Dental World Marietta: Where do I even begin?…read more
If you have dental anxiety, are in severe pain, or expect to be treated with basic compassion and respect, I would think very carefully before going here.
I arrived with a severely infected tooth and facial swelling so significant that my phone's facial recognition would no longer recognize me. I was in excruciating pain, extremely anxious, and scared. I had explained my severe dental anxiety both on the phone and again while I was there. I was literally sitting in the room crying from fear, anxiety, and pain.
The dentist who came into the room never even introduced himself to me. I was told I needed an X-ray that I had already explained I could not afford. It was done anyway, and almost immediately afterward I was approached about payment.
I was then told the infected tooth needed to be drained. The dentist came into my room multiple times telling me he was going to numb me, only to leave again without doing it. Meanwhile, my face was extremely swollen, I was in terrible pain, and I was becoming increasingly distressed.
Eventually, after repeatedly waiting for the treatment I had been told I needed, I got up and went toward the front to ask when the dentist was actually going to help me. Instead of showing any compassion for a patient who was clearly frightened and in pain, I was told that I "didn't want help" and was told to leave.
I was kicked out of a dental office while suffering from a painful dental infection and significant facial swelling after they had already told me the infection needed to be drained.
They offered nitrous oxide for my extreme anxiety, but I was told it would cost an additional $150. What upset me most, though, wasn't simply the cost. It was how I was treated while visibly terrified and in pain.
The final insult was having a staff member laugh at me during the confrontation as I was being told to leave.
I came there because I needed medical help. I did not expect special treatment. I expected basic dignity, communication, and compassion from healthcare professionals. Instead, I left humiliated, still in severe pain, still swollen, and without the treatment they themselves had told me I needed.
No patient experiencing a dental emergency and severe anxiety should be made to feel ashamed, cheap, inconvenient, or disposable for asking when they are going to receive care.
I will never return, and based on my experience, I cannot recommend this office.
