I am giving them this rating NOT because I have had poor work done by them or their customer service is poor, but to warn people that the dental implant price touted in his newspaper ads and his website are just misleading and do not want people wasting their time coming here thinking they will get a fantastic bargain. The consultation to be a candidate for his for $990 is not free, you have to pay for a $195 CT scan disk which I only knew about from a previous reviewer who also mentioned that she could not get the $990 rate and the dentist said she needed one costing thousands, I wished I paid attention to her, as I wasted 3 hours commuting plus and hour and half consultation for nothing (45 min waiting), the cost of the gas and the cost of the CT scan disc, I purchased mine at another implant dentist as it only cost $150 but this dentist said it was not sufficient so that money was wasted, remember this dentist can charge MUCH less, because he makes his money off the seminars not the patient who are paying less because their privacy is invaded by the photos he takes and often being observed by live students. If you do not want to read long review, just know this is straight bait and switch, low teaser rates and then extras padded on (below.) However I think I and another reviewer after me, who also gave him a one star review wanted desperately to find a person who can do implants economically so we ignored that other bad review.
Although people in other reviews have said that his prices are lower than anywhere else, I do not see how as he not only requires services that no other dentist I consulted required for an implant (listed below), i.e. stem cells, IV sedation and the sed. fees were MANY times over what other doctors charge (I checked) AND he was the ONLY dentist that I consulted who said I need three crowns on my upper teeth because the crowns there now are too "low" for the implants on the lower teeth (was wondering why not just make the implants lower so I would not have to spend another 3K on the upper teeth?)
I was wondering why the waiting room was so empty, thinking at these prices they would be deluged with customers and how they could afford such luxurious surroundings (it was a VERY nicely decorated place) in such an upscale neighborhood as Brentwood, (there is a chain which specializes in cheap dental implants, but their surroundings and locations reflect their prices). His very kind staff member admitted as much when I asked her about all the other treatments required, she said of course, otherwise if they only charged to do implants at $990, they would have lines out the door (that is bad to make money on volume rather exorbitant pricing?) My feeling is if you want to make a lot of money, just charge higher prices, if you charge a low price and then require a lot of "extra" work or charge extra fees that makes the work expensive, you are wasting both your and the prospective patient's time. People who seek cheap services do so because they can't afford more expensive services so if you want to offer a lower price, than the supporting services also should be low also.
I am glad that I am very anal and carefully read the treatment plan since something important was not mentioned, 2 of my implants would need "custom" abutments and that would be an additional $380 added to the $990 per implant (I wonder why, as another reviewer said that in Dec he was going to be charged $1300 for that, is this dentist's pricing inconsistent and variable because he just charges what he wants if he feels he is not making enough money on the patient??) This is not charged on that patients first surgery and I would hate to have paid for the implant thinking it was all paid for and then find out in my second visit that I would owe another $380 and be forced to pay it, or not have the work completed. I think when you are spending that kind of money, the coordinator should slowly and carefully go over the bill and explain EVERYTHING. Another reviewer on here, also mentioned that the dentist refused to tell him what brand of implant they used, I wish that I thought more about that, because again, emphasizing the fact that since the dentist makes his money on the seminars NOT the implants he should NOT justify his low prices by using substandard materials but rather the best (for his students to know.) read more
