Larissa Y.'s Profile

I agree with Deniz T's review from 2010 - "A clean place where you can get fast and painless service if the money is not an issue. "

The very short version: I'd been getting really really REALLY sick from toxins that my mouth was producing. Let's just say the periodontal issues finally caught up with me.

The staff has been friendly, but here's why I'm giving it 1 star.  Money for me is an issue - and they don't write down what the breakdown of charges are.

The first time I went (Oct 2010) was for an emergency issue where some tartar cracked off the back of my tooth-thought it *was* my tooth & freaked. They got me in for a deep cleaning + sedation, but only the lower arch because $580 out of pocket was just too expensive for me to pay more than once in a few weeks time.  

The staff did a good job of pacifying my UltraFear of dentists.  Lame: the receptionist comes in while I'm in the chair, sedated and waiting, and then has me sign some paperwork.  Did I mention I was sedated?  I could barely move my hand let alone follow what she was telling me.  They never gave me a written breakdown of what the charges would be.  Finally got that paid off ($580), and wanted to go back soon after to get the upper arch cleaned out but with my wedding coming up in April, let's just say I was strapped for cash.  

Fast forward to about a month ago. Started feeling sick, sicker, horrible.  Go see the dentist. He says my gums are super inflamed & yes, the drainage from my gums was basically pumping toxins into me.  Got some antibiotics.  Felt human.  Discussed next appointment - time to get the whole mouth deep-cleaning plus irrigation.  Plus conscious sedation.  Okay.  To save me money, they said "We'll just do your whole mouth all in one go, give you 1.5 pills for the sedation, and it will be cheaper."  

I left thinking it would be about $550 out of pocket, but had a bad feeling my co-pay was $50 .  He said something about $167 per quadrant plus sedation.  Maybe sedation is $150?  i don't know.  He should really start writing that stuff down for patients, because I was too sick to think of anything but NOT VOMITING ON THE FLOOR.

Today I get to the office, excited to FINALLY get the crap cleaned out of my gums, and the bill the receptionist hands me was for $818.00: four quadrants plus non-IV sedation.

Well shit. Waiting another 2+ weeks wasn't a possibility, so I pay (FROM MY DEBIT CARD), get the procedure done. We get done (about an hour and a half of trying to meditate and just breathe while they dig around in my mouth, omg), and things feel clean. Except for the bleeding, which is probably going to last another day.  

He says: No sugar. No alcohol. No carbs.  The bacteria will cause the infection to come back.  Okay.... I can handle that for a little bit.  I think he meant for the next five weeks, which is going to be a challenge, but I'll try my best. If anybody has suggestions on what the f//k to eat besides eggs & sugarfree Jello, please speak up.

The he says: A) my gums were growing kind of over my teeth, and trapping bacteria and that's why the buildup was trapped in there. Two weeks, come back for a followup cleaning/polishing. Three weeks after that, come back for a followup perio checkup. They'll assess what's up with my gums.  IF THE GROWTH OF MY GUMS HASN'T RECEDED, THEY'LL NEED TO CUT THEM BACK.   Ohhhh. Okay then.  So now there are cavities (which is probably true, because I don't brush as well as I should and eat a lot of sugar), so they need filled.  And the wisdom teeth that came in years ago? The ones that aren't hurting?  Yeah, those need to come out.  He says, "They're in there just basically doing nothing but trapping bacteria (not hurting), but they need to come out."  Oh, and the crowding a?  Invisalign. I have to get that, apparently.  All the crowding (from the wisdom teeth and the teeth that need Invisalign) is also trapping bacteria and the perio issues will haunt me if I don't get all that done.

So... I get the logic behind the explanation, but I don't get where I'm magically going to get all this money.  Time to look for someone else - that shows you A) an actual price breakdown and who doesn't just hand you a quickly-typed receipt saying "Patient understands and acknowledges that the cost for the procedure is $____", sign and date, ok open your mouth.

I know I should've asked for a better breakdown of charges, but some dental issues can't wait. At least they didn't make me sign while sedated this time. Bonus: my mouth hurts like a %&#*( from the eight novocaine shots, but at least my teeth don't have buildup now.

My bank account is now overdrawn. They don't discuss any "payment plans" except "Sign up for CareCredit."

This week's goals: research EXACTLY what my insurance covers, if Dreamsmile has contacted them, and check out other dentists. That maybe won't cut my gums off or try to sell Invisalign like I magically have $$$ in my bank account. "Just put it on a credit card."

After several months of Karaoke Thursdays and many beers later, I now proclaim this to be My Favorite Bar Ever.  It's the only bar I have ever not wanted to leave, and have shut the place down quite a few times.

Thanks for getting me hooked! :)  I love you guys!!!  

[ps: if only you could do something about the bar/cat pee smell, you would get that fifth star, but that's the only downfall. besides, it fades after you've been there more than 20 minutes.