Western Dental Services
Reviews and Complaints

I made received part of my treatment at one office, then transferred to another office-- they raised the price at the second office.OK not a BIG deal.

My monthly bill payment straight from my bank, everything is fine. The month everything should be finished I received a collection letter from the account at the first office for more than the full amount.

While trying to straighten out a misunderstanding I made 4 extra payments to keep anything from accidentally going to my credit.

After waiting and receiving more letters and they dont know what they are doing, I requested THEIR records. I found the difference. They had received all of my payments but since it went to the second office and they kept it to the side, they did not transfer it to the first office. OK still not a BIG deal.

They transferred part, but the rest they could not transfer. So. I paid the first account with MORE of my own money.

NOW I am still waiting for a refund which is in process...

I am still receiving collection letters for the wrong amount...

and I am being charged late fees on an account with a 0 balance.

UGH I am getting really tired of working for them and loaning them money without interest, not to mention the concern of anything going to harm my credit.

Western Dental in Bellflower is the worst dental experience I have ever had! I have been going to this office off and on for six years. Mostly because they accept medi-cal and hmo dental insurance I had. A long time ago I got over the ghetto way the exam rooms are open for all to see, the unprofessional staff that basically ignore you while they are actively involved with your dental care. The long never ending wait each time you are faced with a dental appointment, and the lack of compassion for pain, not to mention the lack of decent pain medication the dentist gives you. That doesn't even cover listening to the dental assistant and the hygienist complaining about their sex lives during dental procedures. Classic ghetto, unprofessional behavior.

The first time I had an issue, I was on medi-cal and had a bad infected tooth. The dentist didn't give me any antibodies or pain medication. By the time the Novocain wore off I was in horrible pain. I called the office and told them what dire pain I was in. I couldn't sleep or eat anything. It was horrible! The dentist refused to give me anything, and told me to come back the next day. Lucky for me, my mom had some decent pain medication I borrowed from her. The next day, they fixed the problem with no Novocain, and drill into my tooth. It was excruciating, after that I had the tooth fixed at another dentist office that took medi-cal. That dentist gave me pain meds and also antibodies. She was disgusted by the condition of the tooth.

Just recently, I decided to give them another chance. I had no dental insurance, like a good portion of the people in the US, I was unemployed. I went in for an infected tooth. The dentist recommended a tooth canal. I signed the paper work, and he did the procedure. I was reminded from the office staff that I had a two hundred and eighty dollar credit I hadn't used. I was given a number to call in billing to have the credit added to the new account. I also made a payment of a hundred in forty dollars. I called the billing department and the billing representative told me that the Bellflower office should have already credit my account, and she would leave a message to the office manager. I asked her to have them send me a statement with the corrections on it. She told me that would be no problem.

I continue to get more bills with the same amount and the corrections hadn't been made on it. I called the billing department again, and left a message about the problem. Nobody got back to me by phone, email, or letter. A few more months went by, and I had left several messages with collections and the billing department. I was told by the representatives that they could see the credit balance I had on their computer, and that it would be added to my bill for the root canal. That never happened, I was so fed up I told them I wouldn't pay a cent on the bill until they had taken action to correct this problem.

Finally, in July, I called the collections again, very frustrated and upset that this had still not been taken care of, not to mention I had called, left messages, talk to representatives in both billing and collections about this, where I was told I had a credit balance, but none of them could explain why it had not been added to the current bill.

After talking to collections, billing, and the office manager in the Bellflower office of Western Dental, I was told that the credit balance was used in another procedure that I cannot remember getting. They refused to add this to my current bill. I called to make a complaint with Western Dental Complaint Department.

