Be sure to KNOW your doctor's name before your visit IF you are actually choosing to come to this…read moreoffice. I definitely recommend AVOIDING this place and going to another facility. Dr. Gavlin is NOT an endodontist and is posing as one. If you need an endodontist, make sure you are seeing Dr. Adam Hariri, Dr. Pardis Rajabi, or Dr. Steven Kale.
I had a referral for an endodontist, and, thus, made an appointment with an endodontist. Upon visiting the office, Dr. Gavlin immediately told me I needed to extract my tooth and would need a bone and post and crown as well as some kind of membrane because my infected root canal had traveled to my sinus. I was given this opnion even BEFORE he saw a CT scan. I was told I needed a CT scan to see if my infection traveled to my sinus. I asked Dr. Gavlin about the alternative (which my dentist had informed me of: a root canal retreatment). My goal in seeing an endodontist was to save the tooth, not extract it. If I sought to extract it, I would've gone to a surgeon. Gavlin gave me the WORST case determination BEFORE even seeing a CT scan. I paid $350 for the CT scan, as I was told my insurance does not cover it. After seeing the CT scan, Dr. Gavlin still insisted the tooth need to be extracted, even after I insisted on a retreatment option, which he said was not an option. His office made me an appointment with their surgeon for extraction.
Because he gave me a worst case determination before seeing the CT scan, I immediately did NOT trust Dr. Gavlin. With this, I researched him and learned of his fraudulent nature from the reviews (and later discovered that he was sued in 2020 by the Health Department and Medicaid and had to pay them back $21k). I then went to research the surgeon. I looked for his name on my appointment card, and upon looking for his name, I came across Dr. Gavlin's name. Dr. Gavlin is listed as a Myofascial Pain and Sleep Disorder doctor. With this, I called the office to ask WHY I was given an appointment with Dr. Gavlin who is NOT an endodontist, and I was told I could be given an appointment to see an actual endodontist. My question went unasnwered, so I asked again and I was told that I wads given the appointment with him because he is the owner! I made the appointment with the actual endodontist, Dr. Adam Hariri, so that I could get an actual opinion, but more importantly, so that I could retrieve a copy of my CT scan and X-rays. I asked Dr. Hariri if Dr. Gavlin is an endodontist, and I was told no. I informed Dr. Hariri of my experience and told him I would listen to his opinion but that ultimately I would be wanting a copy of my CT scan so that I can go elsewhere, as my trust in their facility had been violated by my experience with Dr. Gavlin. Dr. Hariri informed me that retreatment was possible and apologized as I had been given "the runaround." I have no complaints about Dr. Hariri.
I visited another endodontist, Dr. Ryan at Island Dental Associates in Franklin Square NY, who also informed me that retreatment is an option and said that the infection had NOT spread to my sinus. I submitted my complaint to my insurance provider as well as to the NYS Dental Association (LIntrieri@nysdental.org).
The NYS Dental Association responded:
"We found that Dr. David Gavlin is not a current tripartite member with the American Dental Association (ADA), the New York State Dental Association (NYSDA) or their local dental society. Membership with the Association is voluntary and is not a requirement to be a licensed dentist in New York State. To discuss your complaint further, please contact the New York State Education Department's Office of Professional Discipline at 800-442-8106 or conduct@nysed.org."
I thus, also sent my complaint to the NYS Education Department (conduct@nysed.gov).
I also reached out to multiple lawyers about Personal Injury but was unsuccessful as I had not sustained physical injury. I was informed that I should look into small claims court to sue for my "Pain and suffering' for my time lost and mental strain my experience had caused.
Here is the link to the 2020 case: https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/decisions/docs/gavlin_dds_04-20-2020.pdf