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Gentle Dental
Rating Details »
- By Appointment Only:
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8 reviews for Gentle Dental
If you decide to go to Gentle Dentle after reading all their Yelp reviews, then you deserve all those cavities in your mouth.
Absolutely the worst dental experience I've ever had. When Dr. Cage cleaned my teeth, it was with mild aggression and impatience; it was so painful that he even made my gums bleed. "Gentle Dental" is a serious misnomer. "Bat Shit Crazy Dental" is probably more suitable.
Worse than the massacre cleaning I received was the identical experience I had to that of Stunna S. on 3/17/08. Dr. Cage also diagnosed me with gum disease that only the drug "Arestin" could resolve. "Arestin" also happens to not be covered by insurance, and would have cost me $2,000 out of pocket to pay for. Rather than do my due diligence (by securing a second opinion) like Stunna, I simply declined treatment and thought nothing more of it. When my insurance company changed, I was able to go to another dentist (Dr. Cornehl in SF; a five-star dentist all the way). He measured my pockets and confirmed that I do not have gum disease, and that Arestin is only prescribed in extreme cases. Needless to say, I can only conclude that Dr. Cage's "diagnosis" of my teeth was made with his yacht note in mind, rather than my well being (their waiting room magazines suck too. Who the hell reads 'Popular Mechanics'?!).
I shan't be returning.
Ahhh my 1st review....
I originally went here about a year ago for a routine cleaning. Which seemed to be pretty standard. After the cleaning the dentist told me I needed to get the deep cleaning with the antibacterial stuff placed under my gum line. Something that would cost me about $400. Yea no thanks! Well a couple months later my teeth started to become extremely sensitive. To the point where on a cold day, I would be in a lot of pain! Cold stuff bothered me, hot stuff bothered me. I couldn't eat, sleep or function. So I go back to Gentle Dental. The dentist looks around in my mouth for all off 2.5 mins and says, "I told you to get the deep cleaning, that's why you are in pain. It wont go away, until you get the deep cleaning and antibacterial goop put under the gum line." She gives me a lollipop and an estimate for $800 to have the procedure done. After talking with my parents about it, I decide it's time for a 2nd opinion. The new dentist, which is on the top floor of the same building, tells me I need to bring in my X-ray from Gentle Dental. So I go to GD and request my X-ray. I tell them I am getting a 2nd opinion.
What does the new dentist tell me about my pain??? Both of my wisdom teeth have huge holes in them!! That is why I'm in constant pain. Not because I need a damn deep cleaning. He couldn't believe that I had been walking around that long with cavities as bad as those. A comment that was also expressed my the Dr. that pulled the teeth a week later. The new dentist also tells me that I would benefit from the deep cleaning, but the antibacterial stuff is unnecessary. There is no guarantee that it would help with the build up on my teeth. Nice! Total cost there for the deep cleaning? 200 bucks and he diagnosed the real problem.
Oh and for the cherry on top of this whole situation..... I got a letter from Gentle Dental to my insurance company that I had been cced on asking that I be assigned to another dentist because I didn't follow their suggested treatment plan.
Wow. I'm not sure I've ever had to deal with a more incompetent front desk. I made an appt with Dr. Cage's office after being diagnosed with sleep apnea. Some dentists make mandibular repositioning devices that correct apnea, thereby allowing you a good night's sleep. My medical insurance (sleep apnea is a medical condition) will pay 90% of the cost if I use a dentist in their network. I called Dr. Cage's office and asked if he made the device, was told that he did and made an appointment. Sadly, they couldn't see me for 3 months, but I figured a 90% payment was worth 3 more months of bad sleep. At 4 pm the day before my appt. I got a crazy convoluted message that was for me, no then it was for my husband, no for me. Because I had an appt with this Dr., no that Dr., no this Dr., but the issue was that they had called my insurance company and that my insurance had been cancelled. (this was just wrong, but can you imagine hearing that message??) and I would need to pay in cash if I wanted to come in. Bye.