If that was the case, than they did some other dental procedures that I cannot remember getting, than why did their front office staff tell me that I had a credit balance and gave me the number to billing to get it transferred to my new account? This was at least two people in this Bellflower office telling me that right after my root canal! Why didn't the office manager contact me and let me know about these mysterious procedures months ago when I called? A letter an email explaining any of this? Why did the billing and collections tell me I had a credit of two hundred and eighty dollars? I think this office is fraudulent, and the office manger probably stole the money! I am not paying that bill! This whole situation is bs! I am beyond unhappy. I don't have the money right now to pay out the kind of interest they want on this bill, or deal with this ghetto people like this! I was told that this credit would be going to pay this bill, and now suddenly it's not. Whatever!

Don't ever go to Western Dental, because they will scam you, give you second rate dental care, and try to screw you like they did me. I will never go to any office dealing with Western Dental, and I will also never take my children there either! I hope that office manger get's fired!

In 2007 or 2008, the first time I went to Western Dental, the dentist gave the dental assistant a tool and the dental assistant used the tool and left chips in my front upper right tooth.

The unnecessary dental work are the upper middle teeth, which a female dentist saw shadows in the teeth and stated they needed to be filled. She filled them and now I feel pain in them when I eat certain foods.

Worst of all was the dental work again in 2008 when four (4) filling were done on my middle bottom teeth in one day. They were hastily done, and in 2008 I began to chew filling that were slipping off of those teeth.

Cavities quickly ravaged those teeth and turned them black ugly. Now three of those teeth have broken off at the gum level. The last of these have another black ugly cavity.

I need dental work immediately and I am in constant pain. Western Dental has truly done me a disservice to many including me.

I feel that there entire system needs to be revamped or close. Dentist come and go like a revolving door. The California Dental Board really needs to scrutinize thoroughly.

My teeth need to be fixed, I am disabled. It is going to cost a lot of money. The estimate I have is $8, 000 for my total mouth to be fixed

Western Dental is the worst experience I have ever had. They are rip offs and have the worst dentists.The first time i went there I spent about 30 min. getting my X-rays done because the stupid lady forgot how to do X-rays.After that she led me to this "room" which had no privacy as well did the others.Then the dentist came and started putting sealents on my teeth and had to stop in the middle of my treatment to go attend another patient.I stayed there having to spit for about 15 min. after they came back when the dentist's assistant started sucking out all they wet stuff with a tube they were both paying little attention and the assistant started pulling my cheek with the little tube, as well the doctor was applying to much pain with a metal tool.After they were done they led me outside without telling me if I had to wait a certain number of time to eat.The next day I had an appointment for orthodontics and I waited while my mother and my sister were already called in I waited for an hour.They finally called me in and said they had to speak with my mother so I waited till my mom came out and we went in all so they could tell me that the Dent-cal didn't approve the braces that i needed.While I was surprised to hear that after I heard almost all the other kids in there got their braces approved by denti-cal.I really dislike Western Dental and I will never do there again.

For the past ten years I've been getting all my dental work done at Western Dental. They provide good, honest, no-frills dental care. They're work lasts too. With other dentists, I would need to have fillings replaced every few years. With Western Dental my fillings last a long, long time. I always pay them in full right after having the work done, so I've never experienced any type of problem with their payment plans. My guess is that most of the people complaining are just pissed off because they didn't get 'somethin-for-nuthin'. Western Dental is clean, very professional, and they really do care.

These people are crooks! Apparently they have been investigated (and offices raided) by the FBI for insurance fraud, and they are famous for over charging their patients and harrassing them. My husband went to them and had some work done. The work itself was fine, BUT after he set up a payment plan with them to be charged to his credit card, they keep billing his card every month and he pays it every month, but they call him (and me) every week sometimes several times a week saying that his card has been declined, yet the charges show up on his credit card statement. They have been rude and even hung up the phone several times on him when he has tried to work the situation out with them. They even started calling me trying to find him because he now refuses their phone calls. I told them not to call me again because they are not authorized to call my number, and if they keep harrasing us and don't sort the situation out on their own, I will be filing a complaint with Consumer Affairs, and the California District Attorneys office. If neccesary I will also contact the phone company and file a complaint for harrassment. I also told them that I am well aware of their business practices and that they have been investigated by the FBI for fraud. Hopefully they will stop calling and get it together. If not I will be seeking legal action.

