It had been a while since I visited the dentist, so I had some catch up work that needed to be done. I don't want to tell the whole story there, but it involved the pulling of a tooth without it being numb... (different dentist). Before anything could be started, of course, I needed an examination, x-rays, etc. That was to be expected. After the exam, one of the many dentists that are employed by Dupuis Dental said that I would have to see a periodontist for another exam.
Before I could leave, this horrible woman, (which had the nerve to call herself an oral hygenist), had to do another exam. First she lectured me on making regular visits to the dentist, then she proceded to repeatedly stab me in the gums with a very sharp metal instrument. I'd never had this procedure performed before, but apparently, it was to gauge the extent to which my gums had receded. While she was mutilating my gums, I made the lady aware of my extreme discomfort. Her reply was something like, "It's your own fault." (For not going to the dentist sooner.) I didn't say anything, and let her finish. After all, it had been a while since I'd been to the dentist, not to mention the fact that I didn't know what to expect from the procedure.
When I arrived for the appointment with the periodontist, Dr. Freemire, I was totaly depressed with the fact that he wanted to do the procedure that gauges the depth of my gums again as part of his examination. I told him that I already had that done, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. He said he wanted to do it anyway and make sure. When he was finished, I realized that the oral hygenist was purposly making the procedure as painfull as possible, since I only experienced slight discomfort this time around; that, or she was a complete idiot. Either way, I should have known to go to another dental place from that first experience.
After Dr. Freemire's exam, he said he wanted to do a root planing, (where they go down below the gumline, and scrape the roodts of your teeth), otherwise known as a "deep cleaning". I found out later from a more reputable dentist, that this was more than likely an unnecessary procedure. It took two visits, but I had that done. I wasn't able to eat right for several days afer each visit due to the pain/swelling afterwards.
Then he said he wanted to schedule an appointment to have my gums cut open at the base of the root, where the bone is, to visually inspect my teeth in that area. That's where I drew the line. I told him that it will have to wait since I have other dental work that needs to be done.
6-12 months later, I receive a bill from him, saying that I owe him several hundred dollars for the bill which my insurance agency wouldn't cover for some reason. I decided to contact my insurance company and I found out Dr. Freemire filled out the paperwork incorrectly. All he had to do was fill out another set of documents and send them in. I relayed this information to Dupis Dental and they still kept sending me bills. After a couple more letters and several phone calls, I found out Dr. Freemire no longer works out of Dupis Dental, and I got the bills to finally stop coming.
In addition to the above, I also had a dentist, (can't recall a name), pull a tooth which I would have preferred to keep. (It would have needed a root canal, but that would have been fine.) I recently had a good dentist save a tooth that was worse. Another case of live and learn... The hard way. The same dentist that couldn't save my one tooth, did do a root canal on the adjacent tooth. When he gave me the injection to numb the area, he put it in the roof of my mouth. I don't know why he did it, but I ended up with a blood blister the size of a dime where he stabbed me. That left a dime sized hole when the blister finally popped. Eventually, he got the tooth numb and drilled out the nerve, putting a temporary cap on it for the time being.
When I went back to have the long term replacement to the aforementioned root canal attached, I did so with a different dentist. He found a piece of the drill bit the other dentist used inside my tooth still! I couldn't believe it.
Dupuis Dental is a pretty big place and they employ a number of people; they might even have a good dentist or two working there, who knows... But after my experience, I wouldn't chance it again.
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