I called them back to explain that I was coming in for a medical condition, I had spoken with my health insurance provider and it was covered. Instead of listening to me, the receptionist just kept shouting into the phone "You don't even have insurance!!" then putting me on hold for several minutes at a time. I'm sorry, but if I didn't have insurance, does that make me the scum of the earth?? That's how she made it sound. Turns out, Dr. Cage doesn't even make the device. It would have been nice to know that 3 months ago and to not have to spend 30 minutes on and off hold explaining the difference between medical and dental insurance.
Man. I wish I had read these other reviews before I made my appointment. Not that it matters much - my insurance doesn't leave me with a whole lot of other options.
Anyway, here's a brief version of my sad tale: I went in, and they told me I had 6 cavities that needed filling. Yes, that sounds like a lot, but that's not even the important part of the story. When filling the first two, they had to give 8 (!) shots of Novocaine because they kept "missing." On the second round they only missed twice, but that still amounts to 9 extra shots of Novocaine that I did not need. And I HATE needles.
When all was said and done, my back teeth had been mysteriously sharpened and now there are so many weird gaps between my teeth I need a toothpick every time I eat so much as a bowl of ice cream.
I would have been better off with the cavities. Stay away from this quack factory at all costs.
Avoid this place like the plague!! This is the WORST place EVER! I chose this dentist for convenience (walking distance from BART), and I kept thinking to myself, maybe it will get better. I even tried changing dentists within the office (they said "they don't usually do that" whatever. i'm paying you aren't i?) I hate talking with the receptionists because you can't get a hold of them, and when you do, they're talking with their friends AND they have an attitude. When I had my appointment, I felt like I had to tell my dentist what to do. They don't explain anything they are doing and they charge a ton. When I had a death in the family, I had to call to cancel and they called after to ask why I wasn't there. Maybe you should check your messages before calling and being insensitive.
STAY AWAY!
Zero stars.
I came in for a check up, cleaning, etc. (cavities filled if I had any). Here's what I got.
I was defrauded out of several hundred dollars, and it could've been much more.
Dr Cage did my examination and when he was doing the measuring of the periodontal pockets, he was reading off several 4's, 5's, and 6's (depth in millimeters) to the assistant writing down the numbers. The numbers are significant because they suggest gum disease when they are in that range. Based on these numbers he prescribed Arestin (wouldn't it be nice if they were arrestin' his ass for fraud), a locally injected antibiotic. He didn't tell me it was outrageously expensive.
So when I came back the next week for the treatment (which seemed strange, because I'm used to getting everything done in one day, right?), the woman at the front counter quoted me something in the four hundred and fifty dollar range (which about a minute or two later I realized was only for that day's treatment, and there was another coming, bringing my total closer to eight hundred). WHAAAA??? Um, I have insurance, what gives? Apparently the Arestin is not covered by the insurance. So I said I wasn't going to do the treatment. She said that's not an option. WHA??? Again, what? So I went in and talked to the doctor, trying to discuss the options. He basically scared me into doing the treatment. Because we took so long discussing the whole thing, he was only able to do one half of my mouth (lucky for me, as I didn't come back for further ripoffery). There were several things that started to make me think that something was screwy. At the end of the treatment, he told me that I wasn't supposed to floss for one day (as the medicine is next to the teeth below the gumline, so flossing would remove the medicine), even though the literature said not to floss for ten days. He said it was a typo. Several things are wrong here. My first instinct was that not flossing for ten days seemed like a bad idea. So, in a way, the one day seemed more reasonable. As he was telling me this, I was picturing a photocopied piece of paper that had seen the copy machine too many times and the typo was just a piece of lint or something. Several minutes later as I was heading out the door, he handed me the literature. It was a very slickly produced glossy, ten page pamphlet from the producer of Arestin.
