Lovely people that greet me and remember me every time. Always able to breakdown the information in a way that makes sense. I'll be recommending this office for years to come. They saved me during a weekend crisis and were able to recommend me an endodontist for confirmation before I was seen by Dr Arzegar. When I was seen by the doc, he was able to lay out the information and make it easier of a timeline due to money constraints (multiple surgeries needed).
All of the service was amazing. The staff were incredibly kind, answered all my questions, and were very thorough. The office is very clean and well-kept, and clearly well-equipped for all of my dental needs.
I had no issues here until they overcharged me for a cleaning and then charged me to refund me for a procedure that never happened. Everyone was very friendly and seemed to know what they were doing, but then at my last cleaning, the dentist told me my teeth were "fractured" and that I needed veneers so my teeth don't fall out in the future as the cracks will eventually go into my gums and root. I was understandably terrified, especially since I've never had major concerns with my teeth. I scheduled an appointment to get veneers put on the next week, but I was told my insurance wouldn't cover the procedure, so they charged the full cost ($6000) to my credit card (even though their paperwork said they charge half the procedure a week ahead of time). I then had doubts and called the next day to postpone my appointment to get better insurance and get a second opinion. My new dentist said I had craze lines and didn't need veneers, and my teeth were in great shape. I cancelled my appointments with Lifetime Smiles and requested to be refunded for the cancelled veneers appointment and for when they overcharged me for my cleaning. They said they can refund me, but they would take 3% off each of these refunds due to merchant fees that happen when they process refunds. They have taken nearly $200 from me for doing absolutely NOTHING but trying to scare me into getting veneers I don't need. They pass these merchant fees onto the patients, and it is extremely messed up.
In March of 2014, I had severe tooth pain and Dr. Arzegar examined me and told me that I needed a root canal on two teeth. After undergoing antibiotic treatment, I had my root canal and was fitted with temporary caps. During the cap fitting, Dr. Arzegar told me that I should start saving for a dental implant on the back root canal as, “We don’t know how long this one will last.” I have known other people with root canals and caps. They are fairly permanent fixtures. Also, had he told me this before the procedure, I would have opted to do an extraction and implant right away rather than have a root canal. Despite this irritating fact, I was overall satisfied with the service I had received as I was no longer in such immense pain.
In May 2014, I went back to receive my permanent caps. The dental assistant tried placing them before Dr. Arzegar came over but seemed to have a bit of trouble with it. Once the doctor came by, he made them fit.
As soon as I was able to close my mouth, I absolutely knew something was not right. I tried telling them so at that time. They assured me it would just take some getting used to and secured them permanently anyway. After sitting with them for a moment and looking at them in my reverse camera phone, I protested again. I told them I knew it sounded crazy and that I understood that the crowns could only fit one way over my existing teeth, but I was absolutely positive that they were on backwards. They talked about sanding them down so they would feel less bulky but made sure I knew that if they did that and the crown broke that I would be responsible for paying for new ones. I told them that sanding it down wouldn't fix the problem. As it was they're too short on the outside as evidenced in the photos I took directly after leaving the office. They then started to insist that the teeth were designed that way to correct my “crossbite malocclusion.” This makes no sense seeing as how the lab was to make my crowns based solely from the provided molds. I have bitten my tongue several times since then, on a couple of occasions, so badly that it bled and stayed swollen for a couple of days.
At this point I gave up on trying to get further consultation from this dentist and set out getting a second opinion where they took a set of professional pictures as well as a set of fresh x-rays. He informed me that I was 100% correct and that my crowns were completely wrong.
I then sent a certified letter to Dr. Arzegar. They offered to replace the crowns, but since they had thrown out my old molds, they would be replacing the incorrect one with another incorrect duplicate. I would have ended up in the same position I was already in. I then tried reaching out to lawyers in attempt to receive some remedy, but by the time I was able to find a pro bono law firm that was willing to help me with this issue, the statute of limitations had lapsed.
I have since been forced to undergo the process of dental implantation for both teeth. A lengthy, uncomfortable, and expensive process. The oral surgeon who is facilitating the procedure also gave the opinion that the crowns were backwards. So now my only course of action is to report Dr. Arzegar everywhere I can in hopes that this does not happen to another patient.