I am going to make this review as accurate as I can…read more
Scheduled for Tammy to be my hygienist due to some good reviews; I'm very particular about who touches my teeth, so I do extensive research before booking an appointment. Came to the office to find they booked me with the wrong hygienist, which is no big deal, mistakes happen (I knew she wasn't the correct hygienist because I saw her photo on the website as I was reading the bios of the dentists, and scrolling down to the hygienists section, so I had somewhat of a mental image already of who to expect for both my dentist and hygienist). As I was heading out, I spoke with the front-end staff who do the scheduling and let them know that I was scheduled with the wrong person. They informed me that there were in fact two Tammy's, one is Tammy Marie and another is Tammi. I immediately went on the website to search for the name Tammy Marie, and the name didn't exist, her name was simply 'Tammy', so there was no way I would have known that differentiation between Tammy and Tammi, but for some reason they were pushing back at me as though I should have known her real name is Tammy Marie almost as if I had made the mistake.
Throughout this conversation, I remained calm and respectful despite this pushback. I never raised my voice. Suddenly, a dental assistant named Hannah came out of nowhere to the front desk area and became actively involved in the conversation with a clear attitude in which I asked her why the attitude whilst I was trying to relay to the front end staff that it would have been helpful if the hygienists names could had been clarified during the scheduling phone call to prevent this. Hannah's level of involvement was oddly strange tbh, but I wasn't trying to get sucked into that either. So I moved to request to speak to the dentist, hoping this simple confusion would be smoothed out and we could move on positively. When I spoke to the dentist, Dr. Brynn Van Dyke, I didn't feel that she had tried to make things right, nothing about her gave good intentions or any sense of care. You know that type of care where you feel when a person genuinely cares about you. I think (and this is my speculation) that Hannah may have falsely gassed her up against me prior to speaking to me as I felt Dr. Brynn Van Dyke came already negatively biased.
Actually, when the hygienist, Tammi, later came to the front desk area, my immediate reaction was to assure her that none of this was personal. I told her, "This has nothing to do with you and I don't want you to feel any type of way. I specifically thought I had booked another hygienist based on reviews I had read." It was important to me that I reassure her that because I was sensitive to her feelings as well to make sure she wasn't slighted...that is the type of genuine care for another person that I didn't feel from Dr. Brynn Van Dyke.
To summarize:
This was a minor scheduling misunderstanding that could have been resolved with a single sentence from any of the staff: "We're sorry for the confusion. Let's get you back on schedule with your preferred providers."
I understand things don't always go as planned, and I'm okay with that, but what matters most is not the issues that occur, but how the staff respond to make things right. That's what shows the character of an establishment and team. Being a doctor myself, I personally deal with challenging situations and patients, but I always remain focused on the patient and the quality of care they receive so as to provide positive outcomes and experiences. Unfortunately, I did not get that while being in the patient's chair.
