Santa Fe Smiles

I visited Santa Fe Smiles because of the PennySaver coupon-​cleaning and X-​rays for $ 25. (1^st red flag).
They wouldn’t take me in until I signed every paragraph on approx 9 page agreement, (2^nd red flag). After a quick look at my teeth, Dr. Matin told me I needed a debridement which would be $ 100. (3^rd red flag). I’ve never had to have that before because I floss everyday and take good care of my teeth. But she was rather insistent and I figured she was the professional so I reluctantly agreed. After viewing my X-​rays Dr. Matin told me I had 3 cavities. I asked her to show me but there was nothing on the X-​rays (4^th red flag) although they kept pointing to my X-​rays insisting that it was a cavity-​again I was persuaded by the professional and set up my appt to have the cavities filled. Ohhh, how I wish I got a second opinion!
I came back a few days later to have my «cavities» filled. Dr Matin numbed my gums with Novacaine and then injected me with something to numb my mouth completely-​except she was in such a hurry that someone forgot to fill the syringe with the numbing agent. (5^th red flag). She came back after a short time ready to drill and fill but I told her I wasn’t numb at all. She said it’s okay, well start and let me know if it’s uncomfortable. Well, right away I had to tell her again that I was not numbed at all and so she again injected me with a numbing agent that worked this time. She seemed to be in a big hurry and drilled & filled my teeth quickly. She didn’t even check my teeth with floss to make sure there was space between my teeth for dental floss. As I was walking down the hall to pay my bill, I was surprised as Dr. Matin quickly passed me and left the office, confirming my suspicions that she was indeed in a hurry and didn’t do her best on my teeth. Unfortunately I could not fit dental floss between my teeth so I had to come back to have that fixed. The soonest I could get an appt was in 10 days. Dr. Matin was not available so I ended up seeing one of the other dentists in the office. (Thank God!) He fixed my flossing issue and then wanted to double check her work so they took more X-​rays and he told me the bad news that I would have to have all 3 cavities re drilled. Ugh! How I wish I paid attention to the red flags. I agreed to have him fix my teeth. They offered me a free Zoom treatment to try to compensate for the botched treatment I received by Dr. Matin. Even though the dentist tried to fix my teeth, I had issues afterwards… I couldn’t chew on my right side of my mouth for 6 months and then I finally went to another dentist to have it fixed. After this horrible experience I am very wary of dentists using coupons to attract business and I hate going to the dentist and avoid it all costs! I would advise you to keep looking for another dentist besides Dr. Matin… life is too short!

Going to the dentist can be very traumatic especially if you had a previous bad experience. My insurance company recommended Santa Fe Smiles in San Marcos, CA after a bad procedure from another dentist.
My experience with Santa Fe Smiles, Dr. Matin, D.D.S. and her staff was great. They were professional and thorough. They had to correct another dentist mistake and went above and beyond to make my experience pleasant and more comforting. The dentist and hygienists were all gentle, intricate, and caring.
This is the dentist office to be a patient of.

It has been 2 months since Dr. Matin did work on my teeth. I have received the bill from my insurance company. She billed $ 1000+ dollars in work and I paid $ 300 out of pocket. I called my insurance company for a second charge on my bill saying «cleaning, see note». The insurance company said she is over/​double billing for the original cleaning. They said she knew what she was doing when she billed the insurance company and is trying to get more money out of me. Dr. Matin has committed insurance fraud and prescribed unnecessary work. I was told if I did not have the work done I would need a root canal. She scared me into the procedures that I never needed. She was to lazy to do a regular cleaning and required a debridment. When I went in a week later for the polishing, the assistant had to scrap my teeth for all the places she had missed. I still have plaque on my bottom teeth right now! She lied, I never had cavities. There was nothing on the x rays. I did not need the root and planing for my molars. She said I was going to get gum disease. I take excellent care of my teeth. The other assistant said my teeth were in great shape. Dr. Matin and Elizabeth said «if you don’t get this service you will need root canal and have gum disease.» When I left the office, I was halfway out the door and Elizabeth called me back. She asked to see my teeth, I smiled and she ran down the hall to grab a cup of something. I thought she was being nice and handed me a cup of I thought mouth wash. I swished and spit. They billed me $ 30 for that. I was literally out of the chair halfway out the door. I never needed any of the work that was forced on me by scare tactics.
I have currently filed a complaint against Dr. Matin with the BBB. I am in the process of filing with the California Dental Board and a grievance with my insurance provider. I am a licensed professional in California I would never prescribe work that didn’t need to be done and then perform subpar services, resulting in injury to a client. She should not have a dental license. I do not want this to happen to anyone else. I was naïve and thought that when a Dr tells you need a service they are recommending what you really need to benefit your health. She is a lazy, money hungry monster looking for her next victim.
FRAUD AND PAIN!!! Two months later, I still am unable to eat on the right side of my mouth.

I wish there had been a review on Unilocal when I went back in November 2013. I’d recently retired and had no dental insurance. I took advantage of an Amazon Local offer to get my teeth cleaned. It included X-​Rays and the technician was just terrible. She put the inserts in my mouth and they hurt. I told her so and she said «I know, I’m sorry.» They were different from the ones I had seen before so I accepted that. Then she proceeded to take the same X-​Ray over and over because it wasn’t turning out. I was getting ancy with all this radiation exposure so she asked another tech for help. She put the inserts in my mouth and not only did they not hurt, it took her one try to get the X-​Ray right; all she did was point the camera down at an angle. Then the exam. The dentist, Dr. Matin, said I had a cavity, hadn’t had one in years but she showed me on the X-​Ray, supposedly. Then my crown was bleeding all around the gumline so she said that needed to be replaced. She said the material that had been used was inferior and they used superior materials in their crowns, porcelain covered metal, hence the high cost of $ 1150. I wished I’d gotten a second opinion. For the crown I went to Dr. Matin’s Oceanside office, Emerald Dental. I had the crown done and the first appointment to get the temporary was a horrendous experience. I’d had this crown replaced twice before and the experiences were not bad. Dr. Matin numbed me and then left me waiting so long it started to wear off. All during the procedure she talked about how expensive dental school was and how much longer it takes than a medical doctor to make enough money to pay off your loans. When I got home later and the novocaine had worn off, my tongue hurt. I looked and saw it was all cut up. If I didn’t have to come back for the permanent crown, I wouldn’t have. The final crown fitting was even worse, very painful. I could tell she was having trouble fitting it and when she started grinding on my upper tooth I asked her «You’re not going to grind my upper tooth to make the crown fit are you?» She said no and proceeded to grind it anyway saying something about just the edges and the tooth had moved when my old crown was taken out. She was very hard to understand because of her accent. Then she hit a nerve! OMG! I started to get upset; this was unforgiveable, grinding another tooth to make a crown fit and getting through to the nerve. At that point she quit like that’s the best she could do. My bite did not feel right and for a week I lived with it, thinking maybe it would self adjust. Finally I went to get a second opinion and am glad I did. If I’d left it the way it was, I would have damaged the tooth and had to get a root canal. This dentist had to grind my crown down through the porcelain to the metal to get it to fit properly and I’m sure Dr. Matin was trying to avoid that because then she would have had to replace the crown. Fortunately it’s only cosmetic. She should have told me the porcelain wasn’t high enough and given me the option of grinding it down just to have a little metal showing or getting a new one. One thing about this experience is if something similar happens to me, I will grab the dentist or whoever and make them stop whatever they are doing until I am satisfied what they are doing is okay.