Dr. Corey Mazer was recommended to me by Dr. Chris Gauquie, my old dentist in Greenville, NC when I told him I was moving to Alpharetta. I had my first new patient visit and cleaning, and a follow up to replace a filling a few weeks ago, and WOW this guy is good!
Let me start by saying if they find your decomposed body at the bottom of a lake, they will have no trouble identifying you based on Dr. Mazer's dental records.
The new patient visit takes around two hours, they are very into patient education and basically build a database of your mouth. They take digital pictures of your teeth from multiple angles, regular and panoramic x-rays, measure how much your gums recede (on every tooth), document all fillings, chips, stains, etc. It was really impressive - there was one technician in my mouth and calling out codes to another technician who was entering the information on the computer. Dr. Mazer also does an oral cancer screening and checked my tongue, cheeks, lips, gums, neck, and throat for lumps. I've never had that done at the dentist but it seems like a no brainer, I wonder why they all don't do that. Dr. Mazer and the technicians/assistants explain everything that they're doing, show you the pictures/x-rays, and explain what they're looking for.
For example, I never knew how dentists determined if you had a cavity - well Dr. Mazer explained that he's looking for (while pointing to my x-ray blown up on the big screen) a grey shadow like "this" that goes through the bright white enamel into the dentine. If the shadow does not go all the way through it's not a cavity, but you need to keep an eye on it. I like how he explains everything, cuz let's face it going to the dentist is like going to the mechanic for most people - prime opportunity to get screwed - so I really appreciated the behind the scenes tour of my mouth.
They have a big monitor above your head where you can see pictures of your teeth or watch TV, they keep it nice and chilly in there so you're not sweating like a rotisserie chicken under all the lights but if you're too cold they have a fleece blanket in every room. Everyone is very nice and professional and the atmosphere is really relaxing.
They also have the most amazing novocain "shot" technique - first they put that numbing gel on a q-tip and let it sit there for a few minutes (not just a quick wipe like most places), then instead of using that huge spear gun of a needle they use an IV line with a fine gauge needle and slow drip, so they're not ramming a harpoon into your jaw and then pumping novocain in under high pressure. It takes a long time, probably five minutes, but it doesn't hurt at all and when the numbness wears off your jaw isn't sore for days.
I was afraid of how much all this would cost, but they are not overpriced at all. I had an old silver filling replaced with a white one and that cost $250 (before insurance) and in NC he was charging $400, and they didn't charge me for the $300 new patient visit yet, they said when I get the info from the insurance to let them know and they'll write most of it off. They do file the more popular dental plans for you, but I have the Federal Employee plan, which isn't too common I guess, so I have to file it myself. I'm very happy here and even if we decide to move closer to the city next year, I'll still come back to Dr. Mazer's office - they're awesome!
Update 2017: For the past two to three years they've filed my insurance for me. They usually charge me a little more than what they think will be covered, then send me a refund check or to apply it to my next visit. read more