Aspen Dental
Reviews and Complaints

went in to have all teeth pulled and two full dentures put in.included was 4 posts in bottom jaw.everyone was informed that was my plan from start .now 10 months and 11, 000 dollars later i find out the posts wern't included and they want 2200 dollars more.my lower jaw doesn't hold plate in so i wasted the time and money in this whole process.oh yes the pain these professionals put me thru.beware their dental terms are not in plan english

Please, please please... Do not go to these franchise dental groups! They are fraudulent with high pressure tactics. It is a rip off!

I went to see Dr Samantha Pack at Aspen Dental in Brookfield, WI on 9/1/11 for a simple check up and cleaning. This was the start of a month long ordeal. The cleaning went find and I was advised I would have some slight pain for a day or two. Well the pain was not slight, after 5 days of severe pain I called the Aspen Dental group and asked to speak to Dr. Pack, unfortunately she was busy and advised the receptionist to tell me to use Advil for the pain and buy some Sensidyne tootpaste. I had already done this and advisted the receptionist, she then advised to give it couple of more days. After 5 more painful days I called again, I was advised to come in and have the doctor take a look at it. I came in and Dr Pack advised it appears doing the cleaning we got a little debris under your gums and we will do a deep cleaning and apply some antibiotic. After the Hygenist finishd this procedure I advised I was still in agonizing pain and wanted to speak with Dr. Pack, I was advised she was busy and I should continue to take Advil. I then advised the Hygenist to let the Dr. Pack know I needed to talk with her and I would wait until she was available. I sat in the waiting room for another 20 minutes and then the receptionist came out and advised Dr. Pack has written a percription for pain relief. I took the perscription and had it filled and begin taking the medication. After a day the pain continued to get more and more severe. I then looked up the drug she gave me on drugs.com and found it has a severe interaction with another drug I take, which was on my dental records. It appears Dr. Pack didn't bother to review my records before perscribing this medication for me. Two days later I was in so much pain I called the Dr. Pack's office and spoke to the answering service, they advised Dr Pack was on call and would call me back in 45 min, after 1 hour and no call back, I called again, they told me to wait another 30 min as Dr. Pack had not answered her page. 20 min later the answering service called me and advised Dr. Pack had advised them to call me and tell me if the pain was so bad and I couldn't wait until Monday to go to emergency. She Never called me back, I went to emergency and was provided antibiotics as my entire mouth was infected and I had lesions on my gums. The Doctor I saw could not understand why Dr. Pack had not perscribed antibiotics for me. Today, I'm still in pain and calling around to find another dentist to determine what is going on.

