I was suprised to read a similar story on this site about the Western Dental in Santa Rosa, California. It sounds a lot like something that happened to me at that office.
I'm 21 years old. I had my first x-rays since I was five years old last April, at Western Dental on Farmer's Lane. The dentist told me I had eleven cavities and needed seven extractions: all four of my wisdom teeth and root tips of teeth that had long since decayed. This didn't surprise me, since I hadn't been to the dentist since my baby teeth years.
So I go to the office after a long day at school, for an appointment that I had scheduled a week prior. I waited for two and a half hours. Yes it was busy in there, but I had made that appointment A WEEK AGO. Finally they call me in and have me sit in the deadly CHAIR. For twenty minutes, absolutely terrified of what is to come. A girl comes in and takes my blood pressure. It is so high from my fear that I can hear my heart pounding through my head. I was wondering if I might just have a heart attack right there. The girl asks me if I'm nervous, and I tell her yes, very. She laughs and says you'll be fine, and walks away. They obviously take your blood pressure for no apparent reason.
Then a dentist comes in and gives me four shots of novocaine. I ask him, wait, aren't I going to be given sedation? He said no, we have no sedation equipment at this office. I just stared at him in disbelief. I'm going to have seven extractions, and be awake for the whole thing? I had heard that it is recommended that people who have all four wisdoms extracted at once should be given sedation. I was going to have SEVEN extractions, and just hope to God that the novocaine will hold up.
I sit there for another half-hour. Finally, just as the numbness is wearing off, the girl comes back and tells me I have to move to another room. So I do. And I wait for another 20 minutes. Finally the oral surgeon comes in and does his thing. About ten more shots of novocaine. My god, that was the longest, most horrible, terrifying half-hour of my life. They did a good job with the novocaine, I didn't feel much pain. But the pressure was unbelievable. And the ripping sound. If I had to do it over again, I would have gone to an office that could have put me to sleep. I don't know anyone that was awake while getting their wisdoms removed. It was just cruel.
I healed from the surgery after a few days, with little pain. I went back a few months later to get my cavities filled. My only complaint about that visit was the fact that I had an appointment at 8:00 (when they opened) and people who came in an hour later were called in before me. Also, they didn't use numbing wax when giving me novocaine, and when they finished the last tooth, they refused to give me another shot even though the drilling made me sit up in pain at one point.
Then I got home.
I looked at what they'd done, and every one of my teeth on the side they'd worked on were filled as though they had been rotting. All of my premolars, which had NO visible cavities, were completely filled with ugly gray amalgam fillings. My left first molar is now hot and cold sensitive, and I can't chew on that side. It's very slowly, gradually getting less sensitive and I hope that I won't need a root canal.
Several people had told me to not go to this office because of their bad experiences. I ignored them because of Western Dental's reasonable payment plan. I haven't yet had an experience to the point where irreversible tooth damage has been done or I've been in excruciating pain, as described in the stories below. My biggest complaint is the fact that they do have a nack for making people wait, sometimes for hours, even with scheduled appts. But many strange things have happened. I only need one more visit, this tuesday, and I hope I make it out of there in one piece.
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