Had the worst experience getting crowns here. What should have been 2 visits turned into 10 total visits including emergency visits. A total of 6 weeks in so much pain I could not get through a day without taking 3,000 mg of Advil. I couldn't eat, sleep, I missed so much work and I was not able to take care of my household for 6 long weeks. A crown, turned into a root canal nightmare that wasn't necessary to begin with.
Here's what happened: I went in for temp crowns w/Dr Alphons. He told me the perm crowns would be in and ready 2 weeks or less. That day, Day 1 the pain started and it never stopped. I thought maybe it was normal the first few days but a week later, I went in to get checked out. The pain never got better. Dr Alphons was not there as he only works 1 day a week so I had to see someone else. Dr. Hills, very nice and compassionate but there wasn't much she could do for me as I had to wait to see Dr. Alphons. She gave me an oral rinse script to try and help ...it did nothing. Another week goes by and my temp crowns should have been removed but Dr. Alphons took his 1 day a week off which forced me to wait another whole week. I did ask to please have another dentist help me bc of the unbearable pain but they insisted it had to be him.
Finally, after 3 long weeks of 24/7 pain I went in for removal of temps and perm crowns to be put in. I shared with Dr Alphons what the last 3 weeks was like for me. I was in tears telling him about the constant pain. He said nothing. He actually chuckled. Under his mask, he chuckled. He stared at me with a blank stare. Zero kindness, zero compassion ... he didn't care at all. He placed permanent crowns on and I left.
The pain did not stop. Everyday 3,000mg of Advil. Another week goes by and I go in for another emergency visit. This time I see Dr. Hornung. He was much more kind and seemed like he really wanted to help me get out of this situation. He did offer up an apology that I was going through this which was nice to hear considering Dr Alphons found it humorous. Unfortunately, he had no definite answers on the cause of the pain and gave me an antibiotic for an infection. I completed the script, it did not help. He recommend I see the specialist the following week.
The following week I was seen by Dr. Jue a specialist in root canals. She was very nice, and seemed to really want to help me. After looking at the xrays and observing the pain I was in she also did not have a 100% resolution for me. She did suggest I have a root canal but would not be back in the office for a couple of months.
Days later (now on week 6) I went back to see Dr Hornung. I suggested we should do the root canal to just see if that would put me out of pain. Kill the nerve, I am willing to do anything! Although he agreed that was a good idea, he did not feel comfortable doing it himself. He said I would have to see a specialist and either wait months for the in house specialist or pay out of pocket in a different office. I left crying.
-A couple days later I called around to a few other dental offices sharing what happened to me and what I was going through. A dentist that had never seen me before took me the very next day. It took him 10 minutes to find the problem and had me in and out in 30 minutes. I was never in pain again.
He was not a specialist, but he was confident in his ability to help me. A regular dentist from a completely different office ended my nightmare. read more