I was a patient of Randolph's Yip's for 10 years. My husband, out of convenience (his firehouse was a couple of blocks away) began seeing R. Yip and thought that I should switch to R. Yip for convenience; R. Yip's office is closer to our home than my previous dentist. My husband also thought that Yip was a competent dentist since R. Yip speaks extensively about teaching dentistry.
I am adverse to change, and I stayed with R. Yip for a decade. I am a busy mom of 4, who stays with doctors, dentists, you name it, hairstylists, unless something major happens to make me make a change. Well, something major happened with R. Yip.
When I first went to Yip's office, I thought that he was okay. He cleaned my teeth, but, in my opinion, he was a bit stingy or lazy with the cleaning. With my front, bottom teeth, he wouldn't floss under my permanent retainer (I have a permanent retainer on my front 6 bottom teeth because of localized periodontitis and recession). He definitely doesn't impress, in my opinion. His office is small, and he has 1 front office manager.
Oh, and you know how when you go to the dentist, you get a toothbrush and maybe floss? Well, Yip would not give these out to my husband and me, unless we asked for them. It was really weird. In my opinion, R. Yip is really cheap.
But, I haven't gotten to the nitty gritty of why my husband and I both left Yip's office. In November of 2013, Yip recommended that I have him remove my permanent retainer (that my wonderful orthodontist put on and maintained for me). Yip said that my teeth were mobile and I should have him put on a more sturdy retainer. I was nervous about this, but he was so sure that his retainer would be the panacea of retainers. He changed my retainer without consulting my orthodontist, and right away, there were problems.
The retainer started coming off of my teeth, and he had to repair it. He seemed to have to troubleshoot and figure out how to keep the retainer "glued" down. I had to come into his office numerous times over the last year and a half. Sometimes he would charge me, and sometimes he would not. When I went into his office, he would say that "this shouldn't be happening" and "this never happens" with another patient. Yip would shake his head and, in my opinion seem very annoyed at having to fix the retainer. In my opinion, Yip went outside of his area of expertise with this retainer.
Also, on many occasions, recently, Yip would make jokes about my front, lower teeth. He said " if only we could sell your tartar". He said this in front of my 9 year old daughter. And, on many occasions, he said that I needed to bring in my toothbrush because I didn't know how to brush my teeth. I was appalled and tried to talk to him about these rude comments, but it didn't help.
Oftentimes, when I would visit the office, Yip's wife and sometime office manager, Catie (she wears a white coat with an RN label on it!) would, in my opinion, be curt, rude, and seem seriously put out to have me in the office.
Finally, a couple of weeks ago, my retainer needed repair; so I went back to R. Yip. He brought me into his office and said "we're going around in circles; this retainer isn't working". He said I had 3 choices. I could have him put on braces, pull out my front teeth and get dentures (!), or go to his recommended oral surgeon for implants. At that point, I said, wait a minute, you told me to take off my ortho's retainer (which wasn't giving me any problems) and put on yours, and now you won't maintain it? He then offered to pay for my orthodontist to put on another retainer and/or refund my original retainer cost. I told him that he was putting me in an awkward situation, as my orthodontist was left outside the loop. I also asserted that I wanted to keep my teeth and a permanent retainer, as this was my periodontist's recommendation. I asserted that he needed to repair my retainer at that visit. I also asked him to call my ortho and explain what happened, which he did not do.
He finally agreed to fix the retainer, but he didn't speak to me while working on it. Then, after, in my opinion, hastily repairing it, he said, "try to move it!". I asked "what?". And, again, he ordered, "try to move it!" When leaving, he said, "let's see if it lasts 3 months".
I called the office and said that my husband and I would be leaving the office. I asked for our dental records and X-rays. My husband called again a few days later asking for our records, and Yip told him we would need to subpoena him for our records! I called back speaking to Catie: I told her that I was appalled by, in my opinion, Randolph Yip's excessive pride, lack of professionalism, integrity, compassion, and class. I said that I know that, as a patient, I am entitled to copies of my records and my X-rays.
Yip's office refunded the retainer cost and gave us our records and X-rays, but not without a hassle. Horrible experience! read more
