Earlier last year, I visited this dental office after moving to the area, seeking treatment for…read morepain in one of my molars. With fillings in most of my molars, I expected that I'd eventually need root canals on those teeth. After an initial assessment, the dentist informed me that multiple fillings needed to be redone. I asked about the cost out of pocket, and was told it would be $0. Based on their recommendations, I decided to proceed with the treatments, including addressing the painful tooth.
The dentist warned me that the painful tooth might need a root canal, but they wouldn't know for sure until they began the procedure. I expressed my preference to go ahead with a root canal, so I wouldn't have to come back, especially since they couldn't guarantee that replacing the filling would resolve the pain. They scheduled my appointment, though the front desk tried to push it two weeks out. After reminding them that the dentist considered the situation urgent, they suddenly had an earlier opening just a few days later.
On the day of the procedure, I reiterated that I wanted to move forward with a root canal. Halfway through, they informed me that the dentist working on my teeth didn't actually perform root canals and that they could only do a filling. I was shocked. After the procedure, my pain persisted, and I was told I'd need to return for a root canal.
At this point, I was told that I'd hit my insurance coverage limit, meaning I'd need to pay the remainder out of pocket. They insisted I pay everything upfront, but I refused and asked them to run it through insurance first and bill me for the balance. I also made it clear that I didn't believe I should be charged for the initial filling, given that it was ultimately replaced with a root canal. They refused to waive that charge.
They told me they would prescribe something for the pain until I could be seen for the root canal. I informed them that I had just finished 4 weeks of antibiotics for another issue and they made the decision that another antibiotic would not fix the issue, so they would prescribe me something else for the pain. When I went to pickup the rx, it was an antibiotic, which I did not want. I ended up canceling the rx and just working through the pain for the next few days (I'm allergic to NSAIDs so there wasn't much I could do).
After finally having the root canal, my pain didn't subside after a few days. They had me come back to their office just to refer me to urgent care, where they assured me that I just needed to wait a few weeks for my gums to heal from all the dental work. So, I ended up at urgent care because the dental office seemed uncertain, adding additional hundreds of dollars to my medical bills.
Months later, I still hadn't received a bill or any follow-up, but then I found out they had sent me to collections. To make matters worse, my tooth still bothers me. I would strongly advise against going to this office. The staff is unprofessional, the communication is poor, and most importantly, they seem completely incompetent.
