I bought a dental plan by ""Golden West Dental and Vision"", it had a list of dentists for me to choose. When I looked at their web site, it showed pictures of four different doctors. I thought that it must be a busy office with lots of patients which probably suggests that it provides good customer service.
When I called them before I bought the dental plan, the person told me that I can see the dentist on the first day of the month once my plan becomes active.
After I bought the plan, I was told that I have to wait for my information to be sent to their office first. When I finally got my dental plan card, I called them again. Now I was told by the same person that because they haven't got my information from ""Golden west"", therefore, they can't make an appointment. I waited patiently, and on the first day of the month, I called again. The same person told me that they still haven't got my information from Golden west, therefore, I should call them two days later.
When I finally made the appointment, it was already 15 days after my dental plan started. (Skip ahead, when I was scheduled for another appointment after the first visit, I had to wait yet another 23 days! )
They mailed me an appointment form a few days later which seemed odd to me. I thought that they want to speed up the service process. On that form, they actually ask me for the name of my bank, and my bank account! If I remembered it correctly, it also asks for credit card information. Now come to think of it, that was probably the reason why they sent me the form at the first place.
According to their web site, they have four dentists. If I have to wait for 15 days in order to get an appointment, why can't they all work at the same time, why do people have to wait for such a long time? It is probably because the dental plan company pay the dental office captions monthly. So if I stay with this dental office for another month, they will get paid again.
I waited about 30 minutes before I took the X-ray. According to the dentist, several of my teeth need resin restorations. From the ""Treatment Plan Report"", my anterior teeth were also coded the same as the rest of posterior teeth as ""resin restorations - POSTERIOR permanent teeth."" Does the assistant not know the difference between anterior and posterior teeth? Sure, she does. Anterior teeth cost less to fix, then she won't be able to ask for more money. I was told that because those teeth were due to erosion, therefore, they are not covered by my dental plan.
The ADA (American Dental Association code) code they used was D2391 which costs $55 per tooth according to my dental plan, however, they want to charge me $121 per tooth. I called the office. Even though the code is the same, but they still charge different fees because it was to repair my teeth erosion, but not for cosmetic reason. How ridiculous is that? If they are putting on the same material for the same teeth, does it matter?
The dentist also wants me to get one crown for a teeth which my previous dentist filled with amalgam. So why didn't the first dentist suggest to get a crown at the first place? When I went to another honest dentist, she didn't even say anything about this teeth. When I went to ""Mountain View Dental Group"" in El Monte, the shady dentist Rita Chen got even worse, she wanted me to get three crowns!
The dentist wants me to do a deep cleaning. They refuse to give me a free prophylaxis cleaning.
This dentist want me to get unnecessary crown and deep cleaning, overcharge me $66/teeth for many teeth. The price they gave me was almost $1500. When the honest dentist from ""Herald Christian Health Center"" only charges me about $440 including all the optional repairs, even though their price are identical to my dental plan.
And if you think that $1500 is a lot, you should read my review for ""Mountain View Dental Group"" in El Monte, that group wanted me to pay them almost $3000.
more