Lynn Mieger, DDS

This review is only for the office manager/​receptionist, Shannon, who is the worst.
Lynn Mieger is a great dentist, and I’ve been going to her for many years. But now that she’s hired Shannon to handle the office, I’m considering changing to another dentist. Shannon is that terrible. And it’s not just a one-​time experience I’m complaining about, because I get it, people can have a bad day. But she is consistently rude, sneering, and lacks all ability to interact with people. She asked very personal questions about my age and insisted that I owed the office $ 1,000 in charges over the years. (Wrong)
I see from other reviews that I’m not alone in this. I can only hope that Mieger looks at this and evaluates the need to continue to employ Shannon.

So, my actual experience with Dr. Mieger was okay — she’s very nice and informative, as was the dental tech. However, my low rating is for their receptionists.
I’ve been a receptionist, I know how it works and how stressful it can be. That doesn’t mean they can be rude when I’m asking simple questions — especially when I was clearly given incorrect information.
I went in for a routine cleaning and asked about getting a quote for a special procedure. Dr. Mieger and the hygienist were nice and said they would look into it. The hygienist and receptionist both stated that I would get the quote back within SIX weeks and if I hadn’t received an email at that time to first check spam and then call in. Well, I waited TEN weeks without receiving anything and made sure it wasn’t stuck in spam. I routinely check my insurance online just to keep an eye on everything and noticed that about a month or so ago there was already a quote listed. So, I patiently waited to hear from Dr. Mieger’s office, but never did.
Today I called to see if they could look up the information and was put on hold for an inordinate amount of time for her solely looking up my name, and she said they had no information from insurance yet at all — but it has been listed on my own insurance website for at least a month, so I asked why that was and the receptionist got huffy and said I was getting heated and needed to calm down — I was not yelling, was not cussing, was not doing anything other than questioning why they hadn’t yet received the information when it’s clearly been listed for a long while. She hung up on me.
I’m upset because all I wanted was to get a procedure done and now I won’t be going back to this office at all and will have to wait to have another quote done elsewhere because of the incompetence of a receptionist who doesn’t know how to work with customers asking simple questions.
**UPDATE** Only a couple hours after I made the above inquiry, I received a call from Dr. Mieger herself telling me they had received my quote. I truly don’t think that is a coincidence. Sorry to Dr. Mieger (who acted as though she didn’t know or perhaps hadn’t been told about the review above), but I don’t want to return to a place where I was treated so unprofessionally for asking a question.

It’s really petty for a dentist to charge $ 95 because my husband forgot to cancel an appointment he made months ago. He didn’t even get a reminder so he could cancel.

Dr. Mieger is still the bomb. Same group of great people. Shannon at the front desk is a riot. Wonderful dentist.

Alright, it has been awhile since I’ve Unilocaled but my experience with Dr. Meiger has been great. I read the other reviews and my opinion is, it’s all on your experience. I went in for an emergency appointment because I cracked my molar tooth. Dr. Mieger was warm and made me comfortable. She looked into my mouth and knew immediately, I needed to see a specialist. She recommends one and had an emergency root canal on the same day. $ 1,850 out of pocket (worth every penny), I come in and saw Dr. Meiger for a crown fitting. Her assistant Juliet is truly an amazing hygienist. These two are top notch team. They made my experience easy and painless, well somewhat painless. There was an issue with my billing but Dr. Meiger cleared that up quickly. Dr. Meiger threw in a free night guard since I’ve been grinding my teeth (reason for the crack tooth and emergency root canal). Juliet is a perfectionist and Dr. Meiger is humble enough to know, sometimes her assistant is right. Overall my experience has been wonderful. Would I refer her business to friends, family and strangers? My answer would be, YES, I would!!!

Great dentist and friendly hygienist. Cleanings are kept short and sweet!

I’ve been going to Dr. Mieger for about 8 years. I really think she’s a great dentist, and her whole team is top-​notch. Thanks for taking care of me all these years!