On or about September 29th I went to Aspen Dental in Mesa for a free consultation with x-rays and we set up a plan for the extraction of three teeth and the placement of a denture. They took x-rays and a mold of my teeth for the dentures. They gave me antibiotics because of an infection.
On October 1st I went in to Aspen Dental for a wax bite fitting, On October 6th I went in for a wax mold fitting. Finally on October 12th they were ready to extract the three teeth and place the temporary denture in place.
Immediately I knew there was going to be a problem. I tried to explain to the dentist that "I have roots that curve back so that he would have to wiggle and pull towards the back of my mouth to extract them". He replied that he "knew what he was doing" and wrenched at the first tooth pulling towards the front. He snapped the tooth off at the gum line. He then proceeded to wrench and pick at the roots pulling again towards the front, which only made them break again. I reiterated that "I have roots that curve back so that he would have to wiggle and pull towards the back of my mouth to extract them". Again he replied that he “had been doing this for some time and knew what he was doing". He began to try and pick out the pieces he had created. He then began wrenching hard on my jaw and even hammering at my upper jaw. I was feeling a lot of pain, even though they had shot me several times with Novocain. He finally finished with that tooth. The extraction had taken over 45 minutes and he still had two more to go.
I asked him if he had "gotten it all" and he replied that "he had". I told him "I didn't think he had because I didn't feel the tell tale relief that one feels after a sore tooth is removed". He told me "he had been doing this for years and knew what he was doing". He called to the assistant to get him the x-rays off the view screen. She brought them over and he studied them. He commented to his assistant that "I had roots that curve back so that he would have to pull towards the back of my mouth to extract them”.
The next two teeth went real fast he wiggled and pulled towards the back of my mouth and they popped right out no breaks and no grief. I felt a lot of blood coming out of the first extraction site and as I ran my tongue over the area I could feel sharp pieces that were still inside. I told the doctor that "I thought there might be pieces of root left". He scoffed at me and told me that "he was a professional and never left pieces behind". I asked if he could "put a stitch in because it was bleeding a lot more than the other sight". He refused and said "he wanted it to heal naturally". He then went and got the denture and placed it in my mouth. He said "it would act like a bandage and that the wounds would be closed within a week". I requested some antibiotics. He refused saying that he did not like to prescribe antibiotics after oral surgery, because he liked the sight to heal naturally. I asked for some pain killers because I was going to be in pain after the Novocain wore off. He refused saying I could take aspirin. I said "aspirin was a blood thinner". He said "then take ibuprofen instead". I said "don't you mean acetaminophen, because ibuprofen is also a blood thinner". He gave me a rude look, sighed and said "yes".
I went home and was in a lot of pain. I returned the next day and saw the dentist again. I told him that I was in a lot of pain and that I could feel that there were still parts of the tooth left in the first extraction sight. He told me that he "had been doing this for years and never left parts behind". I requested some antibiotics and pain relievers he again told me "no" and said "he wanted it to heal naturally". I asked about the pain and again he told me to "use aspirin". I went out to the front desk and told the receptionist that I was in pain and needed antibiotics and pain medicine. I asked to speak with a different doctor. The receptionist was very kind she went in the back and spoke with different doctor and came back with prescriptions for pain killers and antibiotics.
I nursed the antibiotics and pain killers over the next 14 days. The other sights had healed and closed but the first extraction sight was still wide open, it continued to puss and bleed and I was still in pain. I returned to the dentists on the 1st of November I again saw the dentist and told him that "I was sure that he had left pieces of the roots behind because the sight was still infected and bleeding". He told me "Some people take longer to heal than others, and that there was no way he had left pieces behind". He gave me a prescription for a medicated mouthwash and told me to "cleanse the area twice a day. It should close up in no time". I was very upset at that point. I immediately made an appointment with my primary care physician.
I saw my primary care physician on November 19th. He told me that he believed that the dentist had indeed left pieces behind and instructed me to go back and try again to get him to remove the pieces. If the dentist still refused then I should see another dentist. I went in and saw the dentist one last time and told him what my primary care physician had said. The dentist replied that a primary care doctor is different than a dentist. He said that he “has been a dentist for many years and never left pieces behind". He asked me "If I had used the mouthwash?" I told him I had but it hadn't helped. He then told me that "Some people take a long time to heal and that he was sure that it would close up any day now."
I went home and began calling around to see another dentist. At first I tried to explain the story to the intake person and was told that no dentist would touch a person that had faulty work done by another dentist. I stopped explaining the issue after the second time I was told this. I scheduled an appointment for January 5th with a dentist in Scottsdale and when I went in to see him I then told him that I wanted him to extract the pieces that had been left behind by Aspen Dental. He refused and told me he could not touch the work of a different dentist and that he would waive the bill for that day as there was nothing he could do for me. I would have to go back to Aspen Dental.
Two more months passed while I tried to find a dentist that would remove the pieces left behind by Aspen Dental . I finally just scheduled an appointment with a local dentist saying that I was in pain from a broken tooth. I saw the dentist on March 30th. I didn't say anything to him about Aspen Dental, I just complained about the extraction sight and asked if he could x-ray the sight and see why it wouldn't heal.
The new dentist took x-rays and upon looking at them it was clear that there were still roots left behind as well as chunks of tooth and jaw. He also pointed out that there was a tiny fracture in my upper jaw from the extraction site. He asked who had done the extraction. I told him. He told me that I should go back and have the dentist extract the pieces left behind. I explained that they refused and said that the area was fine and would heal in time. The dentist called his colleague in to the examining room they looked at the x-rays then examined the sight. They told me that they would be happy to remove the pieces but that I would probably have to pay cash as my insurance would probably refuse to cover a second extraction of the same tooth. They told me that in case that happened they would waive the x-ray and appointment fees and only charge me $95 for the extraction. The dentist apologized for my difficulties and told me that I should seek a lawyer or at the least make Aspen Dental pay for the second extraction.
The new Dentist set an appointment for the 6th of April and extracted the pieces left behind. He extracted two chunks of root and a lot of smaller pieces. He placed all the pieces in a small clear envelope and gave them to me he told me to hold on to them in case I needed them for a law suit or to make Aspen pay for the second extraction.
My insurance carrier did indeed refuse to pay a second time for an extraction of the same tooth and I was forced to pay for the second extraction myself. The new Dentist did not prescribe any pain killers or antibiotics, but within a week the area had healed and is now doing fine.
I was often sick to my stomach, during this time, from the combination of the pain and all the puss and blood I was inadvertently swallowing. Additionally I had breath that smelled so bad from the infection that at times people would comment on it, but no matter how often I rinsed with mouthwash the stench remained. I have no idea if I damaged my liver or other organs as the pain forced me to take 2 painkillers every 4 hours for almost 6 months. At times my upper jaw would swell so much and the pain would be so bad as to prevent me from even going to work. I literally spent almost 6 months in pain and agony, because of the negligence that I was put through.
I feel that because of the doctor's negligence I have suffered gravely. I have suffered monetary losses as well as pain and suffering. I missed a total of 8 days of work because some days I was in so much pain I couldn’t go to work. In addition I was left in pain and suffering from malpractice for a very long period of time. For 176 days I suffered with a mouth full of blood and puss. I was forced to purchase several bottles of antiseptic mouthwash and many bottles of pain killers over this time period which cost me financially, not to mention the cost to my health from taking that many pain killers for that long. Being infected that badly for that long affected my work and private time. Additionally, I had to pay to fix the problem because my insurance would not cover the extraction of the same tooth twice.
I have had several dental procedures in my lifetime but have never had an experience like this. I wanted to contact your company in an attempt to at the least get the word out that if you need dental surgery DO NOT GO TO ASPEN DENTAL. They are very uncaring about patients’ needs or complaints. This whole matter could have been resolved at anytime if they would have just believed me or checked out what I was saying. My complaints were valid but were not acted upon. I have spoke with several dentists throughout this ordeal. I asked them all one simple question. “What do you do when you have done an extraction but the patient is still in pain and insists that there is still something wrong?” There answers were almost identical. Every dentist I asked told me that they would simply examine the area and perhaps x-ray to identify the problem. Sounds so simple.
I can only assume that Aspen Dental does not care for its patients or they would have gone this simple extra step to assure that no real problem existed.

