Family Care Dental Group

Review: I went into Family Care Dental to have a crown that had fallen out replaced. Dr. [redacted] looked at the tooth and said that they did not do the crown there. I asked him was the crown old. I had no idea it was a tooth that I had work done the week prior by (another dental office). Dr [redacted] went on to say that they will fix it. And charged me $655. Not one time did he mention to me that I should go back to where I had the crown done because it may be under warranty. Turns out this was a crown that I had paid $985 to have done and it was under warrenty I would have gone back there rather than paying again for the same tooth. When I called Family care dental the office manager, [redacted] said that they will not refund me the $655. because they had the crownn made for my tooth. Which I think is bad pratice.Desired Settlement: I just want to have the $655 refunded to me. As I stated before Family care dental should have mentioned to me to go back to where I had the crown done because it may be under warrenty which he did not do. Had he said anything to that effect I would have done so, rather than pay again.

Review: I went to this office for an appointment that I made in order to get a dental exam. I told the office personnel that I was insured with D[redacted] through [redacted] (HMO).. of which Familycare Dental is listed as a participating [redacted] Dental Office in Escondido under member number [redacted] and gave them my [redacted] card member number. When I went back to start my dental work I brought up the subject of dental coverage again with the office staff, and was assured that everything was just fine. Before any dental work was started I met with the office manager to go over all the needed dental work to be done along with the price of each procedure. The cost came to $3,680.00. I signed the necessary documents giving the dental office permission to start doing the work and to put the billing of $3,680.00 on my credit card...I thought all was fine till after the fact I was told by the staff that they would not bill my insurance company...it was not their policy..With this I called the credit card company and filed a dispute. I was told by Delta that I could file my own claim then found out when I sent the the dental bill that all the identifying numbers were bogus and the insurance company denied the claim... so as of today I am out all of the billing charges of $3,680.00. Is this fraud?Desired Settlement: I think I should be refunded the difference between what I was billed and what the insurance would pay for if all was done right in the first place..

I don't make a habit of leaving reviews on Yelp unless they are positive, but I thought this might benefit anyone remotely considering visiting Familycare Dental. During a routine cleaning, I mentioned some slight tooth pain and was told I needed a root canal. Since my teeth were healthy, cavity-free, and I always had a clean report, I asked what could have been the cause. A female dentist, who was filling in for the main dentist, told me it could have been due to the impact of grinding my teeth at night.

This led me to inquire about the price of a custom night guard, which she recommended. Having spent close to $2,000 between the root canal and now the night guard, I noticed the pain was getting increasingly worse after I started using the appliance for 72 hours. I had gone from slight pain, to now ear popping, jaw pain, headaches, earaches, sinus pain, blurriness, and more. So, back I went.

That's when the head dentist Dr. Tran stepped in. Sadly, he reprimanded another male dentist who had fitted me for the night guard (only following orders), embarrassing him in front of patients and staff, saying "He didn't even read the first page of my book! Otherwise he would know you have a TMJ problem and not a grinding problem." Despite explaining that I did in fact grind my teeth (according my husband), he said I was still a candidate for a TMJ appliance based on the survey he had me fill out.

Dr. Tran gave me his "book" (more of a self-made pamphlet) and told me to read it; he then molded a jaw splint, saying I was misdiagnosed and this should fix the problem. Night by night, the pain worsened and I actually ground through the plastic, waking up with pieces of plastic in my mouth.

Back again, and this time Dr. Tran said I should try a fixed mouth guard that would lock my jaw in place. During the sizing, he had a hot glue of some sort burning the inside of my gums; and during the follow-up cleaning, his tools were overly abrasive and his unclipped fingernails pushed into my gums so hard that I had canker sores lining my gums for a week. I held up my hand and asked for him to please stop. He said, "Sorry, I keep my nails long because I play the guitar." The woman next to me was getting a mold made as well, and started vomiting. It was all rather traumatic.

Then the third mouth guard was sized so tight that I couldn't get it out in the night when I had a coughing attack; keep in mind that I'm forced to breathe solely through my nose with this guard, so I can't open my mouth or talk.

I called to complain to the manager Rob who said that Dr. Tran wanted to see me yet again before allowing us to go our separate ways and issuing a refund. He also echoed my sentiments by confirming that he receives complaints that Dr. Tran is rough at times.

Back I went. This was now a total of 8 visits, and each time I am waiting at least 30 minutes before Dr. Tran arrives, who always seems to be "stuck in traffic." During my final visit this week, I was absolutely stocked by his behavior. He walked in and said, "I don't want to see you. And what's wrong with your face? It's all burnt." I had no clue what he was talking about since I did not have a sunburn. The fact that he did “not want to see” me was particularly puzzling since Rob made it very clear that I needed to come again per the request of Dr. Tran.

I explained that said that since I had been visiting them, my pain had gone from a level 3 to a level 9. He grabbed all the appliances and said, "Well let's just put these in the garbage. You know what's next don't you? If you read my book, you know. Say it. Come on, say it!"

I was absolutely mortified. I told him that I knew reconstructive jaw surgery was next by the standards of his little pamphlet, but that I wanted a second opinion. I also informed him how horrible all these visits had been, including the canker sores from his fingernails. In front of the entire office he said, "My nails didn't cause your canker sores. You have canker sores because you have herpes." I was stunned. He then spun around in his chair, scribbled down notes, and started humming. Yes, humming. The man's behavior is beyond bizarre.

He then wrote a check refund for the $550 for the mouth guard. He wouldn't even hand it to me himself, but rather passed it to Rob who then passed it to me. Rob looked at me and said, “Well, I guess we all gave it good effort, didn’t we?” Again, stunned. I asked Rob how I could obtain all my dental records for a transfer, and recommended that they focus on their customer service. Their entire operation is unbelievably unprofessional.

Unfortunately I now have much greater pain than when I first visited them for answers months ago. The pain is shooting from my jaw, into my neck, shoulders, back and sinuses. There is popping and cracking all around my neck and shoulder. I’ve been to the chiropractor twice in the past 72 hours to help readjust my jaw, and will be going to another dentist to try and fix a problem that was virtually nonexistent when I first went to them. To top it off, my crown isn’t fitting correctly from the root canal they did, and I have additional pain pulsing around that area. I have no idea how much this will cost in the end to rectify the damage they have caused.

My main points of frustration have not so much to do with pain, as they do with Dr. Tran's personal interaction with his patients and his staff --- he is rude, unprofessional, abrasive, and lacks finesses in his treatments. The one time my husband had Dr. Tran do a cleaning, he said he felt like his teeth were cracking from the tools. I'm hoping this review serves as a warning to anyone considering this dental facility. Through all of this, they've lost me as a patient, as well as my entire family and anyone whom we had recommended. Note to you Dr. Tran, a little work on your demeanor will go a long way, especially if you want to end on a good note before your planned retirement.