Leonard Merlo, DMD

I was referred to Dr. Merlo when my oral surgeon was unable to do my wisdom tooth extraction at the last minute. He seemed very no nonsense when I met him (2 minutes before I was knocked out) which is fine and not a problem since I’d rather have a serious person taking out my teeth. However, he gave me a bit of flack for not taking prophylactic antibiotics even though I had been told not to take any medicine prior to the surgery so that made me a little nervous. He was great with inserting the iv himself, probably the quickest and most painless I’ve felt which is surprising considering I was 11 hours dehydrated and have bad veins to begin with.
The surgery went great. I woke up without a haze and was completely coherent. I didn’t actually see Dr. Merlo prior to leaving. I was handed a piece of paper with follow up instructions and escorted out. My first 2 days post op were wonderful. I had 0 swelling and 0 pain and I was singing Dr. Merlo’s praises. However, day 3 I developed dry socket by no fault of my own. I tried to wait out the pain but couldn’t so the next day (saturday) I called the office and hit the button to be transferred to the on call doctor. Dr. Merlo answers and I explain to him what I’m experiencing and that the blood clot had dislodged and that I’m fairly sure everything is exposed and that I’m in excruciating pain. I literally heard him sigh and could feel him rolling his eyes through the phone. He told me that I didn’t know what I was looking at in my mouth and that I should just take some painkillers and go about my day and maybe he’d see me on monday. The level of disrespect and dismissal I felt was absurd. As a patient, in pain, I felt like he just couldn’t be bothered to spend 2 minutes of his time on my follow up. It’s not like I was calling him and telling him that I had gone on WebMD and thought I had mouth cancer, I was describing a very realistic feeling of pain. I ended up calling and explaining my symptoms to my original oral surgeon, Dr. Patel, and she immediately brought me in and told me I did have dry socket and treated me promptly. I never received a follow up call from Dr. Merlo or his office.
I spent 2 extra days in pain because Dr. Merlo couldn’t be bothered on a Saturday. I’m grateful to him for seeming to have done a good job with extracting my teeth but being a dentist is more than just the procedure and I think he fails on all other accounts.

I’ve never written a Unilocal review before, but damn — everyone at the office was great. Billing was easy, the staff were sweet and my wisdom teeth came out without a hitch (despite making them see me four separate times in three weeks!). In my post-​IV haze, I’m pretty sure I asked Dr. Merlo «Have you read your Unilocal reviews?» I meant to say that they were unfair and that he had done such a great job, but I’m fairly certain I just drooled and insulted him. He was masterful and I spent all afternoon with a phenomenal high, dancing around CVS. Be nice to these folks; apparently they have to put up with a lot of crappy customers.

The front desk staff at the Rockville location were EXTREMELY RUDE. Their front desk staff, Jessica said in front of me loud enough for me to hear that she was not willing and would not be coming in at 8am to assist with my son’s surgery. She was not willing to give me any information regarding the oral procedure and her answer for every question was, «I need to ask the doctor.» After leaving the office feeling frustrated and unhelped my only solution was to cancel my appointment. I will not be going back to this location EVER again.

I mean, really, how can you be a fan of someone whose job it is to pull your teeth? Seriously, though, Leonard Merlo was recommended to me by my primary dentist to have a sad old wisdom tooth removed. He was completely professional both in the evaluation appointment and then in doing the actual procedure. Although brisk, he made it clear that he wanted me to understand the procedure, explained risks, and asked about my medical history in addition to the preliminary medical questionnaire that I filled out. He also called me back promptly when I had additional questions and issues after the initial appointment. (Can you tell I was nervous about having a tooth pulled?) The staff person who took me into the surgical room was extremely kind. She explained what to expect and figuratively held my hand while I waited for the anesthetic to take effect. The actual procedure was not as bad as the anticipation. I was very appreciative of Dr. Merlo’s skill and excellent technique.
I don’t agree with the other reviewers regarding the front office staff. They’re not all friendly, but even the unfriendly ones are civil. I was a bit taken aback that the office actually closes for lunch, and I had to wait elsewhere till they reopened. However these factors seem trivial when I consider that I had a tooth extracted skillfully and without noticeable pain. I hope not to have to have any other teeth extracted, but if I had to, I’d have no hesitation about going back to Dr. Merlo.

Found the oral surgeon on google and after years of my impacted wisdom teeth giving me trouble, I decided it was time to have them removed. It was very easy booking the appointments in Rockville and I really thought the office staff was well trained with insurance handling. Dr. Merlo was upfront and gives you all the facts and lets you make your decision. I really appreciated this, the process was thorough and he was confident in his work which put me at ease. I had no problems afterwards, just usual pain, no swelling, I followed all the instructions. I would recommend this office and surgeon should you unfortunately need oral surgery.

LONG STORY SHORT — THEY CHARGED MY INSURANCE FOR A SURGERY THAT I NEVER HAD BECAUSE THE DOCTOR WAS A NO SHOW THAT MORNING AND I NEVER WENT BACK!
I would rate this doctor’s office a negative number if I could. I had read the other reviews but figured my procedure would be quick and easy. Let’s just say I never got the procedure done. I went for a consultation with Dr. Merlo because Dr. Gitleman was out of town. They assured me that insurance wise the claim would be submitted under Gitleman’s name because my insurance company didn’t have Merlo’s name. THAT was done correctly. My second visit was for the surgery. Dr Merlo was late. They brought me into the room and I waited even longer. Dr. Gitleman poked his had in and said this was unlike Dr. Merlo but he would be there soon. Come to find out they couldn’t get him on his cell phone at all. I eventually left the office without getting the surgery. They wanted me to reschedule but I just had this uneasy feeling about the whole thing and said I would call them and let them know. Obviously I did not return. To make this long story short… I was just recently looking over my health care claims online and noticed that Dr. Gitleman’s office had charged my policy TWICE! Once for the legitimate office visit and once for a SURGERY THAT I NEVER HAD! They scored over $ 200 from my health insurance company. It was too late to call the office when I discovered this today but my health insurance company is aware of the situation and I am to call the doctor’s office tomorrow to ask them to retract the claim. If I remember… I will post the outcome.
With all that being said… Dr. Merlo was a somewhat nice enough guy when I met him on my first visit. I never saw him on my second visit. Dr. Gitleman seemed nice enough when he poked his head in while I was waiting. But the morals of this office staff are way off the mark! They medical service may be fine but the billing is NOT!

I went to Dr. Merlo for a bone graft and dental implant, because he was in my network. He was set to schedule the initial surgery (bone graft) until he found out how much the network reimburses (and he is contractually obligated not to charge more than that). I was informed by the office that they would not schedule the surgery for that price. My network got involved (since it is illegal for a doctor on contract with them to refuse on the basis of reimbursement) and was told by Dr. Merlo that he never refused to schedule the surgery based on reimbursement, but instead told me that I might be more comfortable in a university setting due to the complexity of the surgery. In reality, Dr. Merlo never told me anything of the sort, and if he had I would have started looking for another doctor several months ago.
Here are your options:
a) You can believe Dr. Merlo — the surgery was too complicated for him to feel comfortable doing. That doesn’t sound like a very confident doctor and there are several others in the area who are not frightened by routine bone grafts, so go to them instead.
b) You can believe me, and know that Dr. Merlo lied. If that is the case, you obviously don’t want to go to a doctor who is going to blatantly lie to you or your insurance company (and essentially brand you a liar in the process).
You’ve been given fair warning…