Alonzo M Bell, DDS

I went to Dr. Bell for 8 years and only stopped once I changed offices to a DC location. The staff is top notch from Nancy at the front desk to Raquel who was my regular hygienist to Dr. Bell himself. I never had anything but top quality care there.

Parking is located right behind the office — and it is somewhat easy to find. Most of the staff there are friendly. I can make appointments right after I am done my cleaning — which is easy and convenient. But I have been having an issue with them cancelling my appointment 2 weeks before my scheduled appointment. Happens. Every. Time.
I have had better dentists.

Update: A couple of weeks after I had a filling done by Dr. Bell I woke up with a HORRIBLE toothache that had me in tears. (Turns out, I had an abscessed tooth where the filling was done. These things happen, fine.) I called the emergency line at 6am expecting a call back and did not get one until 3pm. In the meantime I called another office, was seen within a half hour, treated, and sent home with antibiotics and painkillers.
When Dr. Bell did return my call he first asked to whom he was speaking because he did not listen to my voicemail. He then said he did not see the missed call on his cell phone and that’s why it took him so long to get back to me. I proceeded to tell him what had happened and he said «Oh, but you got it taken care of?» and that was about as much concern as he showed. He did not ask me if there was anything I needed or if I had follow up care planned. It was left at that and I resolved to not return to this practice.

I found Dr. Bell via a groupon deal and had no trouble locating his office in Alexandria, Va. There was plenty of parking and I had no issue finding the office itself.
After x-​rays the doctor came in and spoke to me about my teeth. I’ve been working in startups and consulting for a number of years, so the ability to get my teeth cleaned fixed with an insurance provider has been all but impossible. I was there for a standard teeth cleaning to get rid of a few stains between my teeth and obviously take care of some of the larger problems as I could afford it. Dr. Bell came in and told me I would have to pay $ 230 on top of current groupon deal due to the teeth cleaning being more «extensive.» He said the groupon was for a «quick cleaning,» whatever that means.
He seemed very adamant about getting the $ 230 up front and applying my groupon for a future visit down the road. When I began to ask more questions he said he would send the receptionist over to explain. She basically repeated what he said and explained that there was nothing they could do. Due to my financial situation I can’t afford to put up that kind of money for a standard cleaning, so they turned me away. I was extremely upset with that was handled and they advised me to call groupon to try and get my money back.
I understand we’ve all got to make a living, but trying to advantage of people who may need a little room for compassion isn’t the way I would do it. Thanks for wasting my time.

Here are the facts. YES they do take most mojor insurance but their policy is to pay when service is completed. My insurance just sends me a check in the mail the same week. Its not a big deal. Very responsive dentist who likes to tell you what going on. He also is very gentle with the needle which is important to me. I didnt feel a thing. Very straight forward. I see in the reviews that people say that they have a turn around with the hiegenist’ and he «didnt remember my name» Really? How many people does he see a day? Who really cares? As long as the work is done right the fisrt time. All thats important.

I’ve gone to Dr. Bell for almost six years and have always had a great experience. He and his staff are so friendly and always prompt. I actually enjoy going to my dental appointments.

Dr. Bell made me pay for the entire dental bill on the date of his services before billing my dental insurance. (I do have dental insurance, and it covers an exam, cleaning, and X-​rays. These were the only procedures performed by Dr. Bell.) After Dr. Bell’s office submitted my info to insurance, insurance paid him for the procedures that he performed. So, he was getting at least double for his services. I contacted Dr. Bell and asked when I would be reimbursed. He said that I would have to go through insurance. I contacted my insurance which said that Dr. Bell should have never billed me in the first place. It was a nightmare and countless telephone calls to his office. He didn’t pay me back until after I sent his office a letter. I will not be going back.

I started going to Dr. Bell because my office was across the street from his old office, and they took my insurance. The convenience was really all they had going for them — their hygienists were always new, and not very gentle. Dr. Bell never seemed to remember me, or my records.
Then their office moved, and so did my office. I went twice more, and found the new office inconvenient for me, and their hours sporadic. I had to cancel an appointment, called several days prior to the appointment, spoke to the receptionist. Then, the day of the appointment, I received a call, asking where I was. That was the final straw.
After finding a new dentist, I called Dr. Bell’s office to request that they send my records over, and left 2 messages. No one called me back. Finally I got a hold of them, only to find out that my new dentist needed to request the records. I told the receptionist that I was leaving the office — and she didn’t really seem to care. When I informed them that the lack of response was one of the reasons I was leaving, her response was «ok». Decision confirmed.
Unless the office is close to your home or office, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Dr Bell is gentle and patient with dental chickens such as myself, and is great dentist — great work. One of the two best dentists in my experience. He also arranges payment plans for expensive work. Great place.

I would have to agree with the previous poster.
I chose Dr. Bell because he was close to my office and they accept my insurance. The staff is always friendly and although I have to pay up front, they take care of billing my insurance so I don’t have to submit my own tedious claims. Not sure if this is the same for everyone, but that’s how my policy works.
Dr. Bell is very friendly and straightforward. He will always take a few minutes to talk to me about how things are going and any problems I’m having. This is a little unusual for me as I’m used to having the dentist bounce in, peek at my x-​rays, poke at my teeth really quick, and then sashay on out.
I’m not sure if I would come from far and wide just to go to Dr. Bell, but overall I’m satisfied with the quality and service. As a caveat, I’ve only had cleanings, x-​rays, basic exams, and a few cavities filled here, I can’t speak for the quality or service you get with more involved procedures like root canals etc.

Dr. Bell’s a pretty good dentist, but I wouldn’t trek from Wheaton down to Alexandria to come to him (a dental cleaning’s a dental cleaning, right?). I ended up here because he takes my insurance and is across the street from my office. I found he was pretty straightforward about telling me what dental work I needed, explaining what exactly he’d be doing, and not trying to convince me to get unnecessary procedures (my dentist in my hometown suggested I have my gumline «trimmed» to even it out and improve my smile). I thought he also spent a fair amount of time with me per visit.