I love going to the dentist - odd, I know. But I came here to Smilebuilderz because of insurance coverage, and it was the WORST experience I've ever had. After waiting 25 minutes past my appointment time, I then had x-rays and photos taken for 35 minutes. They measured my gums, dictating the number and every time I bled; this was much more painful than I've ever experienced at any other dental office. I was bleeding a lot and in pain. The hygienist didn't tell me anything she was doing, there were no updates about whether we were almost done. It was terrible. Then the dentist came in and told me I needed to have 5 cavities filled and sealants on 6 teeth. I've never had any cavities, and when she pointed them out on the x-rays, I couldn't see any difference between where there were cavities and were there weren't. The attitude was very condescending and rude. She spoke to me like I hadn't taken good care of my teeth. So, maybe I suddenly had lots of cavities - but my husband had the exact same experience. He suddenly also needed a slew of dental work. So I call BS. Never again will I go back to a Smilebuilderz or let them touch my mouth. I've since been seen by another dentist and they've confirmed that I do not have any cavities. read more

Called for info re: Damon braces for my son and to see if they took my insurance(s). I did check website, but one wasn't listed so I called. Thank goodness I did, because they actually do. The receptionist answered as though she was bothered and agitated by the phone ringing or just having to work petiod. She was young, rude, and extremely unprofessional. She rushed my answers, responded by saying "what?", and would mute or place me on hold as if I didn't notice.....There goes my business to a company who wants it. read more

Worst dentist ever. They are all about business and not about the patients needs. They have the worst rules about scheduling and canceling appts. T read more

I recently had an issue with my tooth that needed immediate attention. My family dentist was not able to see me for a few days. I decided that I would try out the local "URGENT DENTAL CARE" office in Lancaster at smilebuilderz because I really did not want to wait to have my tooth fixed...it was an URGENT issue that needed addressed as soon as possible. Dental Urgent Care seemed like the perfect solution. To say I am disappointed would be a gross understatement! I have only ever visited a "normal" urgent care facility before today. All of my experiences with urgent care have involved showing up, reporting my symptoms, waiting to be seen by a doctor (within a few hours), I get treated, and then leave. It is a pretty simple concept that works great; hence the growing popularity of urgent care centers. Before just wasting my time and walking in, I was proactive and called into the office and spoke with a woman on the phone to verify my insurance was accepted and to ask how the process worked at smilebuilderz since I have never been to a specific dental urgent care center. I was told that my insurance was accepted and to just come and walk-in and I would be seen. I was told I may have to wait a little, even a few hours, but I figured that was no different than the regular urgent care center. WRONG! I showed up and was greeted by a young lady who proceeded to explain that I would ONLY be seen IF someone canceled a REGULARY scheduled appointment. Wait - what!? Why didn't the lady on the phone just tell me this!? I was told in the office that I was at a normal dentist office, and that there was no guarantee that I would be seen the same day UNLESS a time slot opened up. I have NEVER been told at an URGENT care center where there was no guarantee I would be seen the same day. How can a business advertise themselves as an urgent care center on their website and on their huge illuminated building sign and then proceed to tell people to their face that they will only be seen if a slot opens up from their regularly scheduled patient appointments!?!?!?! If I wanted to make an appointment and wait, I WOULD GO TO MY FAMILY DENTIST. YOU GUYS ARE MISSING THE WHOLE POINT of what an URGENT care center is! I actually laughed at the lady because I thought she was joking when she was explaining the process. That is false advertising! You are NOT an urgent care center - you are simply a regular dentist who happens to fit in people on the fly IF there is time in the day. Couldn't ANY dentist do this? Can anyone and everyone just advertise that they are a dental urgent care center because they take walk-ins? Seems just a little misleading folks. An exact quote from your website reads, "For any dental emergency, any day of the week, any time of day, smilebuilderz Urgent Dental Care is here to help. Think of us as an Emergency Room for all dental problems." WHAT A JOKE! I have never been to an Emergency Room and told, "Meh, we'll see you if we have time today." It was 4:00 pm and I was told I could wait the rest of the day (4 hours) and possibly never be seen. Shame on you. I will certainly make sure everyone I know, knows that they should never count on being able to go to your "Urgent Care Center" to get help for a dental problem. read more

This location deserves more than 5 stars!!! We had to come here on a last second notice and the staff was very accommodating. We were traveling and my child knocked out her baby tooth and we had to go in and make sure that everything was okay. I would recommend this location to others! Thank you so much!! read more

