I am an admitted anti-dentite. I have had mostly awful experiences with dentists and the only people I enjoy visiting pertaining to my mouth is my oral surgeon and my orthodontist. I have had orthognathic surgery due to a car wreck and just didn't want to deal with a dentist thereafter, but my orthodontist and oral surgeon have suggested a couple times that I bite the bullet and go see one.
I moved to San Marcos and my husband had been pushing me to find a family dentist for both of us and I came across Carus while walking around. It looked cozy and I decided to give them a try. I am very picky about people who work in my mouth. I went through multiple oral surgeons until I found the perfect one and I don't deal with BS from doctors. I am not stupid and I know when people just want $$, so I figured if I didn't like them, I could keep looking.
The wait is short and the front waiting room and staff are kind. The dentists, hygienist, and dental assistants I met were all very polite and gentle. I had made it clear that dentists make me uncomfortable. They listened to my complaint about one of my teeth that had been injured in a car wreck and had a crown on it. They suggested I see a specialist at their office and told me I would need a root canal and that I had an abscess.
Now, this is where my bad review starts and it only pertains to the specialist. I went in to see the specialist to discuss the root canal. I explained that a previous dentist said I needed one, but that since I was in the middle of preparing for major orthognathic surgery, I was told to put it off until I was fully healed. The first crown was put on about 15 years ago, a new crown was put on by another dentist in 2010 after I had complained about pain, and the new crown didn't help. The specialist looked in my mouth and repeatedly asked me why I thought I had an abscess. I told him it was because the dentist and dental assistant told him so and that he should probably check my chart. He did multiple pain tests to check if my tooth was cracked or necrotic and pointed out the tooth next to it, saying that both may be cracked, but he didn't know. He also said that my abscess was gone and that he couldn't do anything until it comes back so I was kind of SOL. If he actually read my chart, he would know that the second tooth had a minor cavity and needed a filling, so that's why it was in pain, the tooth he was supposed to concentrate on has hurt me for YEARS, so telling me I was SOL because he didn't know where the abscess was or didn't know if it was cracked was kind of BS. I felt like he was trying to prove I was lying about something or that somehow the abscess diagnosis was made up.
My next appointment was to get my filling in - 5 stars for that. The dentist was awesome, as was the assistant. I felt almost no pain or discomfort and they made sure I was comfortable and taken care of. The dentist asked me what the verdict was with the tooth that has been in pain for a while - I told him that the abscess was gone and I was told to wait until it came back and basically told nothing would be done. He told me he would speak to the specialist and seemed kind of confused about why the specialist would opt to not do anything and told me I shouldn't be left in pain.
Next, I went to get a cleaning. I had my infant and my toddler and the hygienist was amazing. She rocked my infant's carseat with her foot to sooth her during my cleaning. During other cleanings at other offices, I always requested a numbing agent, but the hygienist was so gentle, I didn't need one, even though it had been a long time since my last one. She made sure, just like the other staff, that I was comfortable and taken care of. She asked me about my tooth that I had complained about and I told her the same thing- there was no decision about it and that I was told nothing would be done at that time. She went and spoke with the specialist and came back and told me there was now a plan for my tooth - they would put a temporary crown on and see if I am still in pain. If so, I will need a root canal. I didn't say anything to her at the time about this, since she didn't know my history, but this is total BS - I am not blaming her, but the specialist. I already told the specialist REPEATEDLY during my appointment with him that the crown had already been replaced due to pain and that it did jack. My tooth has hurt since, so his plan after saying he wasn't going to do anything is to do the same thing over? That's probably the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I may hate dental procedures, but I have dealt with this for years and know for a fact that I need a root canal based on the info from my previous dentist and the fact that what he is suggesting has already been done and didn't work.
So all in all, I love the dentist here and the assistants, I love the hygienist and the front desk staff, the office is very welcoming, but Jesus the specialist needs to learn to f'ing listen. read more