In this post I will examine some recent 1 star reviews of a dental and/or oral surgery practice on Yelp and some of the comments received.
At an office in Seattle, Washington, a women writes in her review on Yelp
” I am still upset about what happened. It is a very long and disturbing story. Basically – [the doctor] performed the surgery in a very cold room [on my 19 year old daughter] and seriously damaged a muscle in her jaw. Within 24 hours after surgery she could not open her mouth more than a quarter inch….the doctors determined that she had a massive infection in her jaw and immediately put her on IV antibiotics….it took FOUR months for the damage to heal & for her to be able to open her mouth normally!”
At a dental center in Virginia a male says in his review on Yelp
“…they recommended I have 4 wisdom teeth removed, claiming that there ‘was not room in my mouth to accommodate them and that they were going to cause teeth to twist.’ My wisdom teeth came in years ago and it’s ridiculous to say that they could cause my teeth to get worse in [the] future. As was confirmed by the family dentist I went to for a second opinion.”
At a dental center in Chicago, Illinois, a female says in her review on Yelp
“The dentist here attempted to remove one of my wisdom teeth and DIDN’T REMOVE THE ENTIRE ROOT! After 45 minutes of wrenching, me in the fetal position…I ended up in the ER 6 hours later where I spent 5 hours waiting for an antibiotic I was told I should have got with my original dentist, an oral surgeon the next day for another 45 minutes of wrenching, and eventually ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery a week later. All said and done–I spent 4 1/2 weeks getting well again, including having to retrain my jaw to open more than an inch….The most nightmarish experience of my life. “
At an oral surgeons office in St. Louis, Missouri, a person says in their review on Yelp
” I asked him to clarify what kind of anesthesia he was going to use. He immediately became defensive, telling me that I wasn’t his first ‘med student’ and rattling off all the kinds of medical professional he’s treated…After my procedure I had three complications, two significant (known complications of wisdom tooth removal, but considering the time from car door to car door for four impacted wisdom teeth with general anesthesia was 30 minutes, I do wonder if due diligence was taken to avoid complications. When I brought up the significant complication at my follow-up visit… he gave me a bogus explanation for my symptoms. When I challenged him on the anatomic impossibility of his explanation given the location and type of symptoms I was having, he again became very defensive instead of attempting to understand the issue.”
At a dental center in Massachusetts a woman writes on her review on Yelp
“They didn’t inform me that I would be getting no anesthesia for my wisdom teeth and on the day of the procedure when I explained that Novocaine has never worked on me, they guilted me into doing it anyhow “well you scheduled this time with us, you’ve already paid, etc. etc.”. I SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER THROUGH THE ENTIRE PROCEDURE and kept asking them to please stop, but they only rolled their eyes and yelled “KEEP STILL” at me. After the procedure, my entire neck was black and blue and I was so swollen that I couldn’t open my mouth to eat for 2 weeks. 2 years later, and I still can’t feel the right side of my mouth, and I have nerve damage so deep in my jaw that it affects my arms and legs, so I have constant numbness there too.”
At a dental center in Phoenix, Arizona, a woman writes on her review on Yelp
“…when my son was …there, and before his wisdom teeth come in, they suggested his wisdom teeth come out, with no reasoning. (but later whispered to him not a problem, they should be fine…). He has had all his ortho (at another office) the Dr. there never thought they would become an issue. HEY! how about we see if, when they erupt, if there appears to be a problem, or any crowding? “
For the same dental center as above in Phoenix, Arizona, a man writes in his review on Yelp
“First, my wisdom teeth extraction was botched when I was left with a bone fragment floating inside my cheek/gum for 16 months. I complained multiple times regarding the pain and issue. I went into the office for at least 4 follow-ups and yet not once did a dentist take an X-Ray or even really offer my help. Instead I was recommended to spend an additional $150.00 for a deep cleaning. When the bone finally came out the Dr notified me this is very common… right….. “
For a dental practice in Maryland a man writes in his review on Yelp
“First off let me preface this by saying I am a physician myself so I know how to deal with patients….the Dr. then talked to me for all of 2 minutes about why I needed all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed when only 1 is causing a problem – and he barely answered my questions. Finally when I went back for my surgery I decided to have 2 teeth removed instead of 4 (the staff seemed like that bothered them), and when I went to pay they wanted to charge me the same amount for half the work! I canceled the surgery after I heard the Dr. arguing in the back with the billing woman about the numbers she herself quoted me on. She comes back 5 min later and says oops i forgot to charge you for extra anesthesia. “
This is just a sampling of some unfortunate 1 star reviews received by dentists and/or oral surgeons on Yelp. Some of these reviews really can get quite out of hand. I am not sure what the best way is to prevent 1 star reviews on Yelp but clearly no patients want to have to write them and no doctors want to have them. Having good customer service and focusing on providing a quality service is a start. Certainly working to continually improving your skills can help. Unfortunately though as long as dental care is driven by profits and there is a very litigious society it may be hard to make improvements in the correct direction.