I went to Torrey Pines Dental Arts for probably 3-4 years. I originally liked it because the hygienist I would normally get was really nice and the dentist that I was given was really cool and his work was really good. He filled a few cavities for me and I never had issues.
They did always do weird things about billing, so beware of that. For example they suggested that I do this deep gum cleaning, and then quoted that it would cost me over $600, so I said no way. A month later I get an email from them with an estimate of my bill for the same procedure, and lo-and-behold, with my insurance it actually was only $60 out of pocket. Why the big difference? The "estimate" they give you is literally just that. It is their estimate of what they think it will cost you; but they never actually run it through the insurance to verify. So if you go and they give you a massive estimate, send it back and say no, run that with my insurance and get back to me. Obviously you have time to wait as you have to agree to treatment before they begin, and you're going to be in that chair for a hot second.
So I got the gum deep cleaning or whatever, it was one of the worst experiences of my life. Apparently they "normally" inject half of your mouth with an actual injectable analgesia (novacaine, carbocaine, etc.), and you come in twice so they do one side, then the other. For whatever reason, they decided that they could do my whole mouth in one go if they just used a topical analgesia along with one they can kind of squirt down into the gum. They pitched it to me and I agreed because I figured dentist once is always better than dentist twice. Stupidest idea in the world. She would put the numbing stuff in the gum, wait for it to activate by working on a different side of my mouth, then spent so much time there that by the time she went back to where the numbing stuff was put, it was already stopping working. So if they ask you to do the gum dee clean and you agree, MAKE THEM give you an injectable analgesic.
Then after the gum deep cleaning say you need to be put on a more routine and deep cleaning schedule, essentially for the rest of time, so they have you come in every 4 months and you have to pay more money, if you think you can swap one for a regular cleaning like your insurance normally covers for free twice a year, it's not happening. Because it's somehow "different than a typical cleaning." Okay, I'm 32, I had braces for two years, I was a turd kid who got a lot of cavities and I have a Mom who took me to the dentist religiously, I KNOW what a cleaning feels like. These extra deep cleans (which by the way take the exact same time as the normal cleaning, and goes the exact same way and feels the exact same way), are normal cleanings. But they can charge more for the other cleanings and they are more frequent, so it seems like it all comes down to the bacon.
They changed ownership during the pandemic and my dentist left, so I was given to Dr. Terranova. I met with her once and she was really nice, I didn't need any work at that time so our interaction was brief and I had no complaints. Fast forward to the following year and a couple of months ago when the back of my tooth popped off (two chunks at two times actually) and I went in to see what the problem was. They X-rayed it and decided it was just a filling that had popped off. I was stoked cause that just meant you put in another filling, bing bang boom, you're done.
Well when it came to the numbing, I don't know what happened. I don't know if she was having an off day or if it's her normal style but the best way I can describe it was that she was trying to forcefully stab my ear through the inside of my cheek. My filling was on my tooth directly behind my lower left canine. Why was she back there? It was honestly so painful that my cheek was sore for the next couple of days. So my actual tooth that needs numbing is barely numb and I essentially felt the entire thing. BUT the back of my throat is so numb that it felt like I couldn't swallow for several hours and I had a mini-panic attack once I got my in car because I was convinced I couldn't swallow properly and was going to choke to death on my own spit or something. Worst dental experience of my life.
Maybe three months later, I'm feeling my teeth with my tongue, HAHA!!!!, the filling is gone. After all of that, the filling lasted 3-4 months.
Seriously, just go somewhere else. I'm guessing my original dentist left the practice for a good reason and I should have followed his lead. Oh well, I am now! Adios Torrey Pines Dental Arts. read more