just keep in mind the considerations outlined above . Pretty dope spa-like dental office with some strange communication practices when it comes to oral surgery. read more