I had a really bad experience with Valery Sweeny as my dentist. She had been recommended by a friend of a friend, and her office was nearby where I lived, so I decided to give her a try.
I would like to preface my review by saying that I had not been to a dentist in over 6 years when I went to see her, so my teeth were not in great shape, and sudden pain that came on literally overnight is what drove me to seek her out.
During my first trip to her office, I had a similar experience as many other people expressed here, that I was being "up-sold" on a variety of dental work, but I was in so much pain that I didn't really second guess any of what she told me I needed to have done, plus, she showed me pictures of my teeth to explain why I needed to get so much dental work.
She did not, however, explain to me that the first tooth she planned to work on was in potential danger of needing a root canal, only that the filling needed to be replaced and that I would need an onlay. She also started working on two other teeth the same day as she gave me the onlay and capped them with temporaries so that I could still eat. However, the onlay did not take and when I went home, I was in excruciating pain every time I ate or drank.
This placed me in a very bad position because one side of my mouth was hampered by the tempories, and the other was in excruciating pain, so that I could only eat mush. She also failed to use the proper amount of anesthesia the first time she drilled on my teeth, so much so that I was tearing up, with tears literally falling down my cheek while I was clutching the dental chair for dear life, due to the pain she was causing me. She also didn't seem to notice that I was in pain and didn't even stop to ask me if I was ok until after the procedures were done, and then seemed surprised when I told the procedure had been painful. How could she not notice considering the obvious wincing in pain that I had been doing?
For this reason, amongst others, I think she has a sadistic streak, because when I told her that the tooth with the new onlay was causing me considerable pain, she insisted on finishing all of the other dental work despite my reservations about moving forward since I was already in so much pain. I feel like she was just trying to do as much dental work on me as she could with minimal effort, and that if she was concerned about how decayed my tooth was - and whether or not the onlay would took or if I would need a root canal - that she should've warned me and just worked on that one tooth before jumping ahead so quickly to work on the others. But, she didn't. I had no clue the tooth was in danger of needing a root canal and was in total shock when, after she gave me the onlay, that now the very same tooth would need a root canal.
For this reason, I not only feel that she has a sadistic streak in her, but that she is also only and solely about the money she makes from being a dentist. I don't think she took my well-being into consideration when she started working on the other side of my mouth before she knew if the new onlay would take. She never once mentioned the tooth was in an advanced state of decay before the procedure, so when she told me I needed a root canal after she put an onlay on the tooth, I felt completely and utterly confused. It was difficult for me to trust her after that, and once she completed the other dental work that she had started, which seemed more urgent to her than all the pain I was in, I stopped going back.
Long story short, I don't recommend this dentist. read more