I took my stuff and my lightened wallet and went home. Time for some research.
First, all of the clinical trial info was on the pamphlet, which, if I had been offered the chance to view it and read the results, I certainly would never been talked into doing the treatment. I studied enough scientific journals in college to be able to realize that I was being sold snake oil, that even if my gums were in the shape he claimed they were, that scaling and root planing (SRP), is pretty much as effective (and way cheaper and covered by insurance) as this bullshit he was trying to sell. Second, I'm thinking to myself, this huge pharmaceutical company, with all of it's lawyers and the like, is allowing a pamphlet to go out around the entire country that has a DRAMATIC typo on it (an order of magnitude off in fact). Not! Wouldn't they make the graphic design firm reprint them? Also, if it's supposed to be ten days, and Dr Cage was telling me to floss after one day, then I would be dislodging the medication causing me to come back in for a second round of outrageously expensive, largely ineffective medication.
I called the company that makes the medicine. The woman I talked to said, no, in fact it is ten days. I thought, gosh, how ever did Dr Cage get misinformed? Was it a pharma rep who lied to him? Seems HIGHLY unlikely (not that pharma reps are angels, not by any stretch, but come on). I said, don't you think that's a pretty big deal? She said they would contact him.
So I'm just getting angrier and angrier. Too, I'm someone who is very faithful with brushing and flossing. So I go to this dentist, that my dad has been to and trusts, for a second opinion. We're sitting there with him poking around my gums with the measuring tool, while I hold the mirror and watch how deep the pockets are. They were all in the 1-3 millimeter range, by and large. Quite the contrast from the 4-6 range that peppered my report from Dr Cage. So pretty much outright lies from Dr Cage to sell me really expensive, unnecessary crap.
Thanks Dr Cage for being a criminal.
i fucking hate my insurance policy because this is one of the only places covered by it. the dentists are really unfriendly and negligent. my tooth has been bothering me for at least a year now [seriously] and i keep telling them i think i have a cavity or something, and all i get is,
"oh nothing's wrong. are you flossing?"
bitch something IS wrong cuz my tooth hurts and YES i am flossing and brushing!!! now give me drugs or pull this shit out! ahhhhh.
my tooth is killing me more than anything right now, by the way.
update: i am never going back to this dentist AGAIN. so here's the scoop:
i wake up christmas morning and my tooth is killing me. the pain has spread all the way to my ears and i can't concentrate on anything, so i pop some vicodin and call the office leaving an urgent voicemail. three days later, still no response. finally i call to check up and the woman on the phone is being hella rude the whole time. she asks me what my problem is and i said i left a message on christmas.
"well, we were closed on christmas."
"well then why are you gonna turn on your answering machine if you don't intend to return your patients calls????"
"what exactly do you need?"
bitch. i say i need to see a dentist asap, and she informs me that my regular dentist is out of town until the end of january, so she can schedule an "emergency" appointment on JANUARY 4TH. i said oh hell no i cannot wait that long, i can't concentrate on anything.
"well the earliest i can give you is january 3rd." UGHHH. so i end up going to another dentist that is NOT covered by my insurance, meaning thats alot of money, and it turns out i need a root canal. and get this, since the bastards at gentle dental have been neglecting my tooth for hella years, the root is so decayed it's not even funny.
so needless to say, i will never go back here. and i urge you to avoid this place like the PLAGUE.
"Gentle Dental" is a misnomer and now I have a serious oral infection after a cleaning that I imagine, from all the clanking around the dentist did with her instruments against my teeth, would have hurt like Hell...if she hadn't numbed me up completely before going in! I should have known something was wrong when she stuck me 7 or 8 times before starting. She left several times during the procedure to see other patients or talk with her colleagues about scheduling mo clients mo money. Afterward she told me to rinse in the sink. I couldn't feel my mouth so ended up drooling a lot of blood on my shirt. She told me this was normal and sped off.
