Stephen Harkey DMD, PA

Got my teeth cleaned for the first time in my life, and felt like a toothpaste model walking outside of the dentist that day …

I really liked going to this dental office. The hygienists did a good job and have always been very personable.
My largest disappointment is I received a filling in the wrong tooth once. I had pain in the upper left portion of my mouth between tooth 11 and 12. I also had a dark spot next the filling in tooth 12. The dentist said that my prior fillings were not done well so he could redo that one.
I scheduled to have the filling redone in 12. I went to my appointment and when I check the billing statement they had charged me for tooth 13. I was hoping this was just a paperwork error. I go home and double check and the small dark spot is still there and so is the pain — they had actually filled tooth 13 instead of 12. I just verified my original paperwork they gave me when they proposed the work (this was over a year ago) and it also says they were supposed to 12.
When I returned and complained that the wrong tooth was filled they were not apologetic about it but acted like it was fine because all of those fillings were done poorly. I was annoyed by this because I was only having problems with 12 so I would have only redone that one. I again scheduled to have #12 refilled a few weeks later and when it was done I was billed for that one also, I feel like they should have only charged me for one because it was their mistake.
I recently went in because my two year old crown fell off (it was done by another dentist). It was causing me pain and I have not been able to chew on it since I have had it. The dentist suggested that it might improve if I get it redone.
I thought that it was going to be less expense because the old crown was already off, so if I was going to redo it, now would be the time. I didn’t think they were going to charge me for a build up because there was a lot less work to be done, they would not have to drill it off and they would not have to put the filling in the middle of the tooth below the crown. They also gave me the price for the procedure without the buildup so I was VERY disappointed when I went to pay — instead of $ 872 for just a crown it was $ 1088.
Not only had they charged me for the buildup for $ 169 but also for an exam appointment because I had talked to the dentist for 10 minutes before I got the crown redone. I would not have gotten the crown redone if I would have known there were no price deductions, I would have just glued the old one back on, I could have had the whole thing drilled off at that price ANYTIME I wanted. I have also never been charged for an exam and a procedure in the same appointment. That seems extreme, if I would have left and not had the crown done, it would have been fine to charge for the exam, but not both.
I asked the dentist specifically if I would be charged for the buildup and he said something like the cost won’t be that much different. I thought that meant that the crown was still going to be pretty expensive and not that we are going to still charge me for it. He should have said «Yes, we are going to charge you for the buildup» so there would have been no confusion.
Also, the whole ordeal was just a big waste of money. The newly crowned tooth still hurts like hell. I should have asked for a better explanation of why getting it redone would make it better. I think he could have given me better advice. He should have said let’s put a temporary on and if you can’t chew on that one either then we know a new crown won’t work either.
I really liked this office, but now I am off to find a new dentist. These experiences have made me too upset to return.