I have two kids. My 6 year old daughter was due for her 6 month check up and my 3 year old son was going for their first check up.
I have a 6 year old daughter and a 3 year old son. They both had appointments at kids only dental. My daughter’s appointment at Kids Only Dental was average. Nothing special but not bad either. However, my appointment for my 3 year old son that needs things done to his teeth has become a disaster. It started out fairly normal, with X-rays and a cleaning. Well, apparently the nurse decided that because he is three and she expected him to misbehave she did not even try to take all of the X-rays he needed, which I did not realize until it was too late in the appointment to request them. Then we had the doctor’s check up. First, for an office that is a pediatric office they should have known better than to leave my 3 year old son waiting for over 30 minutes in the chair for the doctor, which as you can imagine made him impatient. When she finally did the exam she found a few places that needed to be filled, because he had cavities starting and she recommended that we seal a few of his teeth, so that they did not become cavities. And I want to add here that I was present for the examination and while my son needed to be reminded three times that he needed to open his mouth bigger, he did not cry, fight or bite. For a kids at his fist visit to the dentist he was very cooperative. After the exam is over the doctor told me that for the work on his teeth she wants to put him under anesthesia for 75 minutes. Her explanation is that it would be easier for him, but really I feel like it would be easier for her. Then they send me to talk to this person about the recommended dental plan and no matter how I ask she tells me that there is no other way to do it – he needs to go under anesthesia. I can tell you at this point I was in shock. My boy is 3 and I just kept thinking, “I DO NOT WANT MY SON TO BE UNDER ANESTHESIA FOR 75 MINUTES”. I know it does not happen often, but kids die from anesthesia in the dentist office, it happens more often than people know. I can see how anesthesia would be needed for a kid who did not cooperate, but my son was not even given a chance. He did well at his exam, but because he is three they just want to put him under. After I had time to think I started trying to reach the doctor. Since, her staff was not able or willing to listen about an alternative I figured I should talk to her. I started by calling on the same day of the appointment and I could not reach the doctor. Then I tried emailing and I still did not hear from the doctor. After many phone calls and three days later I finally talked to the doctor who agreed to try the work without putting him under, but before she would do that she needed to have the X-rays, you know the ones that the nurse never tried to take. So she wants me to schedule an additional appointment just for the X-rays and to have a consultation with her, or should I say another consultation with her (with an additional fee for her time) as a continuation of the appointment we already had and that I already paid for. At this time, I am so frustrated with the whole situation that I do not know what to do. On the one hand I can either continue with a doctor’s office that I honestly feel is just trying to find ways to squeeze every penny they can out of me without really caring about the well being of my son, or I need to start over with a different office. I honestly think that if my son had not needed an appointment, or he had perfect teeth I would not have had a problem with the treatment I received from this office. But it seems to me that they should care more and try harder with patients who actually need their services. So if you have kids who might need more than just a cleaning I would stay from this office and their services they don’t seem to care about the well being of their patients, just their own.
