Michael P McCarty, DDS

Watch out for the reviewers who liked this place with only one review. Suspicious! Also take a look at the filtered reviews. They’re all 5 stars. More suspicious! How can you trust your teeth with a company who tries to cheat!
If i could give 0 stars I would. He’s out to get your money.
They pushes extras on to you nonstop. They flood you with propaganda and force you to say no nonstop. If you don’t say no, they will give it to you (whether its a fluoride rinse, special toothpaste, etc.) then bill you.
You’re never relaxed while you’re there. They hound you with sales pitches on products. It’s like an old used car salesman pitching you a extra warranty, only worse.
The worst part is that if he does actually try to tell you that you need something like a procedure done to your teeth, you’re not sure if its just another sales pitch or if you really need it.
Also, they bill you extra so that you always have a positive balance. They claim they don’t know how much insurance will take off, so they bill you for most of the total.
What a horrible experience!

I can’t believe I forgot to write a review about this dentist. The last time I had a cleaning here was probably back in 2008, and like Nadia D., I have NOT been back.
It’s true — they try to scam you every chance they get. On my first visit they slipped me the fluoride treatment (not covered for adults by most insurance companies, people!) and also a special fluoride toothpaste that they claimed I needed. They made me feel guilty when I tried to refuse it, so I caved. I found out when I went to check out that it was not at all cheap!
The second time I went, I knew better about giving in to their pushiness. They even tried to push a ‘mouth cancer screening’ on me (I KNEW that wouldn’t be covered) and really guilted me for not wanting that one. Um, hello… I’m in my 20’s, I don’t chew tobacco, don’t smoke, never have, and have no family history of cancer. I don’t need to be tested for mouth cancer, so back off!
Then they messed up my insurance claim and it was «denied» twice — and guess why? Because they were entering the WRONG social security number for me into their system. Now, I know they had the correct # on file for me because they got it right the first time I went there and my claim went through just fine that time. So how did they manage to get the wrong SSN entered for me twice? I don’t know. In fact they couldn’t even figure out why it was being denied. After they called the third time saying that their «system» still wasn’t recognizing me as a patient, I had to ask them what SSN they were entering and when they told me, I said «Ah ha, you’re entering the wrong #». I then had to give them the correct SSN over the phone so they could file my claim.
Save yourself the grief of going through what the rest of us have been through. Avoid this dentist. Yes he has a nice office with a computer room and big screen TV’s. But how do you think he’s managed to pay for those computers and TV’s???

All the previous reviews are spot on about this dentist trying to get money out of you without you even knowing!
I take care of my teeth and always have so I was taken aback when I was told at my first visit that I was in varying stages of periodontal gum disease. They tried to schedule me for a deep gum periodontal cleaning, but I told them I wanted to take the wait and see approach especially since the dentist I had seen 6 months earlier said I had no signs of periodontal disease. They still got their money though because instead of charging me for a normal cleaning they claimed they did a debridement. Now a cleaning that should have been completely covered by my insurance cost me $ 55! I never authorized a specialty cleaning, but they claim they had to classify is as such because of my supposed periodontal disease.
While it seems like a nice practice with knowledgeable staff, I think Dr. McCarty falls into the category of dentists who do unnecessary procedures to get more money out of you. If you’ve got the money to spare go for it., but they may charge you for items that you might not need and you are none wiser until the insurance claim is processed. You see, they have a policy where you have to pay the bill in full up front and wait for your insurance to reimburse you. This means that they get your money and you just might get short changed for items not covered under your insurance.
UPDATE 1÷27÷2010: Since I was sceptical about Dr. McCarty’s diagnosis of periodontal gum disease I went back to my childhood dentist, Dr. Tague, for my most recent cleaning. The only reason I don’t go to him now is because he is so far away. Turns out I do not have periodontal gum disease and I trust Dr. Tague as he cared for my teeth for over 10 years.
DO NOT GO TO DR. McCARTY. He is a crook trying to sign people up for unnecessary procedures.

I use Dr. McCarty as my primary dentist, and have been going to him for a couple years now. They are all very friendly, and educational. I also enjoy the flat screen televisions to watch while your teeth are being cleaned. I recommend Dr. McCarty to anyone!

UPDATE: This is the last straw — we will not be back here. I was told on a visit a couple of months before that I had no cavities but scheduled a gum cleaning for the following month because that was my problem area. In fact, the dentist’s exact words were: «Your teeth look great but you may want to think about your gums for the future.» Now I’m told, 2 months later, that I have several very tiny cavities? Seems odd because I specifically asked if I had cavities last time. I’m not saying that he’s lying but if they were there in the first place, I wish he would have told me right away. The dentist then told me he was going to take the conservative route and give me a prescription flouride toothpaste instead of taking a drill to my mouth «like a lot of other dentists would have done.» If the solution was so simple, why wouldn’t he have told me on my first appointment to start using this special toothpaste. He also said, we would check back on my cavities in a year after using this toothpaste. So, I paid about $ 13 for a pretty small portion of this special toothpaste only to get home and find that the seal has been opened and it’s been used… again, unacceptable. Not to mention, the whole purpose of this appointment was supposed to be to check on my gums post gum cleaning but then they proceded to give me yet another cleaning (they’ve given me about 4 in the past two months). When I mentioned that I was told this appointment was to check my gums and not give me a cleaning, the lady from the front desk came in to «talk» to me. She was quite rude, stern, and almost yelled at me that, «If I were you, I would let your hygenist do the cleaning because what that’s going to cost to you is a lot less than the missed appointment fee you’d incur of $ 150.» Wow, being bullied at the dentist, no thank you.

