As far as pediatric dentists go, we don't really have experience with anyone other than Dr. Doan. I…read moremean, we're about to, because we won't be using Dr. Doan going forward.
The hygienists are friendly. Some of them are pretty quiet, which feels like maybe not the energy you need when trying to get little kids to be attentive and excited about having y'alls fingers all up in their mouths. My kids liked this place well enough. But when you have a screen in front of your face with Disney movies, that's an easy way to win the hearts/minds of children.
As far as Dr. Doan herself: Sometimes, I felt like I wasn't getting the full story on why certain treatments were recommended or even necessary, or why certain procedures were billed in a particular way. The cynic in me frequently struggled with taking a lot of it at face value. I also found myself mildly miffed when talking with her because the interactions felt condescending.
A couple things that annoyed me recently: My dental insurance changed. I... sort of knew this, but didn't really pay attention. My own dentist's office called me prior to my appointment to be like "Hey, we can't find your insurance info" and I told them what I knew, and then they called back to be like "found it, we're all good." In all fairness, it was presumptuous on my part to think that Dr. Doan's office would do something similar. So mea culpa on that part; I'm acknowledging my own fault in the overall story here.
That said, when I arrived with my kids, they told me that they didn't have the insurance details. I told them the same thing I told my own dentist's office, and the lady looked it up and told me that the new insurance was out-of-network. And so I was put in a predicament of having to decide to have them proceed with all the dental work and hope that I wouldn't get hit with some exorbitant bill at the end, or cancel the appointments. Here's where I got annoyed:
1. They said that they had tried to reach out to confirm insurance information prior to the visit to avoid situations like this. This is a bold-faced lie. They didn't do anything of the sort. But I didn't really think about this until after I left that it was a bold-faced lie. But that lie put me in a situation where I agreed to the appointment cancellation fee ($30 x 2). The alternative was to continue with the dental services for which I had no way of knowing what the final bill was going to be with the out-of-network insurance plan.
2. There's some mendacity in the word-play that this office does (it's happened a couple times now, because I briefly ended up out-of-network a couple years ago as well) where they make it seem like they're willing to file with all insurances, but if it's out-of-network, then it's beyond their control as far as what billing will look like. That's kind of a half-truth situation; yes it's beyond their control in what the out-of-network insurance will cover, but they also have some say in whether they wish to be in-network or not with any insurance coverage. Additionally, they also have an approximate idea of what they'll end up charging out-of-network patients. So I find it to be disingenuous to say "We'll file with your insurance and see what they say" when they already know that it's out-of-network, but they're still trying to hook you financially for something that may not be in your best interest. It's semantic word-play used to an anti-consumer end, because it's more about getting your money than communicating honestly that their dental practice may not be the best financial option for your family in light of your current coverage.
These two points would make this review a single solitary star if it were not for Heather (below).
Last thing. So, there was this one interaction a couple years ago I had with an employee named Heather that left me so impressed that I want to draw attention to it now:
I had some billing questions, so I called to talk to someone about it, and Heather went well above and beyond what was necessary in getting the answers to my questions. What's that Maya Angelou quote? (hold on, I'm Googling): "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." I don't even remember what Heather said/did anymore (because it's been a minute). I just remember being so appreciative of her efforts that after I got off the phone with her, I searched for Dr. Doan's practice on Yelp, and saved this review with just the word "Heather." And then I forgot about finishing the review (until right now). So here it is, Heather. I don't even know if you're still there. But I appreciate you. Even if I'm not super happy with my overall experience here, I feel like I need to acknowledge whoever this Heather person is.
Thanks, won't be back.
