I went here a few months ago to see about getting Invisalign to fix my bite, a "easily fixed alignment issue" according to my dentist. I just selected the closest orthodontist to my home and walked there. When I arrived I was met with racist prejudice treatment from this doctor.
I told the doctor my dentist told me to find an orthodontist, to correct my bite. Elfersi asks me why I'd didn't go to a doctor "in my own neighborhood"--this doctor immediately assumed (because I'm Black) that I came from a different neighborhood, when I live around the corner. Then I tell her I walked from my home nearby and she gives me this look like 'yeah right.' Then she says tell her what a "perfect smile" is and I told her "I don't know about what's perfect" but I really just wanted to fix the bite like my dentist suggested and I would be more comfortable just hearing her opinion. But she would not give me advise until I told her something first about what is perfect . So I just sort of did my best to guess and then scoffs and tells me I don't understand how to straighten teeth???. It didn't make any sense. Then she gives me a quote for $9200 and when I ask her "is this a little high" she rolls her eyes and tells me she doesn't have anymore time. Then she gets up an walks away. The dental assistant hand me a paper the doctor sloppily scribbled $9200 on (no name or treatment info, just a blank form with just $9200 written in very big letters and circled) and says call us when your ready. The "consultation" was like five minutes and it was like the doctor could care less. I was getting ready to buy $10k and this doctor barely had the time of day.
I call back the next day to set up a time and asked the receptionist about the price? The receptionist says " let me confirm this, it seems high for this" we'll call you back. The doctor calls me back 30 minutes later but I tell her I' was on my lunch break when I called earlier and can't really talk now. And I ask if I can call her back. She totally ignores me and starts talking over me before I can finish my sentence . Before I can say much anything she goes into this thing about how I "can't know anything about dental" and what's required, as if I'm not smart enough to understand. It was very sudden meanness coming from absolutely nowhere. It was all over-the-top personal attacks, about my "demands" are unreasonable and how I "cant't understand." What demands Is she talking about? I came in for an opinion. She kept using the word "demand" when I had zero. All from a five minute consultation where she did nearly all of the talking? I could barely get a word in. All I did was come in for some advise and what I got was very rude and abusive Dr talking down to me. I eventually told her I had to go and I actually ended up having to just hang up while she was still talking (belittling me). I was trying to tell her I was at work but she just didn't seem to care. It was a weird experience but I've seen businesses act like that before, they try to be rude to Black people for no real valid reason, just come up with something to drive us away. Be rude to us or give bad serve etc. or raise our price. The issue Elfarsi had was with my dark skin color-this is more real of a problem than people like to admit, and African Americans have to endure it almost daily. This type of direct discrimination.
I went to another orthodontist in Beverly Hills the next day and she was super normal and not at all like Elfersi, and was saying things that made since, more in line with what my dentist (also in Beverly Hills) was saying. I was given a 30 minute introduction from the Dr. and her staff, it was totally different experience. She checked my teeth and gave me a quote for $4800.00. Almost half. HALF of the $9200 Elfersi was telling me I had to pay. I was prepared to pay $9200 or close to it. After the new Dr told me $4800, it was only then I told her about my experience at Elfersi and the $9200 quote. The new orthodontist said there was **NO WAY** I needed $9200 dollars worth of treatment for my minor alignment correction. I won't repeat what the new orthodontist said about Elfersi but you can use your imagination... it wasn't flattering. Both my dentist and the new orthodontist told me a price should be about 5k for my particular teeth issue. Elfersi was straight up price gauging. That's not cool. Elfersi tries to explain it away like certain people can't possibly understand because they aren't smart enough. That's not cool. I had braces before, so my teeth were not 10k dollars worth of messed up. It's really messed up that Elfersi does that, treats Blacks differently the way she does and price gauges on top of that...
Fast forward. I'm nearly through my Invisalign treatment with a different very reputable experienced orthodontist and I have perfectly aligned teeth. I made the right choice by not using Elfasi. And I saved $5000 dollars . read more