Second time getting a filling replacement from Dr Fry (Not sure if I spelled his name correctly). Dr. Fry and the hygienist Shayla were excellent. Made me feel comfortable and relaxed. Did a great job on my teeth. Informed me on everything they were going to do. Plus gave me UV glasses so my eyes do not hurt from the light. The receptionist were great in the front as well. Making me feel at ease and answering any questions I had from insurance to paperwork. Just beware that your initial payment after insurance most likely will go up when your procedure is done. The initial payment is an ESTIMATE, so be prepared to pay around $10-20 more than the initial paperwork being shown to you. read more

I visited Southern Indiana Smiles for the first time this month due to problems with my wisdom teeth. The waiting room welcomed me with chilled water bottles and adorable pictures of the dentist's children. The crown jewel of the office is the most amazing woman who works the front desk. She worked with me over the course of weeks to figure out insurance fiascos and welcomed each patient like they were close friends. My only qualm is the absurdly lengthy waiting periods for an appointment. read more

We have switched my entire family to see Dr. Hunt (2 adults, 1 teenager, 2 elementary age kids). She - and her entire staff - is wonderful. She is kind, gentle and a good listener. She has been aware of my severe dental anxiety from day one and has been extremely patient with me. I used to have to be sedated for even a cleaning - now I am able to go in without any medication. Stephanie (dental hygienist) is wonderful. She helped me figure out that the X-ray vest was a calming factor (similar to a weighted blanket) and she has it ready for me every time. :) The office is fun with holiday competitions (voting for your favorite pumpkin decorated by individual staff members). I highly recommend Dr. HuntSouthern Indiana Smiles read more

I used to talk this place up as being one of the best, but they have lost me now forever. I'm writing this as the pain in my tooth keeps getting worse as the night goes on. I called them this morning to get in for what will probably be an extraction. I was asked if I was an existing patient and what level of pain am I feeling. I told them yes I'm an existing patient and the pain was at a 10 the worst. I get put on hold and when she comes back I'm told the earliest they have is Oct 12th (2 weeks from the day). What is the point of asking me if I'm an existing patient or my level of pain if you're not going to see me for 2 weeks? I pay out of pocket and always pay my bills in full. So I'm not sure what the deal is. Nevertheless, I'm done with them and will spread the word to not go there. read more

These people are VERY good if you have dentist-related anxiety. I had to go here despite the negative reviews because it was pretty much the only place left in town that took my obscure insurance, but I was really very pleased with my experience. For instance, I can't praise them enough for listening to me about needing extra numbing injections to start with and about having to work pretty quickly as the numbness will wear off faster than in some others. Some dentists I have been to wouldn't take me seriously, and lo and behold those dentists would have to stop whatever procedure they were doing and numb me again and again, leaving me in a lot of pain, which is why I now have terrible anxiety about dental work. The women at Southern Indiana Smiles were very friendly and worked with me to relieve my anxiety. I also found that they explained everything they were doing fully and their office staff gave me a printout of each thing they were planning on doing, outlining what was covered and not covered by my insurance. I have not yet felt pressure from anyone to choose the more expensive options and they have been good about telling me what is absolutely necessary vs. not absolutely necessary so far. I'm not sure what all the negative reviews are about... my husband goes here too and our main complaint was that they overbook so they had to do his root canal in more than one appointment. Both of us have had very good experiences here. They do use CareCredit (and I'm not a fan of Care Credit at all!!!) but so does pretty much every other medical provider, from vets to optometrists, these days. I'll update the review if I have any problems with them in the future. read more

It does not deserve one star. This place is all about sells and they will find some problem that does not exist. Told me I had a cavity under a capped tooth and with the cap having to come off the extensive work to fill the cavity was some astronomical price. Oh yeah and my insurance did not cover it so I could apply for care credit. Just got a 2nd opinion from a dentist with great reviews , nothing wrong with the tooth at all. You heard me right , nothing. Stay away!!! read more

I'm a big fan of Dr. Hunt and the staff here, definitely recommend! I moved to town about a year ago, and I've been to this office a few times. Each time has been a great experience. The technology is top of the line and extremely impressive. I had to get a cavity filled recently and I was really nervous, but Dr. Hunt and her team really took the time to ease my nerves and made everything as painless as possible for me. read more

