Lindley E Philip, DDS

I agree with Ben and Natalie’s review. I feel like I am bothering him. He should retire if he is so grumpy. I needed to go back to get my tooth adjusted after a filling. It was very painful due to the nerve being bruised. I went back in and he had me stay standing up and ground it down. It hurt so bad. I said it was fine so I could leave. I am still having problems with that tooth. It is so jagged. His assistant is great! Too bad she is not the dentist.

Ended up sticking around for another year of awkward conversations with Dr. Lindley. Decided to have my impacted wisdom teeth removed, which interfered with him seating my permanent crown and I ended up wearing a temporary crown for several months. Granted, this was my decision, but complicated oral surgery is expensive and after maxing out my insurance on the crown and root canal earlier in the year, I was waiting for the next calendar year to kick in. Not a crazy notion (or so I thought), Anyways, the temporary crown popped off numerous times and when I was finally able to have the permanent crown seated, it no longer fit. Dr. Lindley essentially lectured me for not having my wisdom teeth removed sooner and told me because I didn’t, the impaction from my wisdom teeth made my teeth move and the crown no longer fit. So he proceeded to ask me if he should charge me for another $ 800+ crown since it was my fault that it didn’t fit. Mind you, it was Dr. Lindley who told me that I could wear a temporary crown for an extended period of time and it wouldn’t be a problem. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, and awkwardly said…“uhh, well I guess so.” He then said, «Well, I’m not, but I should» and then randomly mentioned how he still does dental work for his ex-​wife, who continues to see him despite the divorce, because he is such a great dentist… Um, good for you?
Ugh, my two years here have been dreadful and I feel a bit sympathetic for his incredibly friendly assistants. I guess they’ve just learned how to tolerate his demeanor and personality, but with a market saturated with hundreds of dentists who would like to have my money, I will be taking my business elsewhere. I guess I should be thanking my lucky stars that he didn’t make me pay for the new crown, so thats a positive note.

I’m sure that he’s a very competent and efficient dentist. No complaints there. The bedside manner, however, is lacking. Here are some rules of thumb that they might not have taught at dental school:
1) After a procedure is done, many patients are accustomed to the courtesy of being offered a mirror to view the work and perhaps even ask questions. Giving a mirror to a patient is not a strange or unusual thing to do.
2) When discussing unusually invasive/​intensive/​dramatic/​traumatic procedures — oral-​surgery type procedures — it’s considered polite not to speak of them in a laughing or jocular manner. Patients like to imagine that their dentist is at least simulating empathy with the experience of having one’s mouth/​jaw cut open. It is actually a big deal so please try to pretend to treat it as such.
3) When a patient asks a question about a procedure, it is considered courteous to offer more than one-​word or one-​phrase answers, and to at least pretend to have an interest in answering the question and dealing with the patient’s questions or concerns. In today’s busy world, many patients feel entitled to be made aware of decisions and procedures regarding their care. It is not considered burdensome or out of line to communicate information about these topics, politely and efficiently, to the patient.
Bottom line: being a dentist is about more than performing dental work. It entails minimal competency at verbal and non-​verbal communication. Unfortunately that may not be what certain dentists consider to be part of their job.

While I wasn’t thrilled to have to have my tooth ground down for a crown this week, he did a wonderful job. I didn’t feel any of the shots he gave me to numb my mouth. No pain… even after the proceedure, really. My gum was sore, but my tooth ached very little. He and his assistant even worked with me to get my permanent crown before I leave for my trip to Italy. I choose him because he’s on my insurance at work, but I’m happy with the treatment I’ve had.