What an amazing place. They got my daughter in super fast and they were so nice, from the receptionist, to the dental assistant, to the dentist. They took their time to explain everything, they made sure my daughter was numb and comfortable and saved her tooth that I was told needed a root canal but actually had a huge cavity that her old dentist should have caught before it got that big and started hurting. Luckily the dentist did his own x-ray and found that instead of just doing the root canal. I will now be taking all of my kids there and I highly recommend them. read more

I wish I could give this business a rating of ZERO! Before sharing my husband's story, I'd like to tell you that I have told this to many, many people; my job takes me all over Lancaster. I have not heard one person defend this dentist office. Most have their own complaints: countless cases of over billing; dentures that do not fit and teeth that do not fit together correctly after having work done there. EVERYONE I have talked to has heard stories or has had a bad experience. I honestly could not find one person who had anything good to say about them. My husband's story follows, and I am sharing with you what he wrote to the Pa Dental Board. Show this to your friends and family: In this complaint, I will be showing you that the above business has performed oral surgery on a patient with a medical condition and did not have the experience necessary to do this. On October 14, I went to this dentist to have an impacted tooth removed. The dentist office had all of the medications ahead of time that I take for high blood pressure and an irregular heart beat. On the day of the surgery, my wife was called in when they were finished. She was told that my blood pressure was over 200 and my heartbeat had slowed to around 40. The oral surgeon stated at this point that with what they used to put me to sleep I should be very relaxed and my blood pressure should be lower, but it was actually much higher than when they started. (read on to see why I say they don't know what they are doing in this practice) The dentist suggested that I see my cardiologist later in the week. A few minutes later he said I should go that day. Next the office tracked down my cardiologist and they said he was at the hospital, so my wife should drive me there. A few minutes after that, they panicked and decided that I should go in an ambulance. My wife repeatedly said she'd drive me, but it was apparent at that point that they were not going to let me out of there any way other than by ambulance. When the ambulance arrived, the EMT's were there for a bit, and they said that my vitals were starting to stabilize since the medication was wearing off. They did not use sirens and drove at the speed limit the entire way there. My wife was able to follow in her car without speeding. At the hospital, my blood pressure was still high and my heart rate slow. The doctor in the emergency room said that what I had been given in the dentist office caused the high blood pressure and slow heart rate. My cardiologist sent me home without looking at me. He said that the dentist and anesthesiologist obviously did not know what they were doing because a patients blood pressure would rise with the medication I was given to put me under. My wife called the dentist back to let them know that they caused this to happen and to see what they were going to do about the bills they caused us to have. They told us to to submit all the bills to their office. Then the oral surgeon called my wife and upset her greatly by telling her that I was going to have a stroke with readings that high and I needed to get a new cardiologist immediately. That the one I had was not good. I did go see my cardiologist later that week, and all was fine. I don't think it's very professional for a dentist to call a spouse at home and try to scare her. I feel that he needs some training as a cardiologist before he does something like that again. After this, we submitted the bills to them as each one came back from our insurance company as they requested. They led us on for months, saying that they needed to see all the bills before they would take care of them. After most of bills were dropped off for them, they changed this to: "we aren't guaranteeing we will pay anything." Four months later, they said they would not pay anything. I honestly think this was because we didn't have a low copay; we owed $2500. for the mess they made of everything and how they caused my husband to almost die. It will take a total of 2 years for us to pay off the $2500 we owe because of them! We could not afford to lose this much money. They have caused a severe hardship in the lives of a four-person family. Moreover, my son, who also "used to be a patient," had two small fillings done at this office. Our insurance covers 80% of fillings. They billed us $109. and THEN sent us a second bill for over $300. Fillings must cost over $800 each there! What's more, I read a review online from an ex-employee who said they don't properly sanitize equipment between patients. Scary, huh? BUYER BEWARE! There are a lot good dentists in Lancaster (this place is not one of them) and Conestoga Oral in Lancaster is much better for oral surgery! read more