This office is clean and modern, the staff is friendly. When i first went to Dr. McCarty’s office several years ago, i was very relieved and happy, due to my previous bad experience with another Austin area dental office. I just go for my cleanings twice a year, but I do feel like i am in much more capable, experienced hands with Dr. McCarty and his staff.
Another plus about this office is the ability to make appts and reschedule via email. that is convenient.
on the downside, i too have been charged for the foam fluoride, only discovering this AFTER the fact. that sort of thing is quite frustrating to me and seems greedy on the part of the dentist office or the insurance companies, or both. I understand this is a business, but still. it’s a bummer that it costs $ 42 or something. Of course i ‘d like the fancy foam, but at that price i will instead go buy fluoride from the drugstore for $ 5 for a month’s supply.
To be fair, at my last appt (last month) the hygienist asked if i wanted the foam or not and could tell me the price.

I went to Dr. McCarty a few months ago. I was excited because I had read some reviews that said he was knowledgeable, had a great staff, and clean, modern facilities. The only negative things I had read about him had to do with the fact that he will try and get money out of you whatever way possible. Knowing this, I went prepared to get only the necessities. I was going in for a simple teeth cleaning and that was I all intended to get. It was covered by my insurance so I wasn’t expecting to have to pay for anything extra.
The day I went in I was greeted by a friendly woman behind the desk. She offered me some bottled water while I filled out my forms and waited. They had a variety of magazines to read in the waiting room.
When I was called in, a lady gave me a tour of the office and took me to a room with a big screen t.v. and computer she said I could use whenever I came and had to wait. She seemed very proud of the office and all the extras that one normally wouldn’t see in a dentist’s office. After asking me some questions about my info sheet she asked me what I had come for and I explained that I came to get my teeth cleaned. She seemed to think that we were going to do that at my next visit, but when I explained that I had made the appointment specifically for that she quickly accommodated me. It almost seemed like an act. She said something along the lines of, «Well, we can fit you in, but let’s hurry.»
The cleaning process was not rushed at all, and the t.v. in the room was a nice way of entertaining myself rather than staring at the ceiling and talking to the lady with a bunch of crap in my mouth. I could change the channel to whatever I wanted to watch, and at times she would switch it so that I could actually see inside my mouth with the small camera she had in her hand.
The lady was very nice and so was the dentist. At the end of my cleaning she put some fluoride paste on my teeth and gave me some mouthwash to take home. She explained what the paste was, but it wasn’t too clear what the purpose was. I figured it was part of the cleaning process, and she made it seem like it was so I didn’t object to it.
When it was time to check out I had a bill of $ 53 (after what the insurance paid) — $ 23 for the mouthwash and $ 30 for the fluoride paste. What??? I told the lady at the front that I wasn’t aware of the charge for the paste (and they didn’t even ask me if I wanted the mouthwash, they just put it in my bag). She said that if they gave it to me then I needed it, and that it was possible my insurance would credit me back the extra that I paid. Yeah right. I didn’t even know what to say so I paid and walked away feeling like a dumbass. I was trying to be aware of any moment when they would offer me an extra service I would have to pay for, but they didn’t even offer… they just did it without asking! Another review I read said they did something that cost $ 100 extra! Thieves. If you want to try out these modern facilities with a knowledgeable staff despite what you’ve read here I would just suggest you tell them up front what you’re there for and what you intend to pay for. Hopefully, that’ll work and they won’t slip in an extra fee without you even realizing it. Other than that the service was great, but I walked away with a bitter taste in my mouth.
8÷14÷08 Update
Today I got my wisdom teeth out and they (not McCarty) prescribed me a few things to make sure my recovery went smoothly. One of those things was the exact mouthwash that I was given at McCarty’s office. At CVS, where I had the prescriptions filled today, they charged me $ 14 for the mouthwash. They said it was not covered my insurance. This was the same mouthwash that I paid $ 23 for at McCarty’s office. That’s a $ 9 difference! And it was totally unnecessary. I know that dentistry is a business and that people need to make money, but this was just more proof that McCarty will try to get money out of you any way he can. Beware!

Though the office is nice and Dr McCarty seems good, the office procedures are awful. I cannot express how dissatisfied I was with the service and communication. They shortened my appt from a full new patient exam to a regional exam and then the office staff told me that it was a ‘clinical’ decision. As a medical professional, I told her that was absurd. Finally she admitted that he was behind – but not until I really pushed the issue. Then, they came up with all sorts of reasons that I couldn’t get the free whitening advertised on their website, because… (are you ready?) I hadn’t had a full new patient exam!!! I told them to cancel my follow up appointment, for me and a new one for my husband) and they sent an email stating that they would not email my xrays until my insurance company had paid them. This is highly unethical and unusual. Stay away. I think this practice is more concerned with caring for the Miss Austin’s advertised on their wall than for regular people.