Ran out in tears.
I…read morewaited two days before writing this review to give myself time to calm down. All that two days did was cement how horrible this experience was.
I was calling around to find a dentist before my old insurance runs out at the end of the month, and found this place around the corner from my new apartment. I set my expectations low, and was pleasantly surprised to hear that while they were booked up till Sept., there was a cancellation today and could I come in now? First warning sign: They didn't ask me a reason for booking the appointment.
Walked around the corner into a small, dingy office that smelled like my vet's office and featured thrift-store paintings on the wall. No receptionist--just an opaque window with a bell. I ended up waiting almost an hour, even though there was supposedly an opening for me and I got there within 5 minutes of talking to whoever told me to come in.
Right when I decided to leave--because I really wasn't feeling this place and I had somewhere I needed to be--I was pressured to stay by two employees. "We were just about to call you back there," "We have the chair all set up," "This won't take long," etc etc. Second warning sign: They said, "We're going to do some X-rays." Why would you X-ray someone before a (cleaning?? whatever it was) appointment? Oh, right, to get the insurance money. I said no, I've had enough X-rays, and if you need the recent ones, my prosthodontist can fax them over.
I settled into a chair in the world's tiniest, yellow-brown exam room, and then Dr. Williams came in. She asked me why I was there, and I told her I was just wondering whether I had a cavity, and that I might need a cleaning. I told her I only had 10 minutes before I needed to leave to get to my next thing. She asked me about prior oral surgery, and I explained that I had had a lot of work done (two implanted teeth, a root canal, and a crown). Five minutes later, she asked me again whether I'd had any oral surgery.
There was no talk of what we'd be doing that day or how long it would take--she just cranked the chair back and put her hands in my mouth. She started cleaning my teeth with high-pressure water, which hurt, since I have sensitive teeth (also, every other time I've had a cleaning, it's been done by hand). I got agitated and asked her to stop so I could compose myself. When I asked her why it hurt, she just looked over her glasses and said, "Sensitive." I was fighting the urge to get up and leave, especially since I knew I'd be late now, but I was like, well, I'm already here, maybe I can just get through what is *apparently* a cleaning and get it over with.
I asked her if there was another way to clean my teeth, and she said, "We can do it manually." Then she started hacking away at my gums. This was even more painful than the pressure-wash of a few minutes before. I have never had someone clean my teeth with less finesse, and this was not a hygienist--this was the practice owner and only dentist. I was crying silently by this point. A couple times, she asked, "You OK?" and I nodded, just trying to get through it. Was watching lots and lots of blood go through the suction tube.
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. As I was saying, "OK, stop, stop," through the gauze she'd put in my mouth, she would not take her hands out of my mouth. I said, "No--stop. Stop!" and motioned her hands away, but she wouldn't let me sit up. At this point, I was pretty much hysterical. When you tell someone to stop--someone who as a medical provider should be listening to you and trying to make you comfortable--and they don't stop--that's an abuse of trust. I kept saying, "I'm done. I'm done. I have to go," and she said, "We have to clean those teeth, honey." When I said I was still leaving, she said, "Well, we're still going to have to charge your insurance for this." I said, "I feel like that's all you care about," and she got offended.
I pushed past her to leave, and she put her hands in the air, like, "Oh well, I tried." I got out of there as quickly as possible. It took me 20 minutes to rinse all the blood from around my teeth. I've spent the past two days wishing I had just listened to my gut.
And by the way: No call, even days later, to follow up on a patient who was CLEARLY incredibly upset. My gums are still too sore to brush. But, oh well, they got the insurance money, right? I'm going to call my insurance and fight that claim. Because fuck this place.