Where to begin.. First time there I came down with a major staff infection and I had to pull the nurse's hand from dropping a tool down my throat. The place is dirty and bathroom is used by employees to smoke in office. My numbing wore off last night and when I asked for something the dentist rolled her eyes. She also was doing "two" patients at once. She had to redo half the work she just did after her assistant botched it up. I never did get any Novocaine after telling her it was completely wore off. I was dizzy and faint and ready to through up. Oh also forget ever having the office call you back to answer any type of questions they never remember you. Even if you call every day. Be prepared to get very little pain meds for aftercare, if at all. A doc called me back last night promising to help then by the next day I was told by another doc that I would get nothing for my pain. I feel the assistant was hurting me knowingly last night. Stay away from here, unless you want to come down with staff infection too, which can be deadly. This place is not like any place I've ever been. You will know when you go too, that something's not right. A real 3rd world country feel to it. read more

While competent, this place is run like a factory with not the best customer service. You get what you pay for. They offer affordable dentistry, but it's not a good experience. read more

I would give Smile Builderz Crown Ave location ten stars if possible. I am not from Lancaster. I'm here on a business trip. As soon as I got to my hotel yesterday I fell and took a big chip out of my front tooth. I was at their location within a half hour, which was still less than two hours before closing. As a walk-in, I knew I might have a wait. A number of employees stayed late to get me fixed. They close at 8:00 and I didn't get finished until after 9:00. And most importantly they did a wonderful job. I didn't feel as if they were rushing to get me out of the door. You cannot tell that my tooth was broken at all. And everyone I encountered couldn't have been any nicer. read more

DO NOT use smilebuilderz!!!! I am 30 years old and have never had a cavity.... until Smilebuilderz messed up a simple sealing procedure and created an air pocket in my tooth which basically gave the food a place to go and create my first ever cavity. So then when I had to get it fixed they said because it was their fault they would pay for it, yeah not so much!!! They went back on their word about paying for it because no one documented that information in my chart! So not only did they cause my first and only cavity but they backed out on paying for it after they said they would!!! They also cancelled an appointment I had scheduled without telling me and I drove the 30/45 minutes to my appointment only to find out they had cancelled it!!! I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND USING SMILEBUILDERZ read more

My adult daughter recently came home crying from the office saying this was "THE WORST DENTIST EXPERIENCE OF HER LIFE." She's experienced 7 years of orthodontia equipment, gum surgery, and many fillings so I know this was bad. Her gums were bleeding for hours afterward and her face is still swollen the next day. All she had were 4 cavities filled. We've been to this place many times and never experienced anything like this, but the staff was rude, forceful, and even broke a piece of equipment inside her mouth and had to dig it out. When I called and spoke to the office manager about this he told me "there are two sides to every story" and that he'd check with his employees and get back to me, which he never did. No apology, just an insinuation that somehow my daughter was lying about her treatment. Very disappointed in our treatment at this facility and will NOT be returning. read more

Just a quick synopsis of what I've been through over the years. I have very good insurance, yet I was told to pay upfront to have my children's teeth cleaned. When my insurance papers came back showing that my co-pay was zero, it took months to get reimbursed. This went on for 2 years, pay the entire bill first, then fight to get reimbursed. At one point, they owed me $800.00. I threatened to contact Delta Dental, and was reimbursed immediately. As if that wasn't bad enough, I had a serious cavity that possibly needed extraction. I was convinced to save the tooth with a cap. The process was painful, my gums were shredded over a 3 week period, and two months later when the swelling went away, I realized the crown they used was too small, and live dentin was exposed. I went into the office in April - in pain - to address this. They examined me, came up with a laundry list of items including scaling, and told me they would contact my insurance company for approval, then schedule an appointment (for scaling, they weren't even addressing the issue I went in for). This is August. I received my copy of the insurance approval in April. They never called. I got busy moving to a new home, and am now just contacting another dentist - yes, still in pain. They don't care about you as a person, they don't care about your pain. They only want to see the money. And if you don't know how to read your insurance co-pay, they won't tell you - they will keep whatever you pay and keep charging you more. read more

Smilebuilders was wonderful! It was refreshing to go to a dental office be received so warmly.The office was inviting and the staff were nice. The dentis took his time with me and made sure I understood how they would fix my tooth before I had decided to go through with it. read more

Their receptionists leave much to be desired in the way of aptitude and professionalism. I do not plan to come here again.