I’m very conflicted about writing this review. I’ve been going to Dr. Mieger for the past 13 years. She and her staff have always been great. They are true professionals and I have always been happy with their work.
This review deals with my recent experience with the front desk staff. Months ago, I had some minor procedure done in addition to my cleaning. I typically don’t get charged, but the front desk staff indicated that this type of procedure is typically not covered, so I paid the estimated fee. A month passes, and I get a statement from the insurance company indicating that the procedure was covered. Months pass, and there was not any communication from the Dr.‘s office about the overcharged amount. It was a small amount so I did not think too much of it. The next time I visited Dr. Mieger, I had a crown done. The staff provided me with any estimate for the crown. She had all my pass billing history on the computer, so I waited to see if she would mention anything about the overcharge but she did not. This is months after the procedure. I had to mention it before they acknowledge the credit.
The estimate they quoted for the crown was unusally high. I asked for details, and it was based off of a $ 1,280 rate. I asked specifically whether this is an agreed upon rate with the insurance, and the staff indicated that the agreed upon rate «was taken into consideration».
I typically don’t do this, but I called my insurance company to confirm the rate, but found out that the contract rate is $ 968, and that the $ 1,280 is likely the rack rate.
The next time I’m at the dentist’s office to finish off my crown, I waited to see if the staff would mention anything about the estimate at check out. Of course, she did not. I then brought up the issue about the estimate. She checked her book and acknowledged that the rate was indeed $ 968. She apologized and indicated that they do their best to provide an estimate and sometimes it can be off.
My concern is two-​fold:
1) Why would you provide an estimate with the rack rate knowing full well that contracted rate with the insurance company is lower? She indicated that the contracted rate was «taken into consideration».
2) Perhaps I should have given this more time but given my experience with the previous procedure, I question whether I would have been refunded the difference at all if I did not bring this up.
It’s funny but I vaguely remember a similar conversation that another customer was having with the front desk a few weeks back when I started the crown. Maybe that’s what led me to call my insurance company.
Again, I have been very pleased with Dr. Mieger. I would just stay on top of the estimates and make sure that you’re not overcharged.

My original review was stellar on their service and how attentive Dr. Mieger has been. After receiving a bill for missed appointment while I had unplanned major surgery… I have decided that this is my departing review. I tried to cancel the appointment as soon as I could but being charged for this was poor service in my book. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Excellent, attentive care.
I’ve been going here 6 years and have consistently had only positive experiences. No unnecessary procedures, just good care. My teeth have never been better.
Great energy and vibe in the office, too.
Dr. Mieger and her team are top rate.

I never thought to review my dentist, but as I see she’s on here, and I’m so grateful to know her, I must weigh in.
I’ve been a patient for about three years and today was the first real ‘surgery’ in the wake of a bite into popcorn kernel that resulted in a cracked filling.
These guys are like a symphony. So amazing, so accommodating, and on spot in taking care of me thoroughly. And Dr. Mieger remembers the smallest detail from your last visit — I always feel comfortable here!
As others write, she’s like a storyteller, keeping you abreast of every procedure, every step of the way.
Surgery is never fun, but Dr. Mieger and her staff provide you with the peace of mind that makes all the difference!
This dental office is hands down, as good as it gets!

Dr. Mieger is a breath of fresh air in a sea of mediocre dentistry. She’s always upbeat, makes visits fun by chatting you up and understands every iteration of ‘WAH AH AD A UD EE-​END’ like a pro. If there was a comic book hero that was a dentist, she would totally fill those shoes (or cape).

I had just moved to San Francisco and was worried I would get an unscrupulous citi-​fied dentist… but after my visit to Dr. Meiger and then a month later to another dentist (because of an insurance change), I can tell you Dr. Meiger was more than fair.
Cheryl cleaned my teeth and did a great and quick job. We talked about whitening and how I might as well whiten at home considering how my teeth were doing overall. She explained a lot about my gums that I never knew before and she is a little chatterbox, but in a good way.
Then Dr. Meiger looked at my teeth, x-​rays, etc. and told me I had an issue with one tooth (that I already had some suspicions about). She told me what I needed to do, her staff worked with my insurance, and then they sent me the estimated cost for my work which totaled about $ 1200 (including what insurance would pay) and then what my estimated payment would be.
SURPRISE — a week later my employer changed dental carriers so I had to start all over with another dentist… so far unnamed because I am afraid to name her specifically until I get my final bill!!!
Anyway, the new dentist looked at my teeth and put together a «Treatment Plan» for about 7 grand in dental work. Oh brother!!!
Dr. Meiger is more than fair, her staff are incredibly nice and the office overall is comfortable and delightful.
Wish I could tell you who the other slick dentist is with the estimate that I need 7 grand in dental work… I’ll review that maniac as soon as I have my final bill…

I’ve been coming to Dr. Mieger’s practice for several years. What I can say is that she and her staff CONSISTENTLY deliver a great experience.
She is absolutely delightful and personable, yet careful, thorough and professional. Her office staff is attentive and efficient in scheduling. Now you can even get reminders over sms and email! Not to mention the great location. I strongly recommend Dr. Mieger

Lynn is a great dentist and a lovely lady. She’s attentive, kind and fun. Her staff were great!
I had not been to the dentist in a while and had cracked a tooth. They took me in quickly and took great care of me. I also have to say that she“s a lot of fun and knows how to put people at ease.
I’d recommend her to anyone!