Ok Im am posting this in effort to save some other family from the horrible experiance of dealing with western dental...

let me begin by saying that the Ft.Worth office is a dump... During my first visit there, it looked like it was under construction with sighns say please excuse our mess as we are expanding to better serve you. The floors were nasty and looked like they had removed tile as they were and looked sticky. However the staff and Dr were very nice. So first App went well except for the way the office looked.. However after going back for more visits the office continued to stay in a mess. My 11yr was set up to get braces on.. during the first visit of this prosses I started to notice things I felt were being done wrong. Like the Dental ***. was having a hard time making molds and putting in spacers that consisted of just small rubber band being placed between teeth. she was very rough with my child during this and seemed very nervous. I asked for another ***.

during the next visit to have bracets put on, I again became very uncomfortable as the room we were in was small and dirty. The table that was used to hold the equimpment being used was a cardboard box with some kind of cloth cover.. I even seen her put stuff on that dirty nasty floor, because her makeshift table was too small. Then after some... NOT all brackets were placed on..Im informed that they dont have them all and we will have to come back to have the rest put on. So as we are leaving A heated argument breaks out behind the receptionist desk between coworker who are yelling screaming and cussing at one another... all infront of the dentist that just walks out the front door with one of the angry ***. ANYWAYS long story short point... Western dental is a joke...

I decided to go to Western Dental after it was suggested by co-workers as an easy, quick and cheaper option. I was feeling soreness in my gums and wanted to take care of it right away. Everything was fine, until my second visit, after having a confrontation with the manager.

My sudden realizations against the company are as follows:

Western's payment plan contract includes the work that is going to be serviced at an estimated price with a monthly payment plan; but it does not explain what work is actually completed with each visit and its related cost. You are simply billed for an item such as "Periodontal Scaling & Root Plan" at an extended plan co-pay rate and then given a monthly installment pay plan for an extended/final cost.

After my second visit and after having a petty dispute with the office's manager, I was questioning how much of my service plan had actually been completed and how much I was obligated to complete paying. In other words, there was the projected and contracted cost of the plan which was billed, and then there's the actual cost of each job that has been completed in that work plan as of the given date of the last visit. With Western's contact, it is hard to tell where you are within that scheduled project and which costs have been incurred and which are not.

Why this is of concern to me is because I was truly not interested in returning to the facility after confronting the manager. I was asked by the doctor to return in two weeks, but I didn't want to return to that office, after being treated so rudely, unprofessionally and with lack of sympathy and disregard by the branch manager. It just gave me a really bad vibe, like I was unimportant to them and simply a means to a profit. I was so disgusted that after planning to take off, I then turned around and walked back into the office and cancelled my next appointment. I expressed my disgust to the manager, at which she actually just stood there and tried to ignore me! That just angered me even more and showed me that this office had absolutely no professional integrity or sympathy for its patrons. Not only that, but it appeared as though she had practiced such demeanor with her customers before. She thinks she can just stand there stone faced and focused on something else, when she is only about four feet away or so, behind a counter with other staff sitting right nearby. It concerned my worst assumptions and took my concern to the next level: this was not just simple disagreement, but truly lack of respect and utter disregard. The last thing I expect from a practicing doctor's office is to be ignored by the manager or the staff! I have zero tolerance for such behavior. We all go to a doctor to be cared for and most of us spend plenty of money with them and place our trust with them, so such attitude is completely unacceptable. It goes against the ethics and concern I expect from any doctor or practice and which takes such oath.

I next thought that I could complete my work at another Western Dental location here in San Jose, but the 1-800 telephone customer service tells me that I have to complete my services and pay my balance due before I transfer to another location. Yet, it appears that they believe that they can treat me with less than respect. They can disregard my complaint. They can have limited access to their facility and/or high parking rates. Despite all that dissatisfaction, I would still be obligated to that same branch location, even though they are a large corporation servicing at more than one location in a given city. That doesn't seem fair. If I don't like a given manager, staff or location, I should have the option to transfer or negotiate. But Western appears to be uncompromising.

