I was a little concerned about how they have you ?sign away? on procedures without giving you all of your available options or time to review them.. They sold me two very pricey "gold onlays" and overcharged me on my deep cleanings last year. The onlays were not covered by insurance but were my best option - according to them. I have since found out that there was ?another? good option which was not even presented which would have saved me $1600.00 ? out of pocket. They also had no explanation for the $80.00 they overcharged me on my "deep cleaning". They just nervously processed the refund and apologized. I also found out that they charged me $59.00 for an oral rinse that was not covered by my insurance. So this year, when I brought my wife and daughter in for appointments - I was a little leery and did my homework before arriving. They tried to charge $120.00 per each filling for my daughter when my plan clearly stated $40.00 for "resin" fillings and "silver" are without any copay. They would not do the complementary cleaning on my wife and told her she needed a "deep cleaning" before they would do a filling and also majorly over-quoted for that procedure. I then pulled out my HMO benefit schedule (dagger)and gave them a copy. They came back after around ten minutes and said they were missing those pages from their book. At this point, there was no longer any time left - and we would have to do everything on a different visit. It turns out that four of my daughter's cavities were for baby teeth - so I elected to get her the "silver fillings" for those teeth. The one permanent tooth that had a cavity ? at first -needed a "root canal" according to Dr. Hoang. When I questioned the doctor further - she said she "may" be able to do the resin filling. Well - the filling worked and only cost me $40.00. What if I just said yes to the root canal? My eight year old would have a drilled out tooth for the rest of her life! The doctor was civil during the procedure but I could tell she was "ticked" that she was only getting paid $40.00 for filling five cavities for my eight year old. Then I find out that my wifealso needed a root canal and crown. The claim was valid, so I approved the work and they had us select the proper crown. After my experience with the two ($$$ gold) onlays for myself - I was more prepared this time. The only options they showed us were for the most expensive choices. When I asked for further choices they gave me what I was looking for in a much better price range. We reluctantly signed and the root canal began. I then was pulled in a room by the office manager who told me that a crown lengthening was also required for my wife which runs an additional $850.00. I was at my wits end by now - but I kept my peace until I could get back to my office to make "heads or tails" of this drama! At the suggestion of my benefit broker - I had my office changed to a different dentist. The new dentist said that he feels that doing a regular crown without the lengthening will not compromise my wife's tooth and he did her resin filling on the first visit for $40.00.. I then called Pacific Harbor and asked for a refund of the deposit I put on the crown and told them that we were changing offices and will have the work completed at the new office. They reluctantly refunded the crown deposit but would not honor a new patient $50.00 coupon I presented on my wife?s first visit. I was told that the work had to be done on the first visit in order for the discount to apply. The first visit was a routine exam which is not chargeable through my HMO ? so how could it be used? I would not recommend this dentist to anyone! I feel that they are a "sweat shop" with extremely high overhead - training their staff to up charge and overcharge to turn a substantial profit. BEWARE - Please do your homework before going here. I hope my experience and review saves someone from being financially raped by this dental practice.
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