Wow, Unilocalers, what a healthy group of teeth you have! So beautiful! Look at that, will you LOOK at that! Just beautiful, great teeth.
Dr. Mieger is so charming and sweet and personable that she should coach other dentists and medical care providers on bedside manner. True, she gives all her patients the same compliments, but my goodness, we fell for it and for her, didn’t we? :) She is the quintessential social butterfly, and I envy her skills. She is great to talk to as she has mastered small talk and «dentist monologuing» (they have to do that to talk to people whose mouths are propped open). She really should teach lessons on congeniality. And she has done a great job training her staff to be courteous and friendly as well.
So why only 2 stars? In the end, my crowns didn’t fit well, even after I went back to have her file them to size. I couldn’t chew on my left side for over a year, and then when I finally started to chew on that side, a substantial piece of one of my crowns chipped off.
I haven’t gone back because I just didn’t feel that she was giving my actual dental needs enough focused attention.
Go to Dr. Mieger if you just need a cleaning and x-​rays. She’s friendly and will make you feel comfortable. She is SUCH a nice person, even if you do not fall for her flattery. I know for a fact that she has worked with people in-​between insurance and helped them get dental care that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to afford. So I really, really wish I could give her the full 5 stars. But what good are beautiful teeth if they don’t stay put in my mouth?

I’m very sparse with my reviews on Unilocal — either I feel compelled to write because I found the service to be really good, or to be just bad enough to require a report on my part.
My recent experience as a first time user at Dr Lynn Mieger was, frankly, extremely disappointing. I went for the first time around mid April ’09 to get a much overdue teeth cleaning, as well as some general X-​rays.
The Dental Assistant who did the teeth cleaning was very friendly and competent, no complaints with her. Dr Lynn Mieger was very pleasant, almost fawning in a way that doesn’t really make sense between 2 perfect strangers, so naturally I was suspicious — true to many others comments here on Unilocal I heard «you have the best teeth ever», and «how lucky you are to have such good genes». The attention was just a little (ok, very) over the top. I love good sincere rapport between people, even strangers, but sometimes when it comes over as contrived I just get these weird vibes…
The odd thing was I read the Unilocal reviews only AFTER going to Dr Lynn, and my experience was confirmed by many comments already written here. I just wanted to point that out, to address possible concerns that my experience was tainted by what I may have read on Unilocal beforehand.
Anyway, after the Xrays, I was presented with a rather expensive and extensive treatment plan (so much for the great teeth!). As a result, I was in no hurry to authorize the recommended treatment until I had squared away getting onto my wife’s (just newly wed, yay!) great dental plan. I felt somewhat pressured by Dr Lynn to start right away but had a feeling that I needed to wait until my dental plan situation was tidied away.
After going home and telling my wife the extent of the proposed work, she suggested I get a second opinion at another dentist, and have my Xrays mailed over to her dentist to compare conclusions. It took a full week and a few calls to extract an official treatment plan from Dr Lynn’s office, but once that finally came in I decided to ask Dr Lynn’s office to send the Xrays to my wife’s dentist for a 2^nd opinion. This is where the situation got weird/​suspicious to me. This was the sequence of events:
Early May:
I called Dr Lynn’s office early May to request that they send the Xrays, and gave them the address of my wife’s dentist. They agree to do so.
Around May 8:
no Xrays have arrived at 2^nd dentist, I call Dr Lynn’s office. They claim (I say claim, because no mention was made the first time round) to need me to sign a release to send Xrays out. I say ok. I receive their fax, sign it and fax it right back.
May 14 (9:30am):
No Xrays at wife’s dentist’s office. I call Dr Lynns office. They claim X-​rays were mailed out May 5^th. Since it was almost a week later after I had faxed the authorization I wasn’t sure May 5^th made sense, and told them as such. I told them I was pretty sure that wasn’t possible, because I had sent authorization after that. «Prove it» was their response.
I ask if they have a copy of Xrays so that I can pick it up myself. They say they have no copy.
May 14 (10:00am):
I call 2^nd dentist’s office — they check, definitely did not receive anything ever. «Great», I think, «now I’m out of really expensive Xrays.»
May 14 (10:20am):
I check office fax machine and print out a report of all out going faxes. Luckily there aren’t many in this day and age of email… Lo and behold was the proof — I had faxed authorization to Dr Lynn’s office on May 8!
May 14 (10:30am):
I call Dr Lynn’s office to tell them what I found. «We’ll send over a copy» I hear. «What?» I asked. «I had just asked whether you had a copy, and you said no.» Receptionist: «Sometimes we make copies. In your case we did.» At this point I am totally off ever going back to Dr Lynn. «We’ll mail it» they say. «No thanks, I’ll pick it up myself at lunch» was my response.
My (unsubstantiated) conclusion:
a) they either did not send my Xrays on purpose, and then got busted, and tried to cover up once I called them out on the flaws of their story by claiming to luckily have a copy. In fact it’s the original, unsent Xray.
or
b) they screwed up and did not send it out (despite my various requests), and found the Xrays lying in some bin as the whole scenario was playing out. They call it a copy, but in fact it’s the original.
or
c) Xrays were lost in the mail, and they fortunately had a copy for me.
Either way, they were either unethical, plain incompetent, or just unlucky with the postal service. I know what I believe, and I personally will not ever use, nor recommend, their services.
**UPDATE**
May 14 (1:15pm):
Just went to pick up the Xrays during my lunch break. Now they are called «the originals», and that there are no other X-​rays left if the office now that I have taken them with me. Go figure…