My son is a 15 year old with Autism. It's very hard to get him to see any kind of doctor where he feels comfortable. He has been going to this location for years now and started his braces over two years ago. Recently when he last visited we were told that his insurance wasn't paying them and we would have to pay out of pocket about 1000$. Also supposedly there was a fee from the time before when he visited that wasn't paid and was never even brought to our attention. The time before that, there was a copayment that shouldn't have been asked for. This was due to the lack of knowledge at the front desk and the lack of communicating any issues with us, his parents. With a phone call to his insurance, the insurance company wasted no time to get payments approved. Now this week we were told by smilebuilderz that they no longer want our 15 year old son as a customer and for us to look for another dentist to finish his brace work and any other dental issues. This is seriously unprofessional and just morally wrong. This place is all about money right now. Patients are obviously their last priority. I will be looking into making this publicly know about this place. read more

I liked the care I received as a walk in with a bad toothache. They made me feel like I was the only one in the office with the personalized care and attention read more

Stopped in to get my wife's top denture fixed on a Saturday. Told them we do not have dental and I would pay cash for them to fix it. Thought it was weird they wanted her to fill out a medical history (she has a lot of history). They said it would be $120 which was high, because the last place was $75 when she had a tooth fixed in her top plate. Figured that is fine being Saturday, I just wanted to get it done. Hour later when she comes out they did not fix it and tried to schedule her an appointment to get it done. I said what did you do for the $120 and they told me the visit and x-ray. I was not to happy because I said what were you x-raying, she has no teeth. I could have brought you the parts in my hand and just wanted the tooth glued back in. They gave me back only half of the money and charged an office visit. Was looking for a new dentist for the family, but this will not be it. Still have to take her to her regular place to get it fixed next week and out $60. They could have just said we cannot fix it today and come back next week. They must overcharge insurance companies all the time and think I have the extra money to give them for not working. Avoid if all possible!!! read more

I can't say enough bad things about this place. I felt very rushed. I had gone in for a composite filling on one of my front teeth. It was the end of the day for most of the hygienists and while I was having my tooth shaved down to fit the filling, 4 or 5 hygienists stopped in to chat with the hygienist working on my tooth. She shaved too much off my tooth, I heard her say "Did these teeth touch before? I can't build this up so they touch." I now have a large gap between these two teeth which is right in the front of my mouth. Shortly after I got the filling, it chipped. I wouldn't recommend this place at all. read more

I would suggest oral surgery patients request any other surgeon besides Smilebuilders. Not only did they turn my smile into a complete disgruntled frown, i had to bounce back and forth from my dentist to this surgeon, over the course of almost 9 months, and at leas 5 visits to this office to get my surgery completed. The miscommunication between this office and my dentist was horrific. I had to have my gum cut twice to get the surgery done right, as my dentist requested. I suppose it was below the doctor to just call my dentist and communicate directly with him, instead of having the patient suffer with high anxiety for 9 months to be culminated by having the surgery done a second time. I spent over a hundred dollars in gas alone and drove 40 miles round trip each time and now i pray he did the surgery right as i am finally able to go back to my dentist and have him complete my denture, which had to be re requested through my insurance company, hoping it would still be approved. Not only are they Not smile builders, but they really make you wonder, what happened to professionalism. read more

My 10 year old daughter had a tooth ache, and our regular family dentist was closed. I called at 6:30 to verify they took our insurance and told them I was bringing my child in for a toothache. I then drove a half an hour to get to the Ephrata Office. When I got there at 7:05 (they close at 8), they told me that they had stopped seeing walkins for the night because they were running behind. Nowhere on the website does it say this, nor did they tell me that when I called. It's ridiculous to advertise as an Urgent Care for Emergencies if you are not going to see the patient. They said if they didn't do this when they were running behind, they would be late to get out and sometimes "we don't get out until 9:00". I'm sorry, if you don't want to stay late, please find a job that isn't in Healthcare. I can see if I walked in at 7:45 for a routine cleaning, but this was a CHILD who clearly needed to be seen - visible red face from a fever, and swollen, bleeding gums around the infected tooth. read more

I took my 13 year old son there for the first time. They were 15 minutes late with their appointment. The hygenist treated him like he was 5. When they asked if they could to a flouride treatment we declined but they billed my insurance for it anyway. We were very unimpressed and would never go back. read more

