After years of unhappy to downright terrible experiences with various dentists, I finally decided…read moreto try a private dentist.
Now, I know that depending on your priorities, there can be some downsides compared to the corporate factories many of us are used to. Things can take a little longer at a private dentist, from appointments to the labs.
However, I'm quite certain I know exactly how I feel about the other guys and so, I gave this place a shot. I had it narrowed down to two places based on reviews, and the Yelpers here won me over.
The waiting room is small, but seats about 7 and on our first visit for new patient appointments, we had plenty of time to look around. I noticed water and coffee available, and there is a small play room off to the side. There is also a computer, but I'm not positive if it's for patient use or another one for the office.
There was an article about how the name of the business was chosen and how even the décor is chosen with that in mind. My husband liked that a lot, it made quite the impression.
For our first visit, I was 2 minutes late due to a new construction detour. I hate being late, and I felt really bad, especially since I know Saturday appointments are coveted. However, when I was pulled back 25 minutes after my appointment started, I didn't feel too bad.
Appointment times run long here, so I didn't get my cleaning on my first visit, because by the time it would have started, the appointment slot was over and I had to be available for my husband's appointment (short term memory issues, I always have to get his treatment plan details).
The other factor was that I was informed they always do numbing with needles during a deep cleaning and I just wasn't mentally ready for that.
The appointments running long were completely worth it though. Dr. Lan is very impressive!
I have never seen a single dentist be so thorough. Before even looking at your mouth, he studies the x rays and has the assistant enter in all observations, including all the work you've had done in the past and what materials were used.
Then he looks in your mouth to verify his findings and then he designates potential treatment versus what should be watched. I didn't have any cavities this visit, but he did identify an older crown that may not have been seated correctly the first time. He put it on the watch list to compare in 6 months.
The only thing that wasn't perfect about the consultations was I asked if they had their own lab and pointed out that some of the work they designated down the line for my husband would result in the lab needing to make a new partial. The tooth was on the treatment plan, but not the partial.
I brought it up on the phone with one of the front desk girls and she just told me to discuss it with the doctor. This put me off since I did bring it up with the doctor and they were putting the ball back in my court to remember to bring it up again in 6 weeks (our next appointment). However, that was the only time that happened.
When working on my husband's root canal on the next visit, Dr. Lan was training several assistants. Since he was explaining everything he was doing and why and how he prefers to do things (and I've sat in on quite a few of these procedures) I could tell he was much better than the last three dentists I had been to, and much more careful.
He's so good that any assistant will be a disappointment because they aren't Dr. Lan, lol. I'm sure they will grow to be as meticulous as he is under his leadership though.
When fitting my husband's crown several weeks later, he continued to display that same level of perfection and then did something no other dentist has ever done in my presence: ask my husband what his plans are and what kind of dental work he would want in the future. My husband and I have been together 17 years this month and this was the first time that has ever happened, I couldn't get over that.
Despite being very impressed, I had kept my review in draft until I had my deep cleaning. I am not really comfortable giving a 5 star review until I myself have felt how gentle they are and what the residual pain levels are.
Unfortunately 2018 was one of those years where we would make an appointment and then various family emergencies pulled us out of town during that time. This happened on 2 occasions and then we went through an insurance change.
The staff was extremely sympathetic to what we were going through and didn't make us feel guilty at all or threaten us with fees for the cancellations.
So that means I have to post this review from our actual visits, but I'm still pretty comfortable with this rating from only my consultation and the work my husband had completed. Dr. Lan is the best dentist we've seen in Denton and I can't hold back a star because circumstances changed for us.
If we end up with insurance that we can use at this office again, I will be running back here!