After sadly leaving my PPO dentist behind, I saw another provider for a couple of years but never fully trusted their work and the office visits were not unpleasant but just off. I had somewhat resigned myself to having this standard of care going forward with my HMO plan, however, I moved to the La Mesa area and finally decided to look into more options. My insurance company initially steered me toward Cardinal (I felt the person I spoke with actually had personal experience in some capacity with this practice) and additional web research led me to make an overdue appointment. It had been about 11 months since I had last had a cleaning and close to 18 months since I did x-rays and had an actual dentist examination. First of all, the x-rays were super fast and modern. No more bite wings poking you every which way and they were fast; I did bite briefly on what is the new "bite wing" but it was painless. I liked that there was a monitor in front of me showing the results.
So onto the cleaning...very well done. I don't recall her name but she did a very thorough job. I had two places that were starting to show a fair amount of discoloration where plaque and everything else that lives in ones mouth accumulates when one doesn't get frequent professional cleanings or when they are done inadequately. The guy that cleaned my teeth at my previous office pretty much gave up and even after the cleaning, I could still see the discoloration. Well, that did not happen here...she took her time and my teeth look better than they have since I left my PPO dentist. I do have nice enough teeth. I do use an electric toothbrush, I do floss at least four times a week (used to be daily until I developed Rheumatoid Arthritis which greatly manifested itself in my hands and I tried the Waterpik thing but ugh, not worth the trouble, even the newest types) and no suggestion for a deep cleaning was made or even hinted at. Nothing they did seemed pushy, unnecessary, or dishonest. They even had the finance person stop by chair-side to confirm and explain charges.
I did end up needing three new fillings (two old ones pretty much needed to be replaced and one was for a tiny cavity that I could actually see forming although I have never experienced any tooth pain, ever) that they were able to do the same day as my initial/original appointment. I do not know or expect that this will be the case every time but appreciated that it worked out this visit.
I have two minor "complaints." The first one is legitimate and if I didn't compose such a sea of text here it may actually be noted lol. The second one is especially whiny so I'm acknowledging that I know I'm pushing it. Anyway, I did not like that I was not provided with a pair of goggles or plastic glasses to wear while the work was being done. Even if it is my own biological matter, I like having and kinda of did expect to have eye protection provided. My second whiny issue is that I wasn't given a toothbrush, or floss, or some kind of sample something. If not providing those things keeps prices down, then cool but I also know that companies can bring things to medical practices (i.e. samples) and using my dry mouth situation as an example, it would have nice to get a little something to try out. On the flip side though, this office also did not try to sell me an electric toothbrush or a whitening regimen. Also, doctors who do not waste time taking to reps have more time for their patients so I appreciate that over a goodie bag any day.
I will definitely be going back in four months for just a cleaning (I wish insurance companies and the government quite frankly would see the bigger picture in regard to how dentistry is practiced in the U.S.) as I believe that prevention via an extra cleaning over the course of a year does ultimately greatly improve your gum health and results saving money by avoiding more costly procedures down the line. But this is America where everything is done out of reaction and not out of proactive measures.
Finally, as many others have stated, the office is very nice, the equipment is clean and modern enough, and EVERYONE there is SO freakin' polite and genuinely seem to care about you. I really appreciate that I was not admonished for my lapse in dental care and that too goes a long way. If someone comes into the dentist, the last thing you want to do is make them feel even worse! This office does not have that attitude so put your fears aside and be confident in the kind service that you will receive across the board when visiting this office. read more