Went to this office once, having recently returned to the East Bay and looking to get established with a new dentist. After my one visit here I realized I needed to keep my old dentist - even if it means a long trip out of state! My first contact with this office was with Connie on the phone. Her manner was at once slightly off-putting, slightly manic or distracted, not listening well, overly concerned with informing me of how useless my dental insurance would be and how it would be more in my interest to pay in cash. HUH? How is that appropriate to someone who is not even an established patient of Dr. Fowler's yet?
My discomfort with Connie's tone and manner continued in person as well. She seemed snappish and too overwhelmed with her tasks to slow down, LISTEN, and be pleasant. Dr. Fowler's manner was pleasant, but I was dismayed enough by his "assessment" to never want to set foot in this dental office again.
* I have to wonder why the "30 five-star reviews" though. Is it possible that most of those are die-hard fans of Dr. Fowler, and not random patients? Most people can't be bothered to leave reviews for their dentists, and "30" is hardly a huge number, given that Dr. Fowler has been in practice for decades. My prior dentist has HUNDREDS of five-star reviews.
Anyway, the dental hygenist was gentle, perhaps too much so, so that I didn't feel I got a thorough enough cleaning. I get my teeth cleaned every 4-6 months, and I have very good dental health for a not-so-young person. I do not have gum disease, my gums do not bleed when I floss or when they are cleaned, and I have the normal amount of gum recession one would expect in a lady over 50 years of age. Dr. Fowler does not do periodontal charting. I was amazed. Not even for a NEW patient? He refused to do it, saying simply "I don't do that", when I asked him about it.
He did a brief examination and recommended "all four quadrants for deep scaling and planing". HUH??? That is ALL MY TEETH. I had no teeth or gum issues, my teeth had been professionally cleaned just 4 months prior, I brush and floss TWICE DAILY, I eat no sweets, do not smoke or drink alcohol. I have one tooth with a bit of a slightly larger "gap" at the gumline due to the tooth right below it having been extracted six years ago, leading to the one above moving a bit over time. But the gap has been well managed, there is no problem with it, and I am hyper-attentive to it DAILY, keeping the area scrupulously clean.
But Dr. Fowler saw that I was a demure-looking, polite older lady, with the teeth of an older person, and suggested ALL 31 of my TEETH have deep, invasive, scraping and "planing". The tally of this treatment would be in the thousands of dollars. They suggested I get all this done in TWO sessions. I refused, and later called to ask Dr. Fowler about why he'd suggested it. I never got to speak to him however, because Connie insisted on answering for me. Connie claimed that she asked him, and relaying what he'd said to her to me, he told her that he only suggested it for me as some sort of "precautionary" thing, a "just in case" kind of treatment. I was gobsmacked.
This is an invasive, painful procedure to have done to ALL teeth, for THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, when I might not exactly NEED it?
When it was time again to have my routine cleaning, I returned to my prior dentist of 7 years, one I trust implicitly and who has given me excellent care, and told him about what Dr, Fowler had recommended, and asked my dentist why perhaps he thought Dr. Fowler might have suggested it, since my dentist didn't think I needed this treatment to even ONE tooth. His response was that dentists differ in their assessments, but that he also saw Dr. Fowler's recommendation as "too aggressive" and certainly "unnecessary" for the condition of my teeth and gums.
This office is in an older building, with a very dated decor. Connie and the hygenist seemed very rushed, even harried, despite the fact that aside from me there was only one other person in the waiting room. read more