Presently, I am questioning wether I would like to return to this location, if even to any Western Dental facility at all. Because of the way that the contract plan is written, it is hard to tell what you are getting for your money, what has been completed, what maintenance shall be done, how many visits you will be afforded and so on. This is all determined by Western Dental. When you call the office, you are asked to call a specialist or talk to a remote corporate business office as of Monday.

I am guessing that I am suppose to have one more visit, or perhaps more, but this is not clear. I am somewhat sure what has been completed, but I am unclear what work is not. If I choose not to return to the office, as far as I can tell, there seems to be no clear compromise by Western Dental to discount the rest of the cost of the plan for work that has not been provided. It seems that they would intend to keep billing me, regardless.

I am glad that most of the agreed work seems to be done and that I only agreed to a cost that was not substantially high or extended out over a long payment plan for several months that I couldn't pay off. I only owe another 700 dollars approximately, but I have already learned a valuable lesson in dealing with this company and I don't think I shall continue with them.

Oddly, what led me to the more profound realization was something that was actually a rather petty concern. When I arrived at the branch location, downtown San Jose has quite a few parking garages and open lots, but it appears that Western Dental will not validate any garage. They paid for my first visit, but were unclear about where I should park on my second visit. They said to park in the city garage at Third St., which I did. The problem is that there are more than two garages on that street nearby, so I was rudely surprised when I returned to the garage and realized that my parking fee had to be paid out of pocket. Not only that, but I saw another Western customer who was there at the garage and very upset, because she appeared to have limited income and no cash on hand to pay for the parking. (After all, the current economy has put lots of low-income families into real hardship). Like me, she felt misled and poorly regarded by the management and staff at the office who do not make it clear at which garage to park. She was so upset, because she had her daughter with her, wanted everything to go comfortably and alright and yet she could not pay and was stuck inside the garage. She actually began crying. Myself, although not as dramatic, I went back to the office and asked kindly for validation and explained to them that they were not very clear as to where to park, because there are two garages on the same street.

That's when I started getting very upset, because the manager simply disregarded my complaint and refused to pay for the validation. Most businesses in downtown San Jose have validated parking, especially for city garages, which is where I parked. So, I thought it was extremely petty for her to refuse my validation, after having spent over an hour in the office and spending a few hundred dollars on dental work. I can afford to pay for parking, but downtown parking can easily add up and its quite standard and courteous for businesses to validate a customer's parking in any circumstance. Why else would most people in San Jose even consider parking downtown, when there's plenty of places across the valley to go with free parking? The city actually encourages business to validate to stimulate business in the downtown district. But Western doesn't seem to care.

Indeed, this is not just about a silly parking fee. It's about receiving respect fron your practitioner. Its about fairness and clarity in contracts. Its about services rendered and value and appreciation for the money you pay and the business you provide. Its about comfort, assurance, sympathy and easy and affordable access, which is what I expect from my doctor.

Western Dental is a complete SCAM! Don't believe anything they tell you, they are onl trying to rip you off and take yor money! My husband and I only went there because we were new to the area and it was the first place that popped up under my insurance. We went there and I felt like I was in some third world country. We had to wait almost 2 hours for them to verify our insurance and once we got in, we got our xrays done and then take into a huge room with about 10 or more different patient areas. It was like a large communal denitist office. Once the so called "dentist" came to examine me, she quickly went through my teeth and told me I had 16 cavities (one in a tooth I had extracted for braces years ago) and needed 2 root canals. She then proceeded to tell me that I had fallen on my face somehow and had created a trauma to my teeth. I am only 25 years old and nothing has happened to me or my teeth! Then she told me my husband needed veneers and when he refused she told him he needed gold crowns. She then said he had 5 cavities but when his proposed treatment came up those 5 turned into 17! We went to a real dentist today, an accredited dentist, he found absolutely NO cavities in either myself or my husband, NO need for any type of root canal or veneers or caps. And in his words exactly...Western Dental is a bunch of BULL! I had serious anxiety after this experience and will never be so stupid to not look into something more ever again! Please spread the word and stay away!

