Norma Fox, DDS

My wife was just going to change dentists because Dr. Fox used a painful amount of pressure during flossing and because we surprised Dr. Fox, who was on her way out the door when my wife and I came for the second appointment. However, the questionable billing practices made my wife insist that I post this review. Please avoid this dentist.

Ive been coming here for a couple years and its a great experience. Very relaxing and I do like the little text message reminders that I receive. Who uses the phone for voice anymore, lol… some people may not like it but I love it. Free parking underneath the building. She is a great dentist in the silver spring area. Close to downtown and a couple blocks from the metro. I used to live in the building right next door. Superior dentistry skills. Cheerio’.

Over charged! I went to Dr. Fox for a check up and to have my teeth cleaned but was rushed and only got x-​rays done and a light scrapping of my teeth. She didn’t even clean my teeth. I paid $ 42 before leaving and my dental insurance was billed over $ 700. Why did I get a bill stating I have a over due balance of $ 105. I’m trying to figure out what I got done? Integrity is everything to me, if I got it then I will pay for it however there is something that angers me to the core about dishonesty. I have great dental insurance and usually never out of pocket for a routine cleaning and x-​rays. In this case I didn’t even get a cleaning. Please save yourself the headache and don’t come to this place.

I’ve been to Dr. Fox several times and my experience has been positive. Prior to going to her I went to two other dentists who really messed up my teeth (got an unnecessary root canal, bad fillings, etc). Dr. Fox has been wonderful to me. She is very patient and friendly… makes you feel at ease. The cost of the services depends on your insurance.
I strongly recommend Dr. Fox.

This dentist is the worst you will ever encounter. She is nasty and unsanitary. Her staff turns over ever week because she is so disrespectful. I checked in the court system and she has been sued multiple times and settled. Her staff has admitted to me multiple times that she doesn’t change her gloves and that she gets mad at her assistants if they do so. She doesn’t even change her gloves from patient to patient. She handles pens and charts with blood on her gloves. She doesn’t follow OSHA. She charges OSHA fees to patients when insurance says she can’t because she is contracted with their insurance. and calls it a sterilization fee. She has destroyed my teeth so that I will need more work done to fix them. I have talked to other victims of her work and she is absolutely criminal. She has settled out of court on ever occasion because she is down right guilt. She will do things that are not payed for by insurances after she explicitly tells patients that they are. She does dental work without letting the client know what they are being charged for. Her clients end up paying other dentists THOUSANDS of dollars to fix the work she has done. She is a fraud and is a downright criminal. This is a small portion of her misconduct. Former employees have told me she threatens to without their paychecks on a regular basis for the most minute issues and doesn’t provide the office with water.
This woman should loose her ability to practice as a dentist or any sort of medical professional. All of her former and current patients should be notified of her fraud.
She should be found financially responsible for the time and money all over her former patients have to pay to get their mouth’s fixed. She should also pay for the psychological trauma caused to someone who has had the inside of their face abused.

Leaving this woman in a flash! Everytime I ask for a quote of something I go in pay what I was quoted and the next time I show up I magically owe another $ 300. I just dont understand why everytime I walk in there for something it costs $ 500. I have insurance I’m assuming the billing department isn’t doing their job. Dr. Fox is rude to her staff she speaks down to them while I’m sitting there. If you want to be a diva, fine go right ahead, but I don’t want to sit here and see this. I feel like she makes up quotes and rings you back in. Apparently I need $ 45 fluoride treatment? No thanks I’ll stop by CVS and get a $ 4 bottle of fluoride. She will not get another DIME out of my pocket. Current’ly in the search for a new dentist in the Takoma Park/​Silver Spring area.

Updated on 7÷12÷12
I called Dr. Fox’s office recently to request that she sends my full-​mouth x-​rays to my new dentist. My insurance only allows for full-​mouth x-​ray once every 3 years and my new dentist wanted to view my x-​rays.
Her assistant was very polite but said that they would need $ 25 to fax the x-​rays to my new dentist. Really? $ 25 to release my records? Is this even legal? I declined her offer so now I would have to wait 1 more year before I’m eligible for a full-​mouth x-​ray.
So let’s recap: $ 42 for a mouthful of mouthwash and $ 25 to fax my x-rays…let’s just say I’m glad Dr. Fox is no longer my dentist.

I had to have her work redone with a different dentist, which is a huge negative for me.
Normally, I don’t write bad reviews, but I make this exception because I think teeth are very important.

I feel overcharged. Was told I owed from March yet I had been there as recently as September. Came in in October for a filling and suddenly I owe this. When I asked what it was for, I was told flouride treatment. Never asked for it but somehow I just got it. Only went in for cleaning. Female at desk was rude and abrupt. Lost my business and anyone else I can tell about it.