Unbelievable. Beware! They'll immediately refer you to collections agency. Zero compassion or professional considerations. The only reason they get one star is that there isn't an option to give them zero read more

First off the equipment they use is state of the art. Everyone there seems to be genuinely happy which is very contagious. I had to have 4 cavities filled and was a bit nervous. But the moment Dr.Hunt walked in all of my anxiety went out the window. Also The nurse aids are very professional and informative. I Had Tiffany yesterday which typically doesn't work at that office but still did an amazing job which speaks volumes about the standards for their staff. I made sure to schedule my next appointment here and had my mom do the same. read more

My father-in-law is a dentist and I spoke with him after my visit to discuss their procedures and he confirmed my suspicions: this place represents the worst of corporate dentistry. It's a chain and they have in place policies to milk your insurance for as much as they can irrespective of whether or not you need the services. First off, they never ask you which services you want. They just take you in hand and hope you don't ask any questions as they run through their litany of tests. Here's what they pushed: A) A LOT of unnecessary x-rays. I had to push back on this hard. I have zero cavities and have regular cleanings so a full 18-panel was unnecessary especially as I told them they could get my last, recent panel from my former dentist. B) Again, I have no cavities and floss every night and just need a routine cleaning and they pushed a test that uses some sort of light beam to measure bone density. Why run this test (or any of the others they push) if a visual exam reveals no areas of concerns? It's like you don't start with an MRI if someone is having leg pain. You start with a physical exam and then possibly progress to an x-ray. Well, this place starts with the "MRI." C) They did this "marketing gimmick" (my dentist father-in-law's words) where they took pictures of all my teeth with a fancy camera and put them on the screen. Apparently this is to convince you as they point out "possible problems" that you need to take preventative actions that they can then charge you for. Again, she didn't ask if I wanted this no-value-added service before she started doing it so by the time I realized it was worthless she was already done. D) The actual cleaning - the thing I came in for - was paltry. She only used an instrument on my bottom front teeth - unlike every other time I go in when they work on all the teeth - and then just buffed (?) the rest. Very cursory cleaning. Seriously. She took maybe 5 minutes when I normally get a 15-minute cleaning. E) After the cleaning she tried to push an oral cancer test using some gadget when, again, according to my FIL dentist, if a visual exam reveals no possible issues you don't use an unnecessary and expensive diagnostic tool just so you can charge the patient. F) The dentist was young which I don't hold against her. But the FIL dentist said young dentists still repaying their school loans and/or equipment costs are often more aggressive about pushing unnecessary service. This is especially true when combined with corporate dentistry "policies," i.e. pushing unnecessary services. Sorry you had to read through all that, but I wanted to offer up all of my evidence to support my claim: this place SUCKS. If I had at least been given a thorough cleaning I wouldn't be so annoyed but to get a mediocre cleaning (at best) and be upcharged for a bunch of unnecessary tests is galling. read more

I've been going to this dentist for years, but the past 2 years they have gone from great to down right awful! If you're having any dental work done be prepared to sit in the chair for anywhere between 30-60 min before they actually start working on you. They will have to numb you over and over because they waited too long to start working on you. Yesterday the dentist took a chunk out of lip with a drill right off the bat. I was too numb to feel it at the time so she didn't even mention it till we were almost done.No apologies, they just said they'd make a note in my chart to try and be more careful since given my medical history I was probably more susceptible to these things happening! Nothing in my history makes it my fault for losing a chunk of my lip! My previous two visits I left with actual black gums because they bruised them up so badly, and tiny blisters all over my cheeks because they pinched them repeatedly with their equipment! DO NOT GO HERE! I know for a fact that several insurance carriers won't even insure them because of their poor safety practices and their overbooking of patients! read more

Southern Indiana Smiles - When the dentist takes a drill to your lip. Yep, that's a chunk of it missing. NO APOLOGIES! - General Dentistry Near Me - Bloomington, Indiana

