If You've Had Dental Work Done at Aspen Dental

[MIGrandma]

I would like to hear your opinion if you've had any dental work done at the Aspen Dental office in your area. Please tell me what work you had done, and if you were pleased with the results, or not. Thanks.

 

[MickeySP]

Overpriced and upsell happy. I would never go back.

My 88yo mother with dementia needed emergency dental work for an abcess. They waited until I left the room then tried to talk her into an $8000.00 denture surgery that would span 3-6 moths of treatments. They actually had her sign paperwork.

Imagine their dismay when they found out she is not legally able to make these decisions. I had a few words for them - and malpractice - attorney general were among them.

Oh after consulting with her regular dentist, the only thing she needed was a partial plate - cost with insurance her out of pocket was lees than $1000.

 

[Sundancer330]

I needed a root canal and crown recently and had no dental insurance so I shopped around. I had never heard of Aspen but they showed up in a web search after reading reviews there is NO way I would ever step foot in one of there offices. Do yourself a favor and Google them and you will feel the same way.

 

[leebee]

Don't do it. DH lost a crown (that's what he gets for eating Dots) and went to the emergency dentist who recommended a root canal and new crown. Because of the price, DH went to Aspen Dental. A very competent dentist did the root canal and took the measurement (or whatever it is) for the new crown. When DH went to have the new crown put in, it was a nightmare. The guy doing the work (because there's no guarantee on getting the same dentist for every visit) put the crown on wrong, so he was shaping and filing it down, and filed right through the gold on the chewing surface. Since it still didn't fit right, he started filing down the "matching" tooth on DH's upper jaw! DH walked out! He went around and around on this with Aspen, but they wouldn't fix the work and make things right This was 2 years ago, and he hasn't had a week without some issue with this crown. Just tonight we were talking about him going to our real dentist and getting the repair done properly.

DON'T GO TO ASPEN DENTAL!

 

[kaytieeldr]

I had a crown that broke after about 40 years. I had it replaced at Aspen Dental and felt they did a good job. Two years later I went to a closer, newly opened Aspen Dental location - where they told me that tooth moves 20 or 30 degrees and needed to be replaced with a fake tooth thing (sorry, it's 4 AM and I don't remember what it's called).
No more Aspen Dental.

 

[Darcy03231]

I needed some work done and there is one close to my house and open evenings and Saturdays. I went in for an appointment and while the dentist seemed competent, I was really unhappy with the pushy upsell and the push to take out a loan to pay for $8k in dental work. I knew I needed a lot of work done, but I wanted to do it over time and pay OOP after insurance.

I went home and read the reviews and it seemed like there were a lot of negative ones, although none for the one near my home.

I decided to go to a local dentist recommended by a friend and am glad I did. I still needed $8k worth of work done, but we've slowly been doing it over three years.

My Dad uses an Aspen Dental near where he lives (rural area). He has had a completely different experience. He gets the same dentist all the time. He's had quite a bit of work done and has been very happy with them. He didn't get the hard upsell and the push to take out a loan.

I think it depends on which one you go to.

 

[MIGrandma]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't sleep well last night with everything running through my head. I hate to say how many years I haven't seen a dentist. I have a huge fear of them. But, for about a week I experienced a lot of pain on the right side of my mouth. I was using a lot of Motrin, and Anbesol. This has happened before, but the pain would only last 2-3 days and go away. This time it was over a week and sometimes bad enough I was in tears. I knew I had to go to a dentist. Our family dentist retired years ago and I haven't seen the new one that took over his office, so decided to start fresh and got sucked in with Aspen Dental's "free x-rays and exam."

I went yesterday and had that done. But when I found out they offer NO SEDATION OF ANY KIND I should have seen that red flag waving. And DH was waiting for me in the office and he heard several unhappy people over the course of time I was in there. They told me about all the problems in my mouth (I knew there were several, as I have broken teeth in the back) and then sent me to the financial guy's office to discuss my options and payment plans. He was very pushy but I knew I needed the work done so didn't say anything. My first appointment is set for May 27th to start the work, but...

I think I'm going to cancel and go to our local dentist, the one that took over our retired dentist's office. DH has gone there several times and they do use the nitrus oxide AND they even have IV sedation...sounds good to me!

With all the unhappy people DH heard yesterday (one lady came in with a broken tooth and they said they couldn't help her until next week), the pushy financial guy, and NO SEDATION...then reading reviews on their own Facebook page (so many negative ones!) and replies here...I don't think I can follow through with going there. I'm sure our local dentist will be more expensive, but I'll just have to do the work over time. Get the worst problems taken care of first, and go from there.

 

[maelstrom]

My husband had a wisdom tooth extracted at Aspen Dental, and while the oral surgeon who did it (with sedation) was great, the office staff and billing department were absolutely terrible. They are absolutely scammers. They also sell your phone number and any other phone number you put down (emergency contact, for instance).

In the other dentist thread going on right now, you'll see a lot of people complain about the dental "insurance" company Delta Dental... if they had their own dental office, it would be Aspen Dental, that's the level of terrible.

 

[Stitchfans]

Run. AVOID them at all cost. Won't go into it but it was a nightmare.

 

[Fire14]

Not sure if they are up in your area but I used Comfort Dental once and never got hard sell or anything.

 

[MissSunshine28]

I tried them because I needed a dentist that offered financing. I had the free exam and X-rays done. I needed a root canal and a crown but they wouldn't do the crown without a two part cleaning that costs over $300. I happened to go to another dentist and they said I definitely didn't need the two part cleaning. My teeth are very weak from taking so many steroids for a health condition and I'm scared the two part cleaning will be too harsh on my loose fillings and some cracked teeth so I have not gone back.

 

[sookie]

The quality will all depend on the dentist doing the work, however, there has been a lot of press about chain dental clinics and how they push the dentists to perform procedures - and lots of them. I wouldn't go to a chain. Go to a dentist who is running his own practice that you trust!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My husband had a wisdom tooth extracted at Aspen Dental, and while the oral surgeon who did it (with sedation) was great, the office staff and billing department were absolutely terrible. They are absolutely scammers. They also sell your phone number and any other phone number you put down (emergency contact, for instance).

In the other dentist thread going on right now, you'll see a lot of people complain about the dental "insurance" company Delta Dental... if they had their own dental office, it would be Aspen Dental, that's the level of terrible.

We have Delta Dental. Have had for years. That's me, hubby, and 3 kids (now grown). Never had a problem with them.

 

[MouseMomx2]

We have Delta Dental. Have had for years. That's me, hubby, and 3 kids (now grown). Never had a problem with them.

We've been with Delta Dental for a long time with no issues as well. They have never refused to pay for any of the work we have had done.

 

[mom2rtk]

We have Delta Dental. Have had for years. That's me, hubby, and 3 kids (now grown). Never had a problem with them.

We've been with Delta Dental for a long time with no issues as well. They have never refused to pay for any of the work we have had done.

The complaints were about the coverage not being that great, including only covering the price of amalgam fillings. It is what it is, and you know what you get when you sign up. For us, it's better than having no coverage.

 

[Allison]

I wouldn't go there but you mentioned the sedation thing a couple of times. No one in my family has ever been sedated at the dentist. Numbing shots for the area being worked on of course but no need for sedation.

 

[2princesses3princes]

My neighbor took her 4 year old son there. He has a medical condition which requires steroids. Those have taken a toll on his baby teeth. They screwed up so badly that the poor kid had about 6 teeth pulled when they went to the regular dentist. It was too expensive to fix the mess ups and they were all baby teeth anyway. But the poor kid is now 6 and still does not have the new teeth coming in