Wow. I totally agree with the reviewers below. When she nickeled and dimed me, I thought I was the only one. But reading the reviews below showed me that she has done this to others and has convinced me to switch dentists. Her office is very nice but I find it really obnoxious that Dr. Fox is looking out more for her paycheck than for the patient’s well-​being.
She did a filling for me when she knew I would end up doing a root canal. So why didn’t she just recommend the root canal to begin with? Instead, I had to pay an extra $ 80 for the filling AND pay for the subsequent root canal. Not to mention the time and pain to go through the unnecessary filling.
Another visit was for a general cleaning/​checkup which is covered by my insurance 100% twice a year. At the end of my checkup, the secretary asked me to pay $ 12 for a «cleaning fee». I know it is only $ 12, but my checkups are covered by my insurance and are supposed to be free. I was never charged this before and is apparently a new fee she started charging. These small charges add up and it just makes me mistrust her.
I always had a bad feeling about her and now these Unilocal reviews confirm it.

Good bedside manner, but questionable business practices. I would absolutely NOT recommend this dentist to friends.
Following my office visit, I was very happy to have found Dr. Fox: The office atmosphere was calm and Dr. Fox seemed to be very competent. However, I was horrified when I received my bill. Dr. Fox is in-​network for my health insurance, so all of my preventive care (cleaning, X-​rays, etc.) should have been covered 100%. However, follow my visit, I received a bill for +$ 157. The bill included charges for services I did not receive ($ 42 for fluoride prophylaxis), bogus charges ($ 28 for «oral hygiene instruction» that consisted of a reminder to floss everyday), and duplicate charges for services that were already paid in full by my insurance (e.g. $ 82 for prophylaxis).
Dr. Fox’s staff was not responsive when I phoned to dispute my bill. First, the staff hung up on me when I calmly explained why I was disputing my bill. That was infuriarating. When I phoned back, a male working in the office told me that he didn’t have time to talk with me about my bill and that I must call back between 4pm and 5pm. Between that time interval, I tried twice (unsuccessfully) to reach Dr. Fox’s staff. When I called from another phone number, Dr. Fox’s staff picked up immediately. Ultimately, they removed all charges, except for the bogus $ 28 for patient education from my bill. I
n the end, receiving dental care from Dr. Fox was a HUGE headache and not worth the trouble. I will be looking for a different dentist…

I had one tooth filled there and later the filling fell out (something I’ve never experienced before) and my new dentist had to fix it. I also agree with the other comments re. over-​charging.
Definitely recommend a different dentist.

Long story short — find a different dentist office! I showed up to my appointment 15 minutes early and was seen 20 minutes late — with absolutely no apology. Dr. Fox was a bit rough with scraping and flossing. She’s not the main problem though. Her assistant at the front desk was not friendly to begin with, and when I asked him why I was given a fluoride treatment when I didn’t ask for one and insurance does not pay for it he told me that «insurance companies don’t care about patients (possibly true) and that the doctor is looking out for our best interest — this isn’t like McDonalds or something.» — I told him I would like to opt out in the future and he kept talking about how «it isn’t that much money» ($ 45!!) and «you probably spend that much on your nails.» I told him that he was being rather offensive and that $ 65 (my grand total for a check-​up even with my insurance paying 100% of what they were supposed to do) was a lot for me. He responded with «well perhaps we’re not the right dentist for you.» PERHAPS NOT! I work in healthcare and I deal with patients on a daily basis. I am a friendly person and feel as though patients have every right to ask about the cost of procedures as well as why the procedure is being done. I also feel as though a dentist/​doctor should inform patients when they are about to perform any procedure that will not be covered by any insurance. With so many other dentists in the area, why go to one with shady service?

Summary: I changed dentists after my experience with her and that’s something I don’t like to do at all.
She insisted that I needed a full mouth x-​ray again (despite the fact that I didn’t because I had already had one fairly recently). My mom (who is a former dental assistant) said that unscrupulous dentists sometimes do them to get more income from the insurance company… but I was uninsured and had made that very clear. She also had to do many of them over and seemed rather unskilled at it.
Her office staff is terrible. I was uninsured at the time I had my filling done and they gave me a quote for the maximum amount the filling could possibly cost. They even reconfirmed it when I got there.
It was somehow 3x the quoted cost as soon as I stepped out of the chair. This had to be resolved and was an unpleasant and lengthy process.
To top it off, the filling that she redid came out within a year, and my new dentist was quite unhappy with the state of the tooth.
Oh, and she also will not send my full mouth x-​rays to my new dentist.