Arrived right before 10 am, no one was there. Feel some chill coming up, I sat down and started to fill out the forms. I noticed they have more forms than my previous dental.
One form says there is $25 charge for canceling appointment within 24 hour and has to be made on a biz day. ($125 if specialist involved.) I have not seen dental office charges for this. Should this be a red flag? There is also extra charge if called for emergency but then was not one (by doctor's definition?)
Another form says patients are responsible for any fee that insurance does not cover...Gentle Dental will try to explain to patients if they do not understand the insurance plans as they can be complicated... etc. Should this be a red flag that they are warning me I will be responsible with all kinds of fees down the road?
Another form warned patients about 'change of treatment'. It basically said the plan could change if things coming up differently during treatment and dentist had to make a different call. Then it reminded me one reviewer complained about Gentle Dental changed the treatment while he was sitting on the chair being operated.
While I was filling out the form, there suddenly came a few parties, apparently they double or triple booked their slots, as they only had one doctor there at that time! So... most people just sat and wait.
One man got into long conversation with the plan organizer. She was losing patience but tried to be professional. Basically he seemed not have decided to stick to this place or swinging back to his previous dentist.
She said, "You need to make a decision. I can hold on to the files until you decide, maybe next week?... I don't want to process further because it's wasting time if you decide to go back. And it costs me money to make copies of files..."
(So far, I actually did not disagree with her, even though she was losing patience and becoming unprofessional. But I would lose patience over repeated explanations too.)
She said, "If you decided to go back, just have your dentist contact Gentle Dental and we will send x-rays and whatever files over. But if you want to walk out with your files, then it would be $27 for x-rays, plus $2/per page for documents."
The man grumbled...
She said, "I am trying to save you some money. We will send whatever documents to your dentist if you simply have him call us."
Then I realized one reviewer complained Gentle Dental charged him for x-rays as 'good-bye' pay when he was pissed and decided to leave. I now see the reviewer was not fair in this case. Because he could choose not to take out a copy but just have his new dentist call them instead. I believe that's how most dental places handle files. They pass to each other without involving patients. After all, it does cost extra to make copies of x-rays.
After I was done with the forms, I approached the counter and asked her if I would be able to get a list of things done before I leave. I was trying to prevent any surprise bills sending to me weeks later. She said, "All you are going to have today is taking x-rays and we will have a treatment plan for you."
Oh ho, sounded like the nightmare was gonna happen, like all other reviewers complained. The sales pressure, selling me thousand dollar treatment plan, blah blah...
I quickly said, "I don't have much time today" (I raised my head looking at the clock on the wall, hinting it's already 10:30 am, half an hour late for my appointment), "I am afraid I won't have time to go through the treatment plan, can I just have my front tooth checked?" She said, "sure", then she started to write something on my file. I assumed she was making a note for my request.
Finally I was called. The technician greeted me and said, "I know you just want to check your front tooth, but we need x-rays so the doctor could diagnose." I thought, "fine, taking all those x-rays shouldn't cost me anything. Besides, if I decide to go to other dentist, I can simply have them send files over."
I sat down and was ready to be taken 20 x-rays, like some reviewer said. The x-rays would then be used to put up a treatment plan... I had it all prepared (and rehearsed in my head).
The first one started from my front tooth. After one beep, the technician told me it's done and asked me to follow him. I was surprisingly shocked! Wow, they did honor my request and were only going to look at my front tooth without other tricks!
I sat on the chair for a while, waiting for that only dentist, who was still drilling another patient. Finally it's my turn, she asked me about the pain and knocked on a few tooth (knocking test?) and a cold test (pulp test) and decided the nerve died. I asked, "If the nerve died, why would I feel pain?". She explained, "The nerve died inside and was causing inflammation to the nearby tooth..."
Through out the short session, I asked many questions to make sure I understood what happened and what would happen.
Time to jump off the chair, the plan organizer was sitting by me all the time as well. And to my surprise, she said, "Good questions! You asked all those good questions. Other patients just sat there and say ok ok..." Now I felt delighted to get compliments out of the blue, ha ha.
I followed her to the front desk and showed her a sheet of all the items with cost from my insurance plan that I brought with me. I asked her to point out the items involved in root canal and crown. She quickly got information from computer, printed them out and helped me identified each item, including what we did today. She also understood the flex plan if I'd like to wait to do it next Jan. as apparently some other patients were considering that, since it's near year end. (I had some other dental office did not understand the flex plan and I had to explain it before.)
So far, I actually felt surprised as I had very low expectations before I came, yet nothing bad happened. I was not sold to any pricy product. And the plan organizer seemed very helpful. She did try to put an upgraded plan for crown, such as gold metal and porcelain trim. Those items are not covered by insurance at all and cost more than $350. I asked about those items and she explained. As long as I knew what those items are, I could still choose to add them or not. She did not add sales pressure on me by telling me it's much better to have etc.
After my own visit to Gentle Dental, I think overall it really depends on your perspective. I believe if someone who is not prepared to ask questions and understands what they are doing and what other alternatives they have, they might feel ripped off.
- If I did not request I only wanted to check my front tooth, I would have taken lots of x-rays and went on the same route.
- If I did not ask the plan organizer to explain items on the crown, I might thought the metal upgrade is required (as she put it there automatically, yes, sales strategy maybe.)
- It you are looking for prompt appointment, this is not the place to come. (Funny, they charge people for canceling appointments yet they overbook?).
- If you don't know you can ask them to transfer x-ray and documents for free, you will end up paying for them.
- The dentist I visited today did not seem particularly 'gentle', the way she knock tested on my tooth.
My HMO insurance covered my exam for today. However, based on a lot of bad reviews, I still yet wait and see if there is any surprise bill to come. Since I only took one x-ray and simple exam (no gum test, no full test, no cleaning), I seriously doubt if they can make up anything to bill me.
Even though I survived my first visit with surprise, I am still not sure if I should go back though, as I am still concerned something bad might happen down the road, based on all negative reviews. Seriously, all reviews are bad, not even one positive review. It's the 'high possibility' that something bad might happen that bugs me.
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