I have never been to a dental office where the dentists are fantastic but the dental assistant is a nightmare. I have been there twice because they are the only biological dentists office in Edmonton. The receptionists are always helpful and friendly. The dentists I have been to (Dr Yoo and Dr Ruby) are excellent. But what made my experience horrible each time was the dental assistant. She is an asian lady, I believe her name is Lisa, however I could be wrong. I have never had another dental assistant cause me so much pain or discomfort. The first time I was there, she kept jamming the suction tube against my lips, pressing it hard against by teeth so that my lips would be pinned hard between the suction and my teeth causing me pain. I had to keep stopping the dentist so that I could tell then dental assistant she was causing me pain. This visit was no better, in fact it was worse. She started by giving me numbing gel on a qtip to apply to my gums prior to freezing. Only she jammed the qtip hard up into my gums. I said "Ow!" once, but that didn't stop her from doing it again on the other side. I finally took the qtip from her and told her I'd do it myself. She apologized for being too rough but then tried to blame it on the fact that the gums in that area are sensitive. I told her this is her job and she needs to learn to be more gentle with people. After that, the dentist (Dr Ruby) got started working on my teeth, and she was gentle and did an excellent job, however again I had constant issues with the dental assistant. She kept putting the suction tube too far back into my mouth which would then make me feel like I was gagging. She is completely unaware of the discomfort she is causing, even after being told she makes poor excuses like "well that spot is sensitive" or "I need to do this". Ok so do it, just do it without gagging me. When I wasn't gagging, half the time I felt like I was going to choke on my saliva because she also had the rinsing tube in my mouth too. Rinse, suction, gag, repeat. At one point she was also using the suction tube to pull my mouth open more so she could see what the dentist was doing better. Why not just ask me to open my mouth more? Then came time for curing the filling and again she would jam the curing light against my lips, pinning my lips hard against my teeth and causing me pain and discomfort. I tried to say something to indicate it was uncomfortable, but both her and the dentist thought I was indicating that the heat from the light was uncomfortable and tried explaining that it was necessary but would be over soon. No, having my lips pinned sharply against my teeth was! Overall this experience would have been a breeze if I hadn't had a dental assistant that was completely clueless as to the level of discomfort she was causing me as her patient. Several times I was almost prepared to grab her arm and move it away myself, but I did not. Close to the end my anxiety was so high by that point that when she said "Ok suction!" and tried to go in I told her enough with the f--king suction already! I was not impressed and my anxiety was through the roof by that point. It took me 2 years to come back to this dental office because of the discomfort she caused me the first time and this time was even worse. I came back because it is a biological dentist and the dentists do a good job. I refuse to allow her to assist with any of my other procedures as long as I am a patient there. The next appointment I have that is in a couple of weeks, I told them she is a horrible assistant and asked that they give me someone else. They promised to work it out. read more