Aspen Dental

Reviews 3

BR

Brian Smith

This should be of interest to you denture wearers - Went to Aspen for a relien of my upper & lower plates. This was Nov of 2010 and my 1st time to the facility. 1st Aspen wanted an x-ray. Told them I only wanted the relien, but they insisted. Next the admin/sales person wrote up the cost for the relien and collected my out of pocket expense, which I found out later from Met Life (my dental ins.) that they shouldnt have collected any out of pocket. Next she spent 15 minutes showing me their line of available dentures, and with implants (to secure the plates in place) I could have this great smile for approx $9K.** Ends up they overcharged me $380.00 and it took 6 weeks to get it back after keeping in touch with the office manager at least once a week. ** Once she saw that I really only wanted the relien all forward motions came to a crawl. I sat in the chair for almost 30 minutes before the dentist came in. Looked at my x-ray and noted that I had a chip of root still in my jaw. He claimed that this was infected and was disolving my jaw bone. He had an Oral Surgen that could take care of that immediately if I wanted them to arrange it. I told him that it wasnt bothering me at all, no swelling etc. and the Dr. that removed my teeth knew that this was there. I was told if it became sensitive or painful that we could address it then. But, that it shouldnt be a problem. This dentist told me that the chip would always have some degree of infection going and that is my jaw bone was in danger. I told them I would contact my insurance (Met Life Dental) and see what the coverage was for this since I was only into dentures for the past 3 years (2007), Finally they took my dentures and after an hour gave me some excuse that it would be a few day when they initially told me itd be done that day. I had also brought in a previous set that they told me they could adjust/grind to fit me better because I had some pressure areas. They tried to tell me that because they were another Drs denture that they couldnt work with them since they didnt make them. Getting lamer by the paragraph, eh? ( FYI, all dental offices in the pioneer valley get their goods from a dental supply house - none of their products are unique or patented - especially denture resins, etc.) I reminded them that I was promised my dentures back that day. Long story short I had to hang around all day, and after 5 that evening, the girl at the receptionist desk handed me a ziplock baggie with the dentures soaking in mouthwash. I had her get one of the tech, and asked if we were going to make sure these fit and I was told that those techs were gone for the day. Luckily, I can use and have a battery powered dremel. And, I did have to work them to make them comfortable. WHY AM I POSTING THIS NOW??? I went to an oral surgen yesterday (7-31-12) to examine my jaw. Remember - it disolving because the chip is infected. I was able to get a copy of my Aspen x-ray from that office. It was free of cost and they actually completed the task in a matter of minutes - yay! The oral surgen I saw is not associated with Aspen, thats to say, hes not a referral. I explained my concerns about checking my jaw to see if, in fact, Im having some jawbone issues. When I mentioned Aspen, he rolled his eyes and said, yeah we know a few of their stories. Bottom line, there was not the slightest change in the bone area at all. He assured me that if that chip does get infected, Ill know it rather quickly. SO - not only do I declare that this Aspen office is incompetent, but it seems to me that leading me towards unnecessary surgery was unprofessional and dangerous! If you visit, make sure you keep a questioning attitude.

A

A Private User

The following is my account that I included in my email to the "Patient Services Team" with the hopes of getting some resolution. By far the absolute WORST experience of my life. On Tuesday, May 31st, I had an appointment at the Aspen Dental in West Springfield, MA. I received two fillings and then had a cleaning. I mentioned to the hygienist - after the filling - that something didnt feel right with my bite, and when she asked for the tools to correct it for me, the dentist who did the work said it was just the Novocaine that was making me feel odd. In the days that followed, I stopped being able to chew food on the left side of my my mouth due to intense sensitivity to any temperature or texture that wasnt soft. There was shooting pain in my jaw that went up the side of my head and into my ear. I took ibuprofen because I had read on several websites that this pain wasnt unheard of after fillings. On Thursday, June 9, I went into the location as a walk-in because I was still hypersensitive and had learned that I could not floss between the two teeth that had been filled. Without ibuprofen, the head pain remained. The dentist who did the original filling (who never told me his name) took a look and immediately used a scraping tool at those teeth. The pain was so intense, that my entire body tensed up and I started crying involuntarily. He sat back in his chair and with a rather condescending tone said, "You want to be numb for this?" I didnt even know WHAT he was doing, but I said yes to the novocaine. Then he told the assistant to get an x-ray. This x-ray showed that "the filling was close to the nerve, but not touching it, so the pain would subside." It also showed that the composite used for the filling was IN BETWEEN MY TEETH. The hygienist was called back in to scrape it all away. At the end, she wiped my face and stated, "you probably dont want to walk out of here with blood on your face." This sent me into a full-blown anxiety attack, and yet no one told me what the problem had even been or that the problem had been fixed. The assistant asked me to wait in the waiting room while he asked the dentist if they were through with me. I was genuinely hyperventilating before the RECEPTIONIST asked me to come to the back (probably because my reaction was upsetting other patients) and she said that the "doctor" was in with another patient and that they were waiting to talk to him. As I couldnt stop crying, she said, "why dont you go home, and if we need you, well call?" No one called. No one told me how much longer I would be in this pain. Its now 2 days past the second visit, and Im still icing my face, and taking unreasonable amounts of ibuprofen. I can not chew on the left side of my mouth, my gums are inflamed, and although I can now floss between the teeth, doing so causes bleeding

JI

Jim Harris

My wife went in to make an appointment for a tooth extraction for a Saturday. I arrived for my appointment early as thier is always paperwork to fill out as a new patient. I had my x-rays sat in the dental chair expecting to have tooth extracted but when the Dentist came in he gave a 1 minute synopses of what i needed and sent me back to waiting room, about 5 minutes later I was called into the financial office for a run down of costs and how was I going to pay. After being told I needed to pay for the Dentist new car (lol) I was told to make an appointment for the tooth extraction, and I must prepay for the service, I did, got my appointment and day before I get a phone call saying Dentist needs to get out early I have to change my appointment, I have a hole in my tooth and Im in pain and to bad so sad. My experience was very sterile and cold, Dentist had the personality of a dead fish. Im left feeling my wallet is more important than I am as a patient. Update: i did give them another chance after speaking to the office manager, well I arrived everyone was pleasant, I was told since I had new Dental insurance I would get a $25.00 credit(since you must pre-pay) on my debit card. The Tooth was Removed it went as Pleasant as I guess a tooth Removal can go. When the drugs wore off I found they chipped another tooth, and after 3+ months no credit to my card. I understand he owns a few Aspen Dentals so I think he needs to refocus on patients and providing excellent experience overall for patients.