First, let me say, Smilebuilderz is all about the $$$. They want your copay when you check in. This review is ONLY about the endodontist Dr. Stein. He did a root canal on a tooth 6 months ago. That tooth still doesn't have a crown due to sensitivity to everything! I can't chew with that tooth let alone allow hot or cold liquids to touch it. Dr. Stein is aware of the issues with this tooth. Initially he ordered a steroid taper to see if that would help. No help from the steroids. So now we are " letting it calm down". Fast forward to my second root canal. I missed an appt back in March due to a family emergency. I did call the office and told them why I couldn't keep the appt. I had an appt this week to complete another root canal. I was running late and called them from my car to alert them of my lateness. Erin, the front desk person, was extremely rude to me. She proceeded to speak to like she was my mother and I had just committed a horrible sin. Erin, "you were supposed to be here at 8:15! Why aren't you here?" (It was 8:25 am when I called). I told Erin I was eight minutes away. She said I would have to sit in the waiting room and "the doctor might be able to squeeze me in around 11:30". I had another appt at 12 and I wasn't going to sit there for 31/2 hours waiting to be fit in. Erin informed me that the dr "drives from Philly" to work in Lancaster. I'm not sure what that has to do with me??? I asked to be rescheduled and Erin informed me that since I had 2, "no call, no show" I couldn't be scheduled ever again. I was never a "no call"!! She could call me if there was a cancellation but Dr. Stein wouldn't allow me to have a scheduled appt. I would have been 20 minutes late. I have sat in his waiting room for more than 20 minutes waiting to be seen but I guess only his time is valuable. Mine is not. Now, aside from my first root canal hurting like stink, I have a tooth on the other side of my mouth with the first part of the root canal done and no endodontist to finish it!! Dr. Stein is not very friendly and comes across as very arrogant. So here I am with a failed root canal and a second tooth needing care and no one to care for it. As for the Endo office, it needs painted and furniture updated. I would like to know who owns Smilebuilderz.......... read more

Although I had a rough time in the beginning when I got there the ladies there from the front desk to the ones that worked on my mouth took really good care of me. I came to them in excruciating pain I had delt with over the holiday weekend and I ended up at urgent care on Saturday before Christmas due to my mouth being infected so I called on Monday after not sleeping in the last three days the lady I spoke with told me to go to one of the offices and just walk in and they will take cares of me so I went to the one on spring valley because I had been there before so I took my medals I had to take and hour prior to get dental work done and when we got there they told me I don't know why they told you to just walk in that I was the third person that had do that so I was told I couldn't be seen until three in Ephrata and keep in mind it take me almost and hour to get to that office so we ended up leaving and tried to go else where but they were closed so again called smilebuilderz back and my fiancé Got his point across that I need to be seen and by the time I got to the one on crown ave I throwing up in there Dentist chair but again they took care of me and got me all fixed up and they will be who I go back to. The other thing I have also wondered that I thought they were to keep so many slots open for emergencies. read more

I honestly do not know what office these bad reviewers went to, because the Smilebuilderz I went to was 100% different. Completely clean and sterile facility and staff. Speaking of the staff, they were the most wonderful people I've dealt with. Almost a year ago, I came in with an infected and impacted wisdom tooth. They had no issue getting me in as a walk in, discussed my options, no fuss. They were gentle and kind. Today, I went in to have all 4 of my impacted wisdom teeth extracted. This was my choice, and they did NO COAXING for me to do it. I was a few minutes late, but they were more than understanding. They got me back minutes after I arrived, and absolutely everyone was very understanding of my anxiety. They answered questions without bias or judgement, they comforted, they listened to concerns, and they made getting my wisdom teeth removed a pleasant experience. Do not shy away from Smilebuilderz. I was very pleasantly surprised, and extremely impressed. This was the best experience I've ever had with a dental office. read more

the only good thing i liked about this office was how clean it was, which is surprising with how busy they were. oh also i did like the efficiency on how quickly they placed me into their schedule. i felt rushed, not cared for and the dental assistant that did my filling , she was not friendly towards me. it was very unpleasant experience as far as im concerned. read more

If I could give zero stars that still wouldn't be low enough. It has been FIVE months and they still can't get my partial to fit. Apparently my case is "difficult". They have taken so many impressions and once again I went tonight and it still does not fit! And the dentist I see is going on maternity leave so I need to be switched to a different dentist. This will be the 3rd dentist I will have seen now. I learned that my first dentist was no longer there WHEN I GOT TO THE OFFICE THE MORNING OF MY SURGERY!The customer service is terrible and I feel as if I'm just a number to them. I am 27 years old and I have to take my teeth out to eat which is so embarrassing when I am at a lunch meeting at work. I am a professional and the way I am being treated is barbaric. I do not understand how incompetent one office can be. The office blames the lab and the lab blames the office. While all long I am the one that has been suffering. Save yourselves the aggrevation and santity and go somewhere else where you will be treated with respect and keep your dignity. read more