I went to aspen dental to have my wisdom teeth cut out the oral surgeon was rude from the begining! then he said he was gonna put the iv in my arm and I stopped him explaining no one has ever been able to find a vein in my arm his comment was”well I will just pretend u never told me that” and proceeded to put it in my arm. needless to say I ended up in the er due to iv infeltration I was awake during the whole procedure at one point I pushed the pulse oxygen monitor off my finger since the moaning wasnt a clue to him so he grabbed my arm shoved monitor on my finger slammed my arm onto chair and strapped it down. since I was awake during the procedure I also know during the surgery he took the blood pressure cuff off my left arm and put it onto my right arm that was already filling up with iv fluid. when he was done and the nitrus wore off a bit I was in extreme pain they brought back my mom and sister and my sister had asked why my arm was so swollen the doctor proceeded to be a complete jerk to my family and got smart with them SO UNPROFESSIONAL!

Went to Aspen dental for tooth fillings. They told me I have first to do teeth cleaning and then they can do the fillings. They did the cleaning and the hygienist gave me a tooth brush to clean my teeth every night. The hygienist never told me about the price of the tooth brush and I never asked. While looking at the bill I found something odd. Aspen dental DID CHARGE ME $130 for the TOOTHBRUSH. I went to their office and told them that I do not want the toothbrush and want my money back. I did give them the tooth brush back and they told me they will put the $130 back to my credit card. Till now, after several weeks, Aspen Dental did not pay me back the $130!

I went in to have my two front teeth fixed, , I needed crowns, , my initial visit consisted of an exam, and ex-rays that was May 5th, , , my second visit June 15th, , I was told I had in infection in my mouth, , they started to procede with "I need a root canal in order to put crowns in my front teeth, this procedure was horrendous, , I have never, ever endured that much pain at a dentist in my life.my impressions were taken on this day before the root canal
which was done by (THE X-ray Technician)not the dentist(I found that out at a later visit that she wasn't even qualified to be working in my mouth.) She left the mold in my mouth for aproximately ten minutes, , i had this stuff stuck in my teeth for about a week, , even floss wasnt getting it out, , needless to say I was definately not happy. The temporary crowns that were put in my mouth was ridiculous, , they had a space in between the two teeth, one tooth was longer than the other, , they rubbed against my top lip, , and touched my bottom lip CRAZY, I got a phone call saying the temporary teeth did not come out right and I had to go have another impression done, , I did this on June 29th, ., another fiasco, , whatever, , my next appointment was scheduled on august 18th, , I got a phone stating my appointment was being cancelled to the 20th due to fact that the dentist couldn't make it on the 18th, , , , Then I got a phone call stating my appointment on august 20th was cancelled due to a problem in the lab, , they would call me when the teeth was done..Here we are August 25th, , low and behold I finally get that phone call at 8:57 pm, , , , Am I wondering what the hell I should do, , YES I AM, , SCARY, , do I want more of that pain?

