John Dehnert, DDS

Awful experience! To have my teeth cleaned and get 2 minor fillings done it took 4 trips to see Dr. Dehnert. First trip was a «consultation» where all he did was talk about my lisp (which I’ve had my entire life); he was convinced I needed to see an orthodontist friend of his about it and wrote me a referral. Poor bedside manner too. Then I was shocked when afterwards he said, «OK, go ahead up front and schedule your cleaning appointment.» I thought that’s what I was having done today! «No, you have to come back for that.» Second trip was the cleaning, which was the worst, most painful cleaning I’ve ever had — it left my mouth/​gums sore for a couple of days. Again, I was under the impression that I was going to have the cavities taken care of this appointment as well, but no, had to schedule separately once the cleaning was done. Third trip he did one, yes, only ONE, of the fillings. I waited 50 minutes after my scheduled appointment time (plus I got there 15 minutes early per office request) and the procedure itself took less than 10 min. Last trip was similar — waited a long time and only saw the dentist for a few minutes. Every other dentist I’ve been to would have done all 3 procedures in 1 or 2 visits max. I’ve never been to a dentist where it felt like I was being robbed of my time and money every step of the way. Once all the work was completed I immediately found another dentist. My new dentist said there has been a lot of fraud in the dental world and to be leery of a filling that is done so, so quickly — mostly just some superficial scraping of the tooth and then a filling that doesn’t need to be done in the first place. What a disappointment (except for the amazing views of the Catalinas, of course)!

I stopped going to this dentist office because they have been trying to collect money for this «misunderstanding» about a rework on a build up that was done in the previous year and wasn’t covered by my insurance, when I discussed it with 2 of the office personnel and they assured me it would only be $ 51.50. I tried to get in for that same tooth less than 3 months due to the build up wasn’t completely taken care of and some decay was left that caused an abcess that they needed $ 100 up front to set an appointment for in addition to the extra that my insurance couldn’t cover. They said it is only really a follow up at no cost within 30 days. The health and pain of a patient should be more important to them than money. People aren’t made of money. I couldn’t afford to take care of it, so I was swollen and in pain for months after.
Also, EVERYTIME I was in the chair getting a filling done, they said“it’s deeper than we thought, it’ll cost more”. Doesn’t anyone in this office have compassion for anyone enough to say, «we made a mistake, we’ll cover the remainder of the cost we didn’t prepare you for?»
Another big reason I don’t recommend Dr Dehnert is there was a few fillings on the top back of my mouth and I was placed almost upside down. It was taking quite some time and not only was this an uncomfortable position but the tools rattled my skull and made me dizzy. The worst part was this appointment was his last one of the day and you could tell he was getting upset and anxious with the motions and tools he was working with like I was taking up too much of his time and he was tired. I will NEVER schedule a long appointment in the afternoon ever again when a dentist has seen patients all day! Too risky.
There is nothing special about this office at all. All of the people there seem to be nice but you can tell a few are just pretending to be nice.
There is NOTHING special about this office or this dentist. I even saw a female dentist in this office when he wasn’t available that did a better job with a small filling then he did.