Dr. Larry B. Butler, DDS

Reviews 3

DI

Diane Serviss

I believe I am finished with this dentist. After being a patient for a number of years I try to remain loyal, but it seems every time I go all I hear are the ladies behind the desk bad mouthing the people on the phone who call with questions. I thought the first time it was a one time thing but it happened again today. The lady answering the phone slammed down the receiver and huffed and puffed like doing her job was an annoyance. There is no window between us and them, your clients in the waiting room can hear it all, ladies. With so many unemployed people in Florida, you should thank your lucky stars that you have a job. Those clients that are asking you questions pay your wages. When that patient who had been treated rudely on the phone arrived for his appointment Dr. Butler came out and apologized but in the same breath threw the assistant under the bus by saying she had no business answering phones. Yes, she was rude on the phone and if she had been my employee I would have fired her, but she is YOUR employee, so how about training her. No wonder they all bad mouth the people on the phone, they learn from example, Dr. Butler. It gets worse. My daughter had a bad check up. Admittedly, we expected it, thats why we were there, to assess the damage and develop some kind of treatment plan to fix her problems. He went on and on about sugary drinks and caffeine, etc etc. Yes, we know ..but what do we do now? I asked multiple times but never really did get an answer, no plans on what to do next. Just a vague "lets get her in for a cleaning and then well see". Im sorry, but 8 million xrays and you cant give me an endgame? My daughter was embarassed, bawling her eyes out, scared that all of her teeth are going to fall out at any second and he had no bedside manner whatsoever, just kept going on about sugary drinks. Then he hands her a coupon for a free mcdonalds hamburger ..like thats supposed to make her feel better and really, she felt quite insulted by it. He made such a fit about sugary drinks, but condones fast food? Seems odd. I just cant get over the unprofessionalism and I am now curious to hear what another dentist might have to say about her teeth, after reading some of these other reviews. ---------------------------------------- I wanted to follow up on this ..it is now 7/22/2013 and we went to another dentist to get a second opinion. She agreed that there were some problem areas but was able to tell us that day exactly what the problems where and how much it would cost and assured me that all of her teeth were savable, not "rotting and ready to fall out" like Dr. Butler had told her. Seriously, I feel bad that I had to put my daughter thru this, but I am glad I found someone much better in the process.

A

A Private User

My first bad feeling about Dr. Butlers practice was that he would not schedule a cleaning and exam on the same day. It is obvious to me why, now: because then he can charge you or your insurance for two exams. I had a bad feeling about that, and should have trusted my feelings right away. I also was not impressed with his outdated equipment and office (which also has a large dog and cage in the front office, right in view.) You may ask why I took my children back: as I had told him and his staff, my husband was losing his job and our insurance in just a few days, and I thought he was my last chance to get them in for their routine cleaning, which they have always had every 6 months. Dr. Butler said my young daughter had three cavities. His hygienest really made her feel ashamed for not taking good enough care of her teeth. She was so embarassed that she cried and asked me not to tell anyone. Since he was a new dentist to me, and we have had consistent dental care, plus the fact that he had charged me for two exams within three days (because he said "Hi" the second time I was seen) KNOWING that insurance wont pay that (since it is obviously unnecessary,) I felt I should get a second opinion before putting my ten year old through the painful experience, and spending the hundreds of dollars. I travelled to my hometown to see the dentist we have gone to for years. He examined her personally and saw zero evidence of cavities. I am appalled that Dr. Butler would take advantage of our situation trying to get as much money out of us as he could, knowing that my husband was losing his job. He had also recommended that I get cleanings every three months because of the condition of my gums, which my hometown dentist said had minimal recession in a couple areas, and that this was unnecessary, but very lucrative for the dentist. After this, my husband unfortunately forgot an appointment with this dentist---or more like it I forgot to cancel it. Dr. Butler sent me a bill for $50, which I do understand....we should have cancelled. I sent him a check for about $25---and a letter explaining that charging me twice for his "exam" (two exams two days apart) was unfair, knowing that insurance wouldnt pay, and he could consider that half the payment (which I had already paid) for his missed appointment fee, which admittedly was something we should be penalized for. I requested that he accept the unfair charge for the second exam as half the $50 charge. He refused and promptly turned me over to collection!!! So, in order to spare anyone else from learning the hard way, I thought I would share all the facts, including my own mistake of not cancelling the appointment. Buyer Beware!

SA

Sarah

Mom has been going to Dr. Butler for a year + now. He and his staff are extremely nice and helpful. She has been having problems with her insurance not wanting to pay (typical insurance trying to deny everything) and Paula went to bat for her. It took awhile, but Paula is like a bull dog when it comes to fighting for patients with the insurance companies. Mom said Dr. Butler is the best dentist she has found in Zephyrhills. He shows her and explains what exactly needs to be done. She had some cavities filled and a crown that needed to be fixed. She said it was amazing. She did not have any problems and was a pain free experience. I am going to make an appointment with him next week. Update coming soon! 5/1/2017-update I had been having some pain in my molar and went to have it checked out. Dr. Butler gave me a couple of options. I could have it pulled or get a root canal and crown. I chose the root canal and crown. Since he doesnt do the root canals he referred me to Dr. Eleanor Apodaca, who is freaking awesome. A week later Dr. Butler put the temporary crown on. It was the easiest dentist visit I have had. He was awesome. If I needed him to stop, all I had to do was raise my hand and he asked if I was doing okay frequently. When he did the impressions for the permanent crown, he didnt leave to tend to another patient (I have had other dentists do this causing an extremely long appointment). He did some charting and made sure I was okay. When I left, my gums were a bit sore, which is understandable, but I just took some ibuprofen and the next day they were fine. Two weeks later (today) he put the permanent crown on and I have had no problems and no soreness. He is the best dentist I have ever gone to. For the record, Paula is so nice. I have never seen her be anything but kind. The only thing I can think of as to why there are reviews saying otherwise would be that those people tried to skip out on their bill, wanted a free ride and got pissed when they didnt get their way.