Richard Boudreau, MD

I was referred to Dr. Boudreau through my dentist. To keep it simple for those who do not wish to read a lot, I will state up front that this review and rating are primarily for my (poor) experience with a receptionist I have since learned is no longer working at this facility due to her weak work ethic and lack of manners. Despite such an experience, I have attempted to adjust my star-​rating to represent what I think of Dr. Boudreau outside of my experience, which overall is that he truly cares what his patients need and tries to make amends for any less than stellar experiences had. Dr. Boudreau takes the time to speak with you during your consultation without any sense of urgency for the clock ticking and with an obvious interest in considering all the factors that influence one’s health – not just factors under the narrow lens of dentistry. In any case, I will give a simple recount of my experience in the event that it helps someone navigate this – or any other – facility with greater success.
We have a complicated health care delivery system, fragmented into silos by specialty and further fragmented between «medical», «dental» and «mental health» care. Dr. Boudreau seems accustomed to trying to bring them all together, which means at times, as logic would support, someone’s dental care needs may intersect with their medical care needs. In his opinion, the extraction of my wisdom teeth had such an intersection. In line with that, the receptionist seemed to have wisely predicted that might be true by having asked for my medical insurance information prior to my first consultation. She figured it was wise for us to know if my medical insurance would allow me to be treated by Dr. Boudreau outside of his office IF I needed to go under general anesthesia. However, rather than letting me know in advance of my consultation that, in fact, Dr. Boudreau had no privileges (the right to practice) at any hospital that accepted my insurance, she allowed me to move forward with my consultation. Strike 1 for this lazy receptionist.
During my consultation, I found that I liked Dr. Boudreau and felt I would be in good hands for my extraction, which he advised I do under general anesthesia. He told me the receptionist would submit a request for such an extraction to my medical insurance and call me as soon as it went through. In a week, I got a call, and the receptionist told me my insurance denied the request. When I called both my medical and dental insurance to question the denial, they told me no such request had been made. I called the office to try to sort things out, asking the receptionist to formally submit a request to my insurance, and she said, «I don’t do that. I call the hospital the doctor likes and see if they accept your coverage. If they do not, you must pay in full or go somewhere else.» WOW. BIG strike 2 considering she was not willing to do what’s necessary/​customary for me to receive treatment! In response to this, I asked her to have Dr. Boudreau give me a call directly so we could discuss the situation. Not a day passed, and she called me back and said that he could not make the time to call (I have since learned he never got my message, as he has made plenty of time now to explain the situation, which proves to me he would have called then.) I thus asked for a copy of my x-​ray, to which she responded there would be a $ 40 charge. $ 40 for a $ 99 x-​ray? I refused, and told her the least she could do after wasting everyone’s time and putting me in a situation where I would have to get a second consult (and pay another co-​payment) was reduce my need to also pay for a second x-​ray. She obliged. (Note: I ended up getting a second x-​ray at the surgeon I ended up using anyway – Dr. Ramin Shabtaie – as he has much newer technology, which he preferred to use to obtain an x-​ray with much higher resolution. In all honesty, I don’t know if this second x-​ray was necessary, but it did show a lot more detail, which seemed helpful in seeing how close my oral nerves were to my wisdom teeth.)
Bottom line: I had a very poor experience with the receptionist but a decent experience with Dr. Boudreau. In all fairness, if there is a new – and good – receptionist, I would recommend Dr. Boudreau. That said, I also recommend understanding your insurance in advance. This process has been very educational for me. I have learned that only in the most rare of circumstances will dental insurance ever approve going under general anesthesia (e.g., for children with Down syndrome, etc.). Many people instead pay for it out-​of-​pocket to avoid being present during the barbaric procedure of an extraction, which at the surgeon I ended up using would have cost about $ 160 in his office; I assume, had he wanted to do it at a nearby hospital, it would have cost more and involved using my medical insurance in some way. (Note: I ended up just going with local anesthesia for $ 45.) Know all your options in advance and get a quote!