I dreaded the moment when my friend was harping me about going to the dentist; I haven't been for at least eight years and suffered through both bottom wisdom teeth pushing out out my gums. I already knew I had to get an extraction sooner than later.
I may a pact that once I have dental insurance, I will see the dentist, no ifs, ands or buts. Lucky for me, Alana G. went to Dr. Charles beforehand, and I love the work that was done to her.
All five times that I went to River Dentistry, and all five times I was pretty satisfied with the results.
Why did I waited this long to write a review? I wanted to see if there was a change in pattern during all five visits, and it's hard to judge something that is dealing with your health in one visit.
--
1) May 2014: X-Ray and teeth cleaning. I had already warned Dr. Charles that I haven't been to the dentist in over eight years, and he already could tell the damage that was done. The initial visit was painless, and told me what I needed to have done to get my teeth to tiptop shape. I hesitated about hearing the wisdom teeth extractions, but already knew it had to be done. He managed to clean out a lot of gunk in my teeth and I had a weird empty clean feeling in the back of my bottom front teeth.
2) June 2014: Fillings, left side. I had this schedule on an experimental Sunday, with a different doctor. This doctor was a trial run, yet the doctor was pretty nice and gentle when she was drilling and putting the plaster into my teeth. People were surprised that I had to get numbed for fillings. Afterwards, I kind of figured out why, Dr. Charles wants to minimize as much pain for the patient, and possibly the drilling may have been painful, if one was sensitive to pain.
3) July 2014. Fillings, right side. Dr. Charles personally checked the left side, to make sure the previous doctor's work was meeting to his standards (which they did). And it seemed that Dr. Charles was a bit quicker than the previous doctor, as my fillings were done in less than 45 minutes. He did warn me if my teeth was slightly uneven after the fillings, to let him know. (There was a small gap before I left, and he managed to fix it. Since then, no problems.)
4) October 2014. Wisdom teeth extraction, right side. The dreaded day of getting both top and bottom wisdom teeth pulled out. Somehow, the process wasn't as painful as I thought it may have been, granted I was numbed up, maybe a bit too much than I should. Dr. Charles mentioned even if I feel a bit of a tingling of the nerves, to let him know, so he can increase the dosage a bit. Top wisdom tooth came out like a dream; bottom wisdom tooth had some problems, and he did noticed that I did flinch a bit, and gave me a bit more of the shot without me letting him know. After a loud crack ("it's okay, it's normal!"), my bottom tooth came out. He quickly moved to stitching the loose flap of my gum with the old-school stitches, because he mentioned it's cleaner and less of a chance for the stitches to come out.
After the entire ordeal, Jose took some time to explain to me how to keep the new holes clean, as well as how my diet will change the next couple days, until my wound/stitches heal. Dr. Charles prescribed some antibiotics and painkillers for me to take the next couple days, just in case.
5) November 2014. Teeth cleaning and check-up of wisdom teeth extraction. Quick and painless. Just a check up to see how the extraction was healing and to cut off the remaining stitches as well as getting my yearly cleaning. After listening to Dr. Charles six month ago about changing my dental routine (electric toothbrush, flossing every day, mouthwash, the works), he noticed a big difference and mention to continue the healthy habit. He did mentioned a few more things that wasn't brought up during my initial visit, and I'm considering his opinion, as he has taken care of me during this entire year.
--
Because I recently changed jobs, my dental insurance is kind of in limbo, and I have let the clerk (Vanessa) know about this. She was more than happy to assist me on what I needed to do to continue seeing Dr. Charles. In addition, there were some cancellations in the past, and Vanessa alerted me as soon as possible (phone call and e-mail), and gave me a reschedule date that works around my schedule, and even alert me if and when an earlier time slot opened up.
River Dentistry made me less scared about going to see the dentist, and I would highly recommend this place for those who haven't been to the dentist in a while. From my five visits, I never once felt pressured to do all the procedures that Dr. Charles recommended, and the staff is understanding about the different situations in my life that they are willing to work around them.
Best of all, open on Saturdays, so I can use my sick days for "sick days". read more