I first met Dr. Polyakov amid a terrible dental phobia when I was 18 for emergency removal of my top wisdom teeth. He was still at his old office. I remember him being very brusque and curt, but in my experience a lot of older Russian men are like that (and at that point I couldn't care less if he were Hitler, I just needed to get this ish done!). While I was asleep, he had pulled my teeth and cleaned out my sinuses and resulting infection. The whole ordeal plus sedation cost $1000 cash. In and out. Great, right?
Fast forward to 2015. My phobia has only gotten worse with age, and for that reason and several others, I had allowed my neglected teeth to basically fall apart. After my front tooth broke, I had no choice but to face the music. I needed 12 teeth extracted and two front implants placed immediately by Dr. Polyakov, and restorative therapy in a few others teeth, to be done by Dr. Aaron Schwartzmann, a protodontist. Becuase of the huge scope of work and my phobia, it was decided that I would go under and both doctors would work concomitantly to do everything in one sitting.
Day of the pre-op consultation, my mother and I entered the white, cold, sterile marble palace that is Dr. Polyakov's new office, Synergy. The two models at the front desk saw how panic stricken I was and basically made their amusement obvious when I ran outside to puke after watching the fucking big screen TV for 30 minutes playing a video of dental implants while waiting for the ever important and pompous Dr.
Dr. Polyakov was still the same. Gruff, self important, curt and only addressed my mother despite the fact that I was the patient. He basically dismissed my phobia as me being a pussy and hurried through the consultation by ignoring my concerns. I really didn't appreciate his obvious disapproval of what I had allowed to happen to my teeth, and the last thing I needed was the judgment of him and his bimbos.
Day of the surgery, my parents drove me to Dr. Polyakov's office. I have suffered with trichotillomania which, for those of you who aren't naturally fucked up, is stress related skin picking and other similar self destruction, my whole life. My arms and legs are covered with little scars and marks, some very deep and below the skin, this invisible to the naked eye. Also, I'm not what you'd call skinny, so my veins do not pop out on the surface, especially when dehydrated pre-surgery. The anesthesiologist took one stab, then two, right into a fucking scar and then threw up her hands in defeat. While I was right there, she referred to me in the third person and audibly told the doctor that I had no veins. Dr. Polyakov took my arms and made that "tsk tsk tsk" noise while shaking his head, looking at me with disgust and pity. Frustrated and feeling judged and helpless, I suggested that they try the veins in my feet, since there is no fucking fat or scar tissue there, and guess what... Got it on the first try! Minor miracle, doctors!
Surgery was succesfully over some 5 1/2 hours later and I am wheeled out to my parents, who are white as a sheet. It looks as if my mother has been crying for hours. Later that night, she explains that when Dr. Polyakov and the anesthesiologist came out mid surgery, they informed my already worried parents, with no prompting, that I WAS A FUCKING LONG TERM IV DRUG USER and had no veins.
I was appalled and outraged. First of all, I am almost 30 years old, and I am the patient. My parents were just there to drive me home. They are not my guardians or next of kin. What fucking right did these two supposed professionals have to go and scare the shit out of my parents by divulging false, unverified and PRIVATE health information? It is absolutely illegal, and they violated my right to doctor patient confidentiality based on their quick judgments of the state of my mouth and my other scars and such. They baaically told my parents I was sick despite knowing nothing and asking nothing of me, the patient.
Now imagine my parents surprise that I was fully functional and denied pain meds the day following surgery. My mother saw my progress and relaxed a bit, but it has taken me months of swearing up and down, offering to take drug tests and explaining what happened in there to get my parents to stop worrying. I am a responsible adult, and Dr. Polyakov's judgmental slander almost demolished the trust I had spent years building.
Do yourself a favor and and don't give this sadist and his bimbos your money. We paid cash up front, and the surgery still cost 40% more than other places. Don't pay for his marble floors and his blondes... God knows if you do, he may show you his gratitude by violating HIPAA law, breaking confidentiality, and passing judgment... and reward you by telling your loved ones, with great certainty, that you are HIV positive because you're looking a little pale, in his professional opinion. read more