I can only speak for myself as far as what I look for in a quality dentist/dental staff/front office, and this place is NOT it. Proceed with caution and hopefully your experience is better than mine. My first appointment was great. I met with the hygienist, who was really friendly and was very gentle with my cleaning. A FULL set of X-rays was taken. I hadn't been to the dentist in quite a while and admittedly was bad about flossing my teeth, hence news that I would need five fillings and a crown. When I arrived at my second appointment a random assistant told me that she was from a temp agency and that the dentist who would be doing my crown and my first two fillings was also some temporary dentist. Can you say shady? I've NEVER experienced that from a dentist's office. The dentist and assistant clearly didn't know each other and it was clear that he didn't trust her (questioned everything). Way to give your patient confidence in your work. Presumably the work was done correctly... I hope. Earlier that same day I called to verify how much the appointment was going to cost. After the appointment the woman who handles the billing tried to overcharge me and when I pointed out that it wasn't right and that I called earlier in the day, she acted nervous, said their computers had been acting up all day, and asked me what I should pay. I don't know. You tell ME. Way to give your patient confidence that he/she isn't getting ripped off! I called a few weeks later to schedule an impromptu appointment because I a crown (work not done by their office) came off. They were gracious enough to get me in the same day and I appreciated it immensely. When I got there they wanted to do X-rays on the side of my mouth with the crown to see what caused it to pop off. Uh, didn't you do a FULL set of X-rays just a few weeks prior? Of course instead of paying for them to just cement the crown back on, I was charged for the X-rays, but the kicker is who did the X-rays... the billing employee. That's right. But the best part is when she knocked me in the face with the arm of the machine. She had her back to me, so she never knew, until I tried to move the machine away from my face, which incidentally tapped her on the back. She apologized profusely and actually said, "This is why I don't work back here." EXCUSE ME?! I should have asked right then and there what her qualifications are, but I didn't, and still don't know what her title is. Later, she said, "I'll bet you're going to tell the dentist that you don't want that crazy lady from up front doing X-rays on you anymore." Stupid me for going back for my third and FINAL visit... At this point I just wanted the rest of the work finished, since I paid for a crown and was waiting on the permanent one. So, the appointment started out just fine. I have to say though that their office is CLEARLY X-ray happy, so beware. They put my permanent crown on and then wanted to X-ray that tooth, which I stupidly let them do. I've NEVER had a dentist do that, and this is my third crown. They have to X-ray EVERYTHING- beware. So, the dentist poked me on the chin with one of her instruments and later was holding an instrument in her hand, which was lying on my lip and caused my tooth to dig into my lip. I can absolutely overlook those two things. Things happen. I cannot overlook the fact that halfway through my fillings the dentist came in and asked the assistant where she was in the process. She told her and the dentist responded by telling her that Trina needed to go to some event at her kid's school, so she was going to have her come in and finish the work that the girl working on me had already started. I felt really uneasy about that considering someone is just going to come in the middle of everything and take over, but still, whatever. The girl working on my said, "Ok, Trina will be in to finish up," and she left. I had a metal apparatus still hanging from my tooth and I'm practically upside down in the chair, and I wait... and I wait... I finally sat myself up, because I had no idea how long I was just going to be lying there. Then, Trina finally came in and insincerely said, "Sorry, I didn't know you still had stuff in your mouth." Because I don't want to waste another minute of my life ranting about this lackluster office, I'll wrap things up. The icing on the cake is, I called again- the same day as my third appointment- to verify the charges, and AGAIN they tried to overcharge me, and guess what? She blamed the computers again. I am going to have to verify with insurance what I really owe and hopefully it matches up. Do not waste your time. There are MUCH more professional offices out there. The staff is nice enough, but this office has MAJOR issues. read more

I may not be the most qualified to review this place, since I never have cavities/problems other than a lot of tarter build up. I went to this place several times for cleanings over the last 5 years, and never had any complaints. They have changed actual dentists a few times, but the hygienists and staff were always great. I didn't feel hassled for an up sell when I went, but maybe I had a different experience than most. read more

my experience was awesome the staff and the dentist erica hunter was very attentive to my needs and the dental asst taylor was awesome she is so sweet made me so comfortable and relax and she laughed at my jokes lol i recommend this business to everyone great job southern smiles you are the best ps the financial staff was also sweet too thats rare lol love ya see u soon read more

