David J Pearah, DDS

I feel terrible for writing this review.
Dr. Pearah is a really nice man. He seems like the kindly grandfather in a Werther’s Originals commercial. But this was not the kind of experience I want from a dentist.
When I called to make my appointment, I spoke to a woman with a really heavy accent. She didn’t ask why I wanted the appointment, she just gave me a time and a date. Odd, I thought. But I shrugged it off.
I showed up to the offices and got an uneasy vibe from the get-​go. It’s an older building, with carpet that hasn’t been cleaned in a decade or so. I walked up the stairs and found myself in a waiting room playing «Maury» on the TV. Classy.
The woman behind the glass asked if she could help me.
«I’m looking for the dentist’s office,» I said.
«I’ll call them,» she said.
As I sat down, I thought, «Doesn’t she need my name? Is this the dentist’s waiting room or some general waiting area?»
The woman with the accent from my phone call walked through the door and handed me some insurance forms. I filled them out and she told me to follow her. As I walked in, I saw many offices for many doctors. But the hallways were old, dirty and dimly lit. Eventually, I found myself following the woman into a broom closet. Seriously, the room couldn’t have been bigger than 8′ x 10′. There was one dental chair. This seemed very «back alley» to me. I actually considered leaving.
But I sat down in the chair and Dr. Pearah arrived. «Welcome home, David,» he said. My name is not David. I wondered if he was talking to someone else, but it was just me and the heavily accented woman in the room.
I told him I was there for a checkup and cleaning. He asked when my last one was and I told him it had been 15 months. I braced myself for a scolding, since every dentist will want you to get that done every six months. But the scolding never came. He seemed pleased.
For some odd reason, Dr. Pearah never reclined the chair. I sat upright. And he craned his head around and looked in my mouth.
«You have good teeth,» he said. «Do good teeth run in your family?» he asked.
«I don’t know,» I said. «I don’t really ask my parents about their teeth. I guess I can ask them the next time I see them,» I joked.
«Do you use an electric toothbrush?» he asked.
«Yes,» I said.
«Does it spin or just vibrate?»
«It just vibrates up and down,» I said.
«Boy, you have some nice teeth. I wish everyone who came in here had such nice teeth.»
I think my teeth are pretty nice, but they’re not amazing. My last two dentists have yelled at me to get my wisdom teeth out. Dr. Pearah had no problems with it.
He scraped my teeth and then asked me, «Do good teeth run in your family?»
That’s the exact same question he asked me 5 – 10 minutes prior. I contemplated giving the exact same answer, but gave him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it’s just standard dentist chat and he forgot he’d asked me.
«Um, I guess. I don’t really know,» I said.
«Do you use an electric toothbrush?» he asked.
At this point, I’m freaking out. I’m caught in Groundhog Day in some broom closet dentist’s office with a 70-​year-​old man with sharp metal instruments probing my mouth.
«Yes,» I said, hoping to jog his memory.
«Does it spin or just vibrate?» he asked.
I started panicking. Did this guy not remember what we’d discussed 5 – 10 minutes earlier? He asked me the exact same questions. Exactly the same. Was he going to start the cleaning from scratch? How many more times would I have to answer these questions?
You know how typical dentists will spray water in your mouth and then suction it out with a straw? Dr. Pearah gives you a cup of water and you spit into a basin.
You know how typical dentists will floss your teeth at some point? Never happened.
You know that bag with floss and a new toothbrush you usually get? Not here.
At one point, as I sat in that claustrophobic room, sitting upright with a dentist who couldn’t remember anything about our conversation, I flashed to a scene from the 1989 «Batman» movie. Remember when that back alley surgeon fixes the Joker’s face? And the Joker demands a mirror and that doctor says, «It’s the best I could do»? That’s what this felt like.
When I left, I swore I’d never return. And I wondered if my teeth were really cleaned at all.
For the record, nice teeth run in my family, I use an electric toothbrush and it vibrates.

Dr. Pearah is a very nice man. He is a bit older than most dentists’ but he seems to really care about you and your teeth. His receptionist can be a little difficult to understand because of her accent but she is very nice as well.
The one thing that did annoy me was that he wasn’t able to get the x-​rays of my teeth done while I waited. However when they were ready he did call me himself to discuss them with me which I thought was very nice of him.
Overall he is a good dentist and I was happy with my care there even if it was a little different than what I am used to.