Louis Kaufman, DDS

I have been seeing Dr. Kaufman regularly for 4 to 5 years, but some things are giving me pause and now I have decided that I need a new dentist. I have been very fortunate in that I have only needed routine x-​Rays and cleanings for several years. Apparently that is not lucrative enough for him, though, as on my last appointment he stated he would recommend some sort of overlay on my teeth as he could see some hairline cracks developing. He showed me the X-​ray and I could not see them. He blew up the X-​ray so only one tooth was showing and I still could not see any of the supposed cracks or tears. At home I searched his suggested treatment on the internet and every site I visited described the treatment as strictly cosmetic, very painful, needing multiple appointments and very expensive. My God, if I had been passive and just accepted his suggestions I could have been doomed to a life of pain and financial misery. I can see by all the aggressive «smiley face» ads that dentists are publishing that he is far from alone in putting cosmetic appearance (and his income stream) first over the health and well-​being of his clients. That is scary. Looking back on it, on my first appointment with him a few years ago, he informed me that my original cavity fillings had to go and he would replace them; every one of them. It crossed my mind then that it was odd that these fillings had lasted several decades and coincidentally they had all gone bad at the time of my first visit with him? I wonder now whether that was necessary at all, and whether the replacements are very likely inferior to the fillings that stood me well all my adult life. Anyway I have survived him; and, as reluctant as I am to criticize another human being in a public forum, I would like this to serve as a cautionary note to anyone else who may be considering seeing him or who may be experiencing the same things I did.