If I could give zero stars I would. I had two horrible experiences at Southern Indiana Smiles with Dr. Hunt, the first being I had an adverse reaction to the anesthetic shot they used to numb my mouth for the filling. It resulted in my heart racing and uncontrollable body shakes. They initially left me in the room alone when I told them I needed them to stop ( They went to work on other patients) which was terrifying, but after a bit I was okay and they went head and finished the filling. They told me it was a reaction to the epinephrine in the shot and that they would put it in my file for the next time so we could avoid the situation again. I still put my next filling appointment off as long as possible. Fast forward to the next appointment I reminded them what happened and was told they would let Dr. Hunt know. She came in and said that she was going to go ahead and use it again anyway(in a smaller dose) because it would require more shots to stay numb (even though I was totally fine with that and wanted to avoid the bad reaction) she assured me that I would not have any problems. Unfortunately, I did have the same problem again. They monitored my vitals this time while an assistant stayed with me and assured me it was fine, but I was beyond angry and refused to let them proceed with the filling. I don't understand ignoring patients concerns. Having the feeling that your going to have a heart attack and die in a dentist office is horrifying. After they called me to reschedule 5 days after the incident I told them I would not be returning to their office and that I intended to report Dr. Hunt. The receptionist informed me that a note was put in my file that I had anxiety symptoms and the dentists did not feel comfortable continuing with the procedure. I was shocked to heart this because they begged me to continue with the filling and asked repeatedly what they could do to make me comfortable enough for them to finish. Within 5 minutes of that phone call I received a call back from Dr. Hunt herself to, "check and see how I was doing." I explained how awful the entire situation was and that as a patient you depend on your healthcare provider to have your best interest at heart. I did not feel mine was at this point. I also pointed out I am the one who told them I did NOT want to continue the procedure and that I have never been diagnosed with any kind of anxiety. She then apologized and said that was inaccurate and that note was not in my chart and that she felt she had learned from this experience. I would not recommend Southern Indiana Smiles to my worst enemy. I did report Dr. Hunt, as I am now absolutely terrified to go to any dentist which is sad because I have never had any problems or hesitation about the dentist prior to going to Southern Indiana Smiles. read more

I don't have to explain the rig procedure of this establishment as James B. did lay out on the table. My wife and I have HIP which we don't have much to begin with, and I assumed they will do the within coverage of HIP allows. Without any explanation they proceed and using scary tactics to force us into doing more x-rays, and taking unnecessary pictures of every tooth to display on the computer monitor. When I looked at the receipt of the work that they have done, actual tasks that performed on my teeth were cleaning and extraction one tooth. Nothing more then general cleaning. My wife has different takes on this whole situation because she thinks they are nice and still believes she is in good hand. I have a friend who is orthodontist said "this must be a scam". Now we owe $1000 out of pocket each after coverage. I know she is young Dentist and may have huge student debts, but I think this behavior of ripping people off will back fire especially in this age of technology and small town like Bloomington. read more

I went in for a cavity and pain. She refused to fill the cavity because she didn't think it was the cavity that was causing my pain, that it was my bite. So she ground my tooth down on one side. (Not even the tooth I was having pain in, to my horror) She said if I was still having pain she could grind it down some more, but the next step was sending me out for a root canal. I've had this pain for over a year and the last dentist said even a small cavity in a tooth can be quite painful. (A sentiment I've seen echoed all over the internet). I feel like she was bilking my insurance for more expensive treatments. The messed up part is she wanted to schedule an appointment to get other cavities filled that don't even hurt. I've pretty much lost faith in dentistry with this visit. Notice I'm writing you this in the middle of the night... because I'm up hurting. I feel so stupid letting her permanently damage my tooth. The side of my tooth she filed feels like sand paper. They really saw me coming. I have HIP and after reading some of these comments I'm terrified I'm going to get a huge bill for the imaging, although they said all this stuff was covered repeatedly. read more