i went to aspen dental to have my wisdom teeth cut out the oral surgeon was rude from the begining! then he said he was gonna put the iv in my arm and i stopped him explaining no one has ever been able to find a vein in my arm his comment was"well i will just pretend u never told me that" and proceeded to put it in my arm. needless to say i ended up in the er due to iv infeltration i was awake during the whole procedure at one point i pushed the pulse oxygen monitor off my finger since the moaning wasnt a clue to him so he grabbed my arm shoved monitor on my finger slammed my arm onto chair and strapped it down. since i was awake during the procedure i also know during the surgery he took the blood pressure cuff off my left arm and put it onto my right arm that was already filling up with iv fluid. when he was done and the nitrus wore off a bit i was in extreme pain they brought back my mom and sister and my sister had asked why my arm was so swollen the doctor proceeded to be a complete jerk to my family and got smart with them SO UNPROFFESIONAL!

if you want to get treated like cattle, get the wrong teeth worked on, have horrible work done, share the dentist with at least 1 other patient(s) at the same time (but its okay because you are all in the same room), doctors who have changing prices and procedures, make you wait in the waiting room, the second waiting room and then a half hour in the chair while they care to someone who is *obviously* more important than you... Then you should check out Aspen Dental in Vestal, NY. If you don't fear the dentist, you will after going here!

How do they get away with it? Absolute scam...

Dentist convinced me that I had bone loss on the top and we pulled all teeth on the top, they suggested I get bottom dentures as well since I had bone loss there. The second dentist I went to took x-rays and I got to see first hand that I had no bone loss, and pulling of all the teeth were not necessary. After my six months was up for my permanent dentures, they told me they were not putting in the permanents that I would need to go somewhere else. The reason was because of the unnecessary times I came in for complaints on the temporary dentures they had molded. So as a patient, I was not suppose to come in for adjustments, nor make complaints regarding the pain I was feeling, the roughness of the dentures? This was a long stressful process with rude personnel who do not treat their patients with kindness, respect, or dignity. I would NEVER RECOMMEND ASPEN TO ANYONE. Worse experience of my life.

As the mother of a dental assistant at the local Aspen Dental office, I was told that I was entitled to 2 free cleanings/year and discounts on other services. Believing this, I received a porcelain crown and paid the $454 charge at the time of the service in January 2011. My account balance was then zero as shown on their paperwork. In May 2011, I received a bill for $619.00. Their explanation was that they decided that the mother did not qualify as immediate family and I should not have received any discounts. I am now receiving mail from a bill collector.

i went in for a consultation thats all .they took xrays and told i needed to have all my teeth taken out and new ones put in .they described the procedure to me and my wife and ask which procedure i would like to do if i decided to do it .i picked one and they took impressions and immediately wanted to set an appointment to have the work done i told the office manager i would get back to her with my decision.the very next day i called to tell her i chose not to do it i got a receptionist who said"she would have the manager call me back"one week later the receptionist called to tell me my dentures were in.i said i told you last week i didnt want to go thru with procedure and that the manager never called me back so i assumed it was taken care of.two days later office manager calls and tells me that i have to pay for the dentures anyway so i may as well have "at least some of the work done"i felt threatened so i said i would have ONLY the bottoms done .made the appointment had the bottoms taken out and AS SOON AS the doctor put the dentures in he said they are not going to fit and that i have to have the tops done A S A P .I was very dissapointed in the whole process i went thru from the HIGH PRESSURE tactics to the HUMILIATION of walking around with no bottom teeth in because they dont fit and are painful.so my eating habits have changed drastically because of this nightmare at aspen dental.FORGOT TO MENTION that during this whole nightmare the office manager applied for a CARE CREDIT card for me which was approved and CHARGED the same day i was in for the consultation i actually had to contact the credit card company who told me to conatct aspne dental and have them refund the money to them which at some point was actually refunded to the credit card company however i still have an oustanding balance on the credit card and now aspne dental sent me an additional bill which i feel i should only have to pay the care one credit card why should i have to pay twice anyway that is my story i may have left a few things out but that most of it THANK YOU

