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Review 5/17/2011
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This is a public service announcement: Don't walk away, RUN from this dental practice. I would've given 0 stars but that's not an option.
I don't normally write these but I felt it's my duty to warn you. Shoddy dental work, fillings falling out within 4 months, appointments being re-scheduled within an hour of your visit, and crowns needing to be redone are only some of the poor experiences I've had here.
I lost count of the dentists cycling through this office. Each time I went in there was a new one. Initially I went here because they advertised for pain-free laser dental fillings. After I got there, I was told my cavity was not small enough to qualify for that procedure. After having it done the painful way, the filling fell out within a few months. I was assured Dr. Whelan himself would re-do it free of charge. When my appointment came around, he was nowhere to be found.
Next up: a poorly fit crown put on at my previous dentist out of state. Dr. Whelan's office told me I had to have my crown redone. Within a few days, the temp crown fell off after hours and no one returned my emergency call that night or the next morning. Yep, I had to call the office again the next day to follow-up and they were completely unaware an emergency message had ever been left. Nice.
Two weeks later, and an hour prior to my appointment to get the new crown, the office manager called me to tell me the new crown had not arrived yet from the lab and I'd have to reschedule for another week out. When I questioned this, she informed me it takes 2 weeks for the new crown to arrive. I had to explain to her that it had already been 2 weeks, and she couldn't explain or apologize why it was now going to take an extra week to get the crown there.
When the crown finally arrived I went back. After struggling with it for at least a half hour, filing down the crown, drilling down my tooth some more to make it fit, and assuring me they were trying to get it right,the dentist cemented on the new one. I complained within the first week that it did not feel right and the seating on my tooth was extremely sensitive.
When I went back to have it looked at, the dentists told me it looked fine. They drilled the top down a little bit but that really did not help the situation and I still could not chew on that side of my mouth due to the sensitivity. The crown ended up falling off a few months later.
As a dental industry insider, I inquired about their lab and what kind of cement they used on my crown. I never did get an answer. They told me they didn't know, they'd have to have Dr. Whelan look back in my chart, and there was no way to know what kind of product they used. (Huh?!! What kind of practice doesn't know what kind of products they use on their patients?) It's obvious with fillings falling out, crowns falling off, and labs that doesn't send product on time it's all low quality!
That was my final clue to abort mission! Thank goodness for my new dentist. He noticed right away that there was recurrent decay on my tooth, there had been open margins (where the crown isn't seated correctly leaving the tooth exposed), and the lab made the crown was too small to begin with. So much for trying to do things correctly. I now need a THIRD crown on this tooth in less than 4 years.
When I contacted Dr. Whelan’s office to explain the situation and request a refund, the office manager refused. What she offered was to let me have the crown redone. After explaining my lack of confidence in their abilities, she refused to refund my money and refused to let me speak with Dr. Whelan. She just insisted he would re-do it for me. (Famous last words!) I called a couple more times over the next month, attempting to speak with Dr. Whelan and I couldn't get past the guard dog. My messages were never returned so Ken if you're out there: your office manager either doesn't give you messages from your patients or you ignore their attempts to have dialogue with you.
Please learn from my misfortune and find yourself a quality dental practice. This is not it!
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