Dentists - Raleigh, NC

"For reference, I visited the Brier Creek location. The best way to describe my experience was I felt like I am walking into a business focused on seeing as many patients as possible rather than focusing on the quality of care. I explain why below: I saw this place had a lot of good reviews and it was recommended by my insurance. I have a lot of anxiety and trauma around going to the dentist, so I was really stressed about going somewhere I hadn't been before. Nothing about this place reduced that stress and anxiety. The cleaning rooms are more like stalls. They have full walls on the side but the side that faces the hallway is totally open. I could not only hear everyone walking by (patients and staff) but I could hear what was happening in all the other rooms as well. That on top of the sound of my own dental cleaning was extremely overwhelming and was difficult to not have a panic attack. The noise also made it difficult to hear my soft-spoken hygienist. My mouth is extremely sensitive, and that sensitivity is only made worse by stress. During the cleaning the hygienist did a standard procedure measuring my gums, however, it was unusually painful. She asked if I had ever had this pain before during this and I said no that I had never experienced this kind of pain with my gums. As I continued to experience discomfort during the cleaning the hygienist began to push for doing something she called a “deep cleaning”, where they numb your mouth and clean below the gum line. Thinking about having to have my mouth numbed only made me more stressed and panicked. I ended up forcing myself to not react to any uncomfortable sensations to avoid having one of these “deep cleans” forced on me. Despite my obvious distress, the hygienist continued. Their website gloats about several services such as in-chair entertainment, blankets, and warm towels, things offered to hopefully reduce stress, none of which I was offered at any point during my visit. Halfway through the standard cleaning the dentist abruptly showed up. He must have been in a hurry as he didn’t even bother to introduce himself or speak to me. I also found it incredibly rude that he showed up in the middle of the cleaning and literally shooed the hygienist out of her chair so he could sit down. He then proceeded to do the exam while I still had the polishing gunk all over my teeth. He maybe spent a total of 5 minutes looking at my mouth and the x-rays before determining I had a cavity in the lower molar. However, when my trusted dentist determined I had several suspicious spots on my top molars, not on the bottom. When I told him what my previous dentist had said he merely brushed it off saying he didn’t see anything at all. At no point was I ever asked if he could see my previous x-ray/chart from my previous dentist nor did he ever offer to show me the x-rays they took that day and point out what he saw. By not even bothering to show me the x-rays of my own mouth it felt like he was withholding information from me about my own mouth. Even though they recommended a filling, I don’t think I could bring myself to return here for any future care after having such a stressful experience. I can’t even begin to imagine going through the stress of having a cavity fixed while in one of those stalls with a dentist rushing to get to the next patient rather than focusing on the quality of the job. One thing I noticed after my visit that I think should be a red flag for any medical practice is that there are no pictures or bios of any of the dentists on the website. The lack of transparency as to who treated me and what his credentials are is bothersome."