| rev:text
| - I too "won" a free teeth-whitening service, but in retrospect it was a scam. I get that it's a way to get people in the door (i.e. everybody wins), and I respect that, but I felt like it was dishonest from the start. When I booked my appointment I was asked when my last cleaning had been and I told them it had been the previous day (true!) with a full visit. She sounded disappointed, and said, "oh, so you already have a regular dentist for those things?" and I said yes.
When I arrived, the regular receptionist wasn't there so others were filling in, which I know is tough. I filled out the new patient paperwork but didn't sign the "I was given the HIPAA info" because there wasn't any! When I asked, the girl said "well, it's just standard. HIPAA is a law that says we can't share your information." I know what HIPAA is, but I wasn't signing that I'd been given a copy when I wasn't. She seemed lost, but dug around and eventually came up with a copy. But then...
I noticed my "treatment plan", which she'd accidentally handed me with the HIPAA form. It included an exam, cleaning, X-rays and the whitening (all billable to insurance, except the whitening). I told her I thought there was an error--I wasn't in for all that--and she said that X-rays are required before doing the service. What??? I had just had films three weeks prior and wasn't up for more. She was insistent that they're necessary to be sure the whitening is safe, and that they have to do their own. I told her that 1-I was frustrated that they didn't have me request films when the appointment was set and 2-they wouldn't accept them from my regular DDS.
Then she told me "well, they're digital" (as if that lowers the exposure!) and THEN "they're just low dose". That made me lose confidence in her completely! Dental films, while limited in area, have to have deeper penetration to get through enamel. And I'd just had films! And--she didn't know--I work around X-ray and don't need one single extra mGy, especially for an unnecessary test.
At that point I decided that having whiter teeth definitely wasn't worth unnecessary radiation exposure, possible billable procedures that wouldn't be covered and the almost sure follow-up of dental work that I "needed". (The client before me was leaving when she was told about a cavity and that "they could just go ahead and fill it today".)
I walked out, lesson learned.
Two stars instead of one because the people I spoke with at the office were nice enough, but the business and subsequent clinical model are obviously flawed.
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