Aspen Dental

This article sums it up pretty well but I'd also like to share my personal experience. A little background information: I'm 21 and due to not having dental insurance haven't seen a dentist since I was 19. My teeth are in pretty good shape and I have no major pain / visible issues. I only wanted to see a dentist due to the amount of time it's been and paranoia that I may need dental work due to this. I went to Aspen Dental because they offered a free exam and advertised $80 cleanings.

They got me checked in and after a short wait took some X-Rays of my teeth. I waited for a bit more and they got me in the chair where a dental hygienist reviewed my X-Rays and looked in my mouth briefly. When I say briefly I mean she examined my mouth and X-Rays for less than 2 minutes. I'm not a professional but it seems like you would want to do a more thorough examination. She claimed that I "almost had" periodontal disease and showed me on the X-Ray where I had allegedly developed deposits that lead to this. I asked her to show me my other teeth and to my untrained eye there was no visible difference and she wasn't able to show me any difference between my "healthy" teeth and my "diseased" teeth. Though I believed her as I am again, not an expert but I was skeptical as I have brushed my teeth twice a day for as long as I can remember and regularly use mouthwash and floss. I don't smoke or do anything that puts me at risk for disease, but again, I am no expert, so I took this all as truth. She prescribed scaling and a follow up cleaning for this.

I waited a bit more and the dentist came in and did another very quick examination. The first thing he said is that I should get braces because I have an overbite. I told the dentist that I have had braces and wore my retainer exactly as prescribed and that I used to have a severe overbite and the braces corrected it. He immediately changed his tune and said that I should get braces because my wisdom teeth are going to cause crowding. (This didn't make sense but again, he's the dentist). He also said I need to get all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed, and get 1 filling.

They then took me to the finance office, where they handed me a "treatment plan" for $2,545. I about passed out. I looked at some of the items on the bill. $135 for a toothbrush, $45 for a "*** rinse" (mouthwash), $87 for a problem related exam prior to the extractions, $450 for each tooth extraction, $16 x4 for each quadrant of the mouth for "oral irrigation" (pressurized water). And other absurd charges. I told them upfront that I couldn't afford this, and she offered me financing options, with 48 MONTH and 60 MONTH loan terms. With a 15.99% APR!!!! They wanted me to take the same loan term with a higher interest rate than I do on my *brand new car. Or a 12 months deferred interest option with *28.99%APR.

The woman was trying really hard to pressure me into agreeing to one of these finance options for procedures I wasn't even sure I needed. She said all she needed was a signature. She kept claiming it was just permission to schedule the appointment even though the terms on the document were clearly for a credit check. They wanted me to be paying $72/mo for 5 years to get all of this done. My wisdom teeth aren't causing me any pain, grew in straight and in their entirety, and aren't even touching any of my other teeth. A quick google search of the symptoms of periodontal disease showed that I don't have any of the signs, and I certainly don't need a $135 toothbrush. I want to emphasize there's a chance that they are right as I'm no expert, but this is still absurd, even more so if they are trumping up the procedures I need (there is evidence to prove this company does this). She just wanted me to sign the form and they kept trying to disguise it as something besides a credit check.

I worked at a car dealership for two weeks and quit because of how disgusting it felt to take advantage of people and I can assure you they were using the same tactics that car salesmen use.

The sad part is that I didn't get the worst of it, if you read the article I posted above, Aspen Dental has a history of recommending extractions and other procedures when they aren't needed. I'm not saying this is my case because I recognize that I am not a dental expert in any capacity and I don't have the ability to diagnose these things, and I recognize that I may very well need all of this, but these ridiculous charges and insane financing options are predatory and disgusting.

Please avoid companies like this if you can, it's really hard to get dental care in the US without insurance and I'm still assessing my options. These corporations are the source of most dental complaints and the regulations for them are VERY LOOSE, they are not held to the same standards as your family dentists and reports say that many dentists for Aspen and other corporations are unqualified and perform poorly. They bait you with the free exams and try to convince you to pay for absurd amounts of work. These aren't people you want working on your teeth. They are pressured by the corporation to generate profits by any means necessary and will put this over your health.

I have been charged in advance to my dental procedure that was in excess of the actual charge of the procedure and my account shows a credit of $855 on my account that I cannot get applied to my *** credit account or refunded to me. And amount of $914 was placed on the account without my authorization/ signature.

Not Happy with Aspen Dental at all, They talked me into getting there credit card and charged me over 1,100+ on it, then I received a bill from the office for another 400. And all they did was clean my teeth plus they charged my dental insurance, I will never go back to that place!

On yesterday morning we were quoted a price starting at $399-$1,240 over the phone for new patient dentures. When we arrived at the location the price changed drastically. After the x-rays and impressions you talk to the office manager and that's when we were told it would cost between $399-$1,793 per plate. I took the quote on speaker and wrote it down. They denied the written price. We refused the service and asked not to be billed. On the way home we realized they would try to bill our insurance and I called back and was told yes we would be billed.

Earlier this year, I went in for a procedure involving one of my back teeth. I was originally told that I would need a crown and possible a root canal. When I went in for the procedure, they decided that a root canal would not be necessary and that an onlay crown would be sufficient. I was told that my insurance would cover a portion of the procedure. After having the onlay put in, it has fallen out twice. I was also informed that due a waiting period not being followed, that my onlay would not be covered by my dental insurance. This appears to show that the Aspen Dental billing personnel did not verify with my insurance ahead of time; that the procedure would be covered. I have a dental first credit account; which the uncovered cost could have been shift to, in-order to prevent me from having to pay that cost out of pocket right away. Due to the Aspen Dental staff not informing me right away that my insurance would not pick up on the cost, I missed the window to shift that cost to the credit account. I called the office and was supposedly set up on a plan to pay 50 dollars a month, starting this August. I went in today, since my Onlay fell out a few days ago, to have the tooth accessed. When I called to set the appointment, I was told that I would not be facing any additional charges. I was told that since the Onlay kept falling out; that a full crown would be needed and that I would not be charged extra to go that route. They asked if I wanted to build up the tooth during the visit, and I said yes. When they were finished, they went to set up the appointment for the crown prep. Shortly after, they told me that I was being charged for the buildup and would also have to pay that cost and the rest of cost of the onlay, before I could have the crown prep done. Again, 400 + dollars was supposed to be on a payment plan and I was not informed that I would be charged for the tooth build up. Also, as a reminder, that over 400 dollars for the onlay was initially supposed to be covered by insurance.