I was a patient of Springfield Lorton Dental Group for a little more than a year and I have nothing positive to say about my experiences there.
When I first went there for my initial checkup and cleaning, the dental hygienist asked me if I had ever had sleep apnea. When I told her I think I do, she tried to sell me on going to a company they work with to have it checked out. From that point on, I kept receiving calls from the company to set up an appointment to have a sleep study done. On another visit, they tried to sell me on having an alignment done to my teeth at a cost of over $6000.00. I think they are more interested in selling their clients products and services then they care about their customers.
This is where the real nightmare begins. I had a cleaning that was so painful that it actually brought tears to my eyes. During the same visit, she noticed a discolored tooth so she had me see a dentist in the office who was not my primary dentist at the time. They took x-rays and he did some testing on the tooth and the teeth around the tooth by applying something cold. Afterwards, he determined I needed a root canal. I then set up an appointment for the root canal.
The next day while eating lunch (nothing hard mind you, just a piece of meat), I bit down and heard a crack and had some pain in the area of the discolored tooth. My tooth had cracked but did not completely break off. I went in that day and they took x-rays and indeed the tooth had broken. I was devastated as this is a tooth in the front of my mouth. I don't believe in coincidences but I do believe in cause-and-effect. I believe that whatever they did the day prior caused the tooth to break.
They took out the broken piece and did impressions for a partial denture (flipper) as a temporary fix. They ended up recommending I have a dental implant done. After the impression was done, the dentist glued in the broken piece and made an appointment for me the next day at an oral surgeon. I believe this was a friend of his since his wife works in the same building as the oral surgeon. I believe this to be bad business practice. I was never quoted a price before beginning this process, but I guess it was my fault for not asking. I was charged just short of $500 for the flipper and more costs to come for the dental implant.
The next day I met the dentist over at the oral surgeon as he wanted to observe the surgery. He told me he was planning on learning so he could do this kind of work in the future. The surgery went well and I literally had no pain at all. The oral surgeon (Dr. Coviello) was outstanding and did a great job. I had to wait a couple of months for the implant to bond with the bone before I could have the crown put on the implant. I waited more than enough time and made another appointment with the oral surgeon to confirm I was ready for the new crown. He gave me the thumbs up so I made an appointment with the dentist to put on the new crown.
I was excited to finally get my crown after living with the flipper for a couple of months. While at the dentist and prior to having the crown put on, the dental assistant was told to remove the cap on the implant, which is put on by the oral surgeon after the surgery. When she tried to do this, I had some pain in the implant area and I told her about the pain but she kept trying to remove the cap. She then went to get the dentist and he looked at the implant. I saw the concern on his face as he told me I needed to go back to the oral surgeon.
They made me an emergency appointment at the oral surgeon. The oral surgeon told me the dental implant had come loose. I needed to get another implant done. I am now devastated for a second time. According to him, the dental assistant was turning the cap the wrong way and he said he would never ever have let a dental assistant remove this cap. The dentist should have done it himself. And even worse, I was in the process of moving from Virginia to California so I would not be able to get another implant done at this time.
Luckily, the oral surgeon refunded me most of my money for the implant even though it was not his fault. However, I still had to pay for the tooth extraction and the bone graph portion of the oral surgery. The oral surgery was about $2600 and I got a little over $1900 back. So now I am out a total of $500 for the flipper and $700 for the oral surgery because of the incompetence of a dentist and a dental assistant. I never even received an apology or anything instead I got a $2000 bill from the dentist office for the crown I never received. Finally after some checking, they did wave the $2000 bill.
Now an update from California. After moving to California, my flipper I paid about $500 for broke. I had to get another flipper as I cannot afford a dental implant at this time. I found a place that offers same day service for dentures. I got a new flipper that looks much better in quality and the best part, I only paid $395 for it. read more