My experience with Dr. Mieger was not the best in regards to the actual dental work I got done with her. Grant it that she has been very cordial and nice during all my visits, I think that you’re reading this review to find out whether you’ll be getting quality dental work done. You should be confident with anyone who’ll be fixing any part of your body right?
So, although I can’t speak for anyone else, I will say that I was unhappy with the outcome of my procedure. I went in with a tooth fracture one day, which resulted in me needing a crown. Once the crown was done, I noticed that my gums were still extremely irritated and inflamed beyond the normal healing time — as in 8 months later, it was still that way. My crown didn’t fit correctly and it turns out the inflammation and irritation was due to the huge gap in between the gum and the crown. The gap was allowing food to get in there causing the pain around my crown. This result was confirmed by two other dentists I saw just from looking at my x-​rays. I now need to get my crown completely replaced. And getting a crown isn’t the kind of procedure you want to have to do once let alone twice.
I saw Dr. Mieger about 4 or 5 times within the 7 months after I got my crown done and each time, there was no suggestion of getting my crown replaced. Though she and her staff worked hard to squeeze me into her schedule on the same day, during each of those visits, I didn’t feel that the problem I was having with my crown was investigated thoroughly. The other dentists I saw knew what had to be done immediately, while after 4 or 5 visits with Dr. Mieger, she still couldn’t fix my problem. But then again, what dentist wants to tell their patient that they need to replace the crown that they made?
Dr. Mieger and her staff were very accommodating in helping me work out my crown replacement. I really commend Dr. Mieger and her office manager for doing the right thing in helping me rectify this situation because they could have just left me high and dry. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m having to get to get my crown replaced by another dentist and that the procedure simply wasn’t done correctly the first time around — especially with her specialty being cosmetic dentistry.

When you’re feeling down and blue, or just plain ugly, go see Dr. Mieger. She’ll tell you you’re «gorgeous» and how «amaaaazing your teeth look! You’re beautiful!» You’ll hear the same dialogue when you’re lying down getting your teeth cleaned and she’s greeting another patient.
She is a pure delight and will talk your ear off if you let her.

Update — Dr. Lynn Mieger — helped me get over my initial fear of dentists — but I have recently switched to a new dentist.
Original review —
I, like nearly everyone, HATE to go to the dentist. I hate the sterile environment and the self-​esteem blows, pounded into me, by a distant white-​cloaked dentist of doom.
«You NEED to floss more. You NEED to brush more. YOU ARE A HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PERSON!!! Only IDIOTS DON“T floss… let me show you picture AFTER picture AFTER picture of decaying teeth… THIS could be YOU…» …or something along those lines…
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
If I wanted to watch a horror movie — I’d watch IT again…
But…
After my visit with Dr. Lynn Mieger and her awesome hygienist — I have a WHOLE new enlightened perspective on going to the dentist.
Dr. Mieger’s hygienist today, was unbelievable. She was thorough, energetic, patient, and friendly. She made me feel completely at ease and instead of just bombarding me with blow after blow about all the stuff I hadn’t been doing, she was straightforward and cushioned her to-​do advice with compliments — ahhhhhh the art of constructive feedback.
«Well you obviously brush very well… great job… but remember flossing is key.»
Dr. Mieger was just as warm and radiant. I’ve never come across a dentist that actually lights up the room when she walks in it… until now.
Waking up for an 8:30 am appointment with sharp pointy and whizzing tools — was not my idea of fun this morning, but Dr. Mieger and her staff, brightened up my day, and as others have said in their reviews — I’m even looking forward to going back
…so I can boast my carefully flossed gums and well brushed teeth!