A Dentist you can Trust -- He saved me $375 in unnecessary fillings! (Also, an especially fabulous…read morechoice for cash-paying patients!)
When I first moved to Georgia and really didn't have any recommendations for a dentist, I'll admit, I initially let my pocketbook make the decision. Since I don't have dental insurance, I called a ton of dentists in the area and asked what an exam, cleaning, and x-rays would be for a cash paying patient. Much to my chagrin, most of the dentists in the area charged cash-payers exactly the same rate as they "charge" to insurance. For anyone who knows anything about the insurance biz, you know that this "charge" is negotiated way down by the insurance company and thus is far more than the dentist ends up being paid by insurance. When I called Carson and Moynahan, I was pleasantly surprised that their cash-paying rate was totally reasonable -- it was literally *half* of the cost one dentist's office gave me. Sold.
I went and was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the office (clean and well-maintained). I was even more pleasantly surprised by the experience (17 years in the biz, I think?) and the quality of the hygienist, Jane. She was very passionate about oral health, and her enthusiasm got me flossing daily again! (Well, for several weeks, anyway... you know how that goes... :) Jane and her assistant were more thorough in doing and recording my gum exam (you know the thing where your gums get graded from 1 to 5?) than with any other dentist's office I've ever been to before. (I've lived in 6 states, so I've been to many dentists in my life.) Dr. Moynahan was great as well -- he did a thorough exam and was excellent and took his time in addressing all my concerns, which is a big deal to me. (I tend to ask doctors a lot of questions because I'm kind of a medical nerd.) I was charged exactly what I was told I would be charged when I asked over the phone -- no surprise extras.
It was a great cleaning, but I really didn't think much of it afterwards because I've been blessed (knock wood) with teeth that haven't given me problems as of yet (asides from cavities that I only had in childhood). . . That is until today when Dr. Moynahan *really* impressed me. You see, in the time that lapsed since my visit with him, I was lured over to a dentist literally 2 minutes from me by a $59 "New Patient" deal for x-rays, cleaning, and exam. This dentist told me that I had *2* cavities and I was shocked -- it's been probably 20 years since I last had a cavity. My intuition told me that there was just something not right about the situation, so I decided that I would pay an exam fee to go see Dr. Moynahan for a second opinion. (The estimate I was given for two fillings PLUS the extra exam fee still ended up being less than having my fillings done at the other dentist, so having the second opinion done was an easy decision!)
So I was honest upfront with Dr. Moynahan about seeing another dentist, but I didn't tell him who it was or what he said besides the fact that he found "something" and that "I want to see what you find". He said, "Okay, I'll be extra picky", and then reviewed my chart, reviewed my x-rays from the year prior, and did an oral exam. He mentioned some exposed root areas I already knew about (but didn't recommend treatment if it wasn't bothering me) but did not mention the words "cavity", "pre-cavity", "sticky spot" or anything that would even suggest even the beginning of decay. I then told him that the other dentist found two cavities and where he said they were. Then Dr. Moynahan looked again. He said he saw some discolored spots, but nothing that the probe stuck to and definitely nothing, in his opinion, that needed a filling. In carefully wording his statement to avoid calling the other dentist a liar he said [totally paraphrased from my bad memory], "Hey, doing fillings puts food on the table, but there's no way I'd recommend filling those spots. I don't see them getting any worse, and while fillings are great when needed, I'd much prefer to let mother nature do the work -- she does a better job at it. You'd lose more enamel [from the prep work for the fillings] that would make filling something like that not worth it. I recommend just keeping an eye on it." (Again, totally paraphrased from my non-dentist memory.)
So there you have it. How one bad experience with one dentist led me to see what a gem of a dentist I already had.