Tompkins Dental In Ithaca

Reviews 4

ST

Steve Jenks

If youre looking for a dentist in Ithaca, dont settle for this place just because they are one of the few offices taking new patients. Theres a reason for that. I have talked to literally no one that had a positive experience at this dentist and I am no exception. First, on the positive side, they do take most insurances. Its also conveniently located with lots of parking. If you are going for just a cleaning, they do a pretty good job there too. Now on to the bulk of the review. I never had an appointment that started on time, which is pretty common in the medical field, but still worth mentioning. Since the hours are 8-5, I try to take the least amount of time off from work possible and not being on time sort of stretches that out, which isnt great. I had some cavities that needed fillings and I requested the fillings that my insurance covered and they recommended something more long lasting. I declined and said I wanted the insurance covered fillings. MONTHS LATER (the billing process is SUPER slow) I received a bill showing that I had been given the other fillings anyway and now had to pay for them. Another insurance blunder comes with xrays. They will take all of the xrays every time even though some xrays are only covered once annually. Make sure you know which those are because they are expensive. Like many other reviews, they tried to convince me that I needed my wisdom teeth out and that they were causing my lymph nodes to swell. Turns out that wasnt the case and my orthodontist said my wisdom teeth were fine. So I avoided getting those out. They also told me that my orthodontics werent working well enough so I needed to have some more work done with that. In the meantime they also told me I needed a sleep guard for grinding my teeth at night. They took the mold and sent me back to my orthodontist. Then the guard came in and didnt fit because, surprise, my teeth shifted like they wanted. In retrospect I should have logically questioned that but I didnt. The sleep guard was also supposed to be covered by my insurance but it wasnt. When I tried to appeal it I couldnt get my billing information in a format that my insurance would take. I had to physically go to the office each time to get the print outs and then wait to see if insurance would take them. Despite my very clear instructions of what my insurance wanted, I always got something different and eventually they basically filibustered me until insurance wouldnt cover it and I had to pay. Finally, if you DO go to this dentist, you should also know that there is a fee for not showing up, but the system will also automatically schedule you for appointments and send you notice through the mail which sometimes arrive the day before the appointment telling you to call if you cant make the appointment. If you have an issue with certain billing things, they are patient and listen to your concern (my billing file had an updated cost once that described me as "very frustrated" in the notes) and will adjust if they can so I doubt they would actually charge a no show fee in this case, but with the other negligence, who knows.

---

DA

Dawn Cornell

Initial visit (before I had insurance) found I had 2 cavities that needed filling. When I went to have those 2 fillings put in, I had insurance. Suddenly they told me I had 9 cavities. (Which I found out later was a blatant lie). The dentist (Singh) instructed the female dentist to fill as many as possible right away. I informed her several times I was leaving the country for several weeks, so to please be careful. Careful she was not, inexperienced and arrogant she was instead. She was so rushed and clumsy that she got amalgam in my gum while attempting to fill a non-existent cavity between my molars. She used metal tools to attempt to pry my teeth apart enough so that she could force a metal pick into my gums to get the amalgam out. Even though she tried for several minutes, x-rays showed it was still present and since the area was now too swollen and bloody, she told me I would have to come back to have it removed before it became infected. I reminded her I was leaving in five days to India for 7 weeks, so she suggested I come in two days later, which I did. She once again dug into my gums in an attempt to remove the (metal and lead) from my gum. She did not x-ray afterwards to be sure and sure enough, I got an infection for which they almost refused to prescribe antibiotics. The worst part is the rough treatment I received fractured the molar and while I was in India the tooth cracked completely leaving the root exposed. The root died PAINFULLY and I needed to pay to have root canal and a crown when I came back to the States. I chose a reputable dentist to fix the tooth and ended up paying almost $3000 to repair the damage done. Do not go to Tompkins Dental. They should have their license revoked.

---

ER

Erik Burt

I first scheduled an appointment with Tompkins Dental in April 2012 specifically for the extraction of a very painful tooth(failed root canal). I arrived for my appointment, only to be told that they couldnt possibly do an extraction on a first appointment. I would need an assessment, and then have to schedule a follow-up for the extraction. Dr. Singh performed the assessment, concurred that the tooth ought to come out, and I rescheduled for the following week. I arrived for my second appointment, only to have a different dentist tell me that I would need to be referred to an oral surgeon. I inquired as to why his assessment differed from Dr. Singhs and was told that the new dentist was not confident in his ability to perform the extraction cleanly. I demanded to see Dr. Singh, and was rescheduled for a few hours later that day. I returned, had the tooth extracted, and was very satisfied with the procedure. I asked for the bill and paid in full before I left that day... Or so I thought. Ten months later, I got an overdue notice in the mail. I called to inquire, only to be told on my first attempt that the computers were down, and on my second that the billing person wasnt in yet(at 900am on a Friday) but that I would be called back when she was in. On my third attempt, I reached Michelle from billing. She kindly explained that what I paid last April was "only an estimate" of the actual bill, which might have been nice to know at the time. The delay had been because "We switched to a new system and then we switched back, so everything from the old system is a little delayed." TL;DR Ask for the guy with his name on the door(Dr. Singh). Everyone else there is incompetent.

---

AL

Alex Mellnik

This practice was recommended to me by a coworker. At any rate, I went there for the first time today, so heres a real review. First of all, it is true that the office does feel a bit low budget -- its in a older strip mall after all, and the interior has not been updated recently. However, I guess I would rather go into an older office than a new one thats paid for because they try to sell you on all sorts of random crap (ultrasonic tooth care system anyone?) I only had to wait about five minutes after filling out the insurance forms, and the person who cleaned my teeth made it about as pleasant as getting your teeth cleaned gets. The primary care dentist was clearly in a bit of a rush, but didnt seem negligent. At any rate, Ive only been there once, but if anything changes I will update this review. Update: Have now been there four times now, the doctor removed a broken "permanent retainer" for free, which was pretty nice. (If an orthodontist ever tries to talk you into getting one of these, dont). Edit: Not so nice is that I just noticed that they paid someone to astroturf their primary listing in google maps. Edit2: Google removed a bunch of fake reviews all at once when they switched to a new system, so I guess its a moot point now.

---

---