I booked an appt with Aspen to get my teeth cleaned and after getting through all the xrays they poked at my teeth and gums for about 5 minutes and said give us another minute and a hygenist will be in. She came in and said are you ready to talk financials now. I was in shock I explained I hadnt had my teeth cleaned yet and they said they never do that on a first appt because 90% of their patiencents need something more. I was then shocked even further when they took me into the next room to tell me that they felt I needed a special cleaning service and that it would cost me $291 additional over my insurance. I asked do I have a cavity? NO Any other medical issue? No I said my teeth were just cleaned 9 months ago and they said because I have a couple teeth with level 4 gaps that they wanted to do this. So I said no thanks lets just stick with what my other dentist has always done. I havent had a cavity in 30 years. They then said no you dont understand once the dentists recommend something this is now your only choice. So after a lot of heated conversations I left and called another dentist who laughed and said they had never heard of such a thing. A cleaning is a cleaning. They basically are Sears in the 80's trying to break peoples arms with fear to make them pay more for what they dont really need. Making them feel like they have no choice at all... All I can say is steer clear of these people ... Also all you ever get on the complaint line is a recording to leave a message. It always says they are to busy to talk right now...

Whatever you do, please do not go here, or to any Aspen Dental for that matter. I wish I would have checked the reviews before my first visit, but thankfully I did before I had any work performed, so I was luckier than some of the other poor people. They took far too many x-rays and then wouldn't even clean your teeth or do any work, so I hope you're not hurting! They went over your x-rays and developed a treatment plan, which was outrageous. Hope you have money to blow, because this place overcharges A LOT. I don't know where they came up w/ their prices, but they were ridiculous! They wanted to give me 3 crowns, a root canal, several fillings, and pull out one wisdom tooth...all for the bargain price of $7500! But hey, since I had "really good insurance" (which seems to be a common theme among the reviews), it'd only cost me $3800! Then they wanted me to open up a care credit card. I ran for a 2nd opinion and glad I did. I don't need crowns or a root canal, just some fillings and my wisdom tooth removed, costing a little over $400, with my portion being $160! What is wrong with Aspen? They need to be closed down for doing this to people, and they're a nationwide company? STAY AWAY! Warn others! My other friends and family members had problems with them too!

I needed an affordable dental office that was close by. After my other dental office closed I decided to try Aspen in January of 2011.

My last appointment, which was yesterday is my last appointment ever at Aspen. I waited for 45 minutes in my chair in the back and watched people walk passed me. I was there only because I had some pain in my tooth where my cavity was filled 2.5 months prior by the mentor Ohio office and I thought something wasn't right because it felt funny. When I made the appointment the lady on the phone told me that they would look at my tooth and then discuss what needs to be done if there is a problem. When the dentist Finally came over he was like I need x-rays and I said no, that is not what they told me on the phone. He REFUSED to look in my mouth. It would of taken 2 minutes. I just had my x-ray's 2.5 months prior, why on earth would I need them again. I refused and the 2 guys just looked at me like I was an idiot. And the Dentist actual said he did not tell me he wouldn't need x-ray's. So the dentist is suppose to answer the phone at your office? He was rude, and so I told them, they lost a customer, and walked out. I can't believe they made me wait in the chair for 45 mins and then told me I HAD to get an x-ray. They were rude and I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THAT OFFICE AGAIN! I can take my money somewhere else.

I also want to stress one more thing. I'm shocked that they refused to look in my mouth. Absolutely refused. It's a dental office? I'm trying to get pregnant and I know that I can't take x-ray's if I'm pregnant so for me to refuse the x-ray's (I shouldn't have had to explain that to them) and for them to stare at me like they couldn't do anything without the x-ray is absolutely ridiculous. The service was horrible and can't believe they treated me like that.

Another appointment I had at the same office. I walked in, signed in and sat down and Waited 30 mins and all of sudden my cell phone beeped that I had a message so I listened to it while in the waiting room and it was a Message from the Aspen Dental office asking where I was. I thought it was a joke, I walked up to the front desk and I told them I have been here for 30 mins, see I signed in and pointed to the sing in sheet. The lady was on her cell texting and apologized, but seriously. Do your job. I should of known then what a horrible place the Mentor Ohio office was. Everyone was rude except one person, who ever cleans the teeth, she was really great and was the reason I kept coming in. But no more.

I have an appointment in September and I will NEVER be coming back so please cancel and delete my email from your reminders. I'm happy to go somewhere else, anywhere else!

Thanks for horrible customer service,
MD
Mentor, OH

Both my mom and I went to Aspen dental a month ago for various reasons. She needed dentures and I needed a cleaning. They gave her dentures that don't fit (and never will no matter how much they work on them) and said that I had 7 cavities and needed lots of work.

Today, I went to another dentist because I knew there was no way I had 7 cavities with the amount I clean my teeth. The other dentist said that the only issue I had was a little worn enamel on only TWO teeth. Not only that, they also said I had the healthiest teeth they've ever seen.