How in the world can they charge me $871 when i've already paid my contract in fuill?
Let me explain: in april of 2007 I decided to get braces. The payment arrangements were just what I needed and I paid faithfully every month until my contract ended in september 2009. The only complaint I had then was that in the beginning of 2009 I had lost my job. I called w. D. And spoke with their associates asking if I could pay $50 of my normal $110 payments. I did this for 3 months. I was told this was "fine as long as you are making a payment and that no late fees will be assessed. By september when I made my last payment, I was told that I had a balance of $30.00 in late fees and was told not to worry about it - they would be removed! In oct 2009 I received letter for an outstanding balance of $50.00 telling me that they were going to discontinue my treatments! My braces were remove almost 2 years ago! That was when I realized that they do not care nor do they pay attention to their clients. Then out of the blue, yesterday I received a bill that went to collections for $871.00!
How in the world can they charge me when i've fulfilled my contract obligations? No communication what-so-ever! And what a nightmare this has become! I've contacted the bbb

Do Not Use Western Dental Ever! I should have went with my gut instinct! Reading all these reviews as well just confirms it! My husband and I set up appointments for a Saturday, since most dentists are closed on weekends. When we arrived we were asked to sign all this paperwork, including a credit report to be run for payments plans! WTF! I hadn't even been seen and was only there for a CLEANING! So we then waited and waited and waited some more, until an HOUR later we were brought back for X-rays. My husband received a teeth cleaning, they asked me to come back when I was to get a "supposed" cavity filled and get a cleaning then. Within a week I receieved payment stubs in the mail for the UPCOMING work to be done. They have the due set up so that you have to pay before your insurance pays. So they receive DOUBLE payment, one from YOU and one from the insurance company! Argh! Is this legal? Can a company continue to get away with this type of service? I am sick to my stomach over it! Class action lawsuit sounds glorious to me! Let's take them DOWN!

I'm so pissed! Double charge for bill, constant phone calls for unauthorized bill collecting.
Bad services bad dental care bad bad bad! Horrible!
I became the patient of berkeley office in july 2009. The first visit they asked me to take x-ray, and recommended me to do the 2-phrase cleaning, which I think it's just like regular cleaning, but almost double the price. Also, they said I should get my 4 impacted wisdom teeth extracted, which will cost almost 700 co-pay. I guess I was ignorant so I do everything they suggested, and sign the contract. From that day on and before the extraction, I had visited their office for a couple times, every time the appointment was delay for 45mins to 2hours! Ridiculous!
On the day of the extraction -8/21/2009, my appointment was 2pm, but I was in the office alone for more than 2hours no kidding! At around 4:30, the surgeon came out and said he has to go, so he can't see me on that day but he asked me to go to the oakland office the next day to see him. So, the berkeley office transfered me to the oakland office for the extraction. The next day, I arrived at the oakland office around 7:30am, after waiting around 1hrs, I finally got the work done. However, my face swelled like hell for another week. And I also had bruises around my face.
Then the trouble comes in the billing. The oakland office said I only need to pay what I supposed to pay for the contract that I opened in the berkeley office, because the berkeley office will transfer the fund to them. So for the next month, I paid my full bill to the berkeley office, and thought that's it. But! Guess what, I got billed by another account. So I called different numbers and explained for more than ten times. But this still isn't resolved till now.in these 2months, I kept receiving mails and phone calls asking me to pay. Every time I need to explain the situation over and over again. When I called to address my concern, most often they just throw me around on the phone, transfer my call to couple people. Wtf! And they even use very bad attitude to push the responsibility to me! Nothing can be worse! I am seriously thinking about suing the company, for my lost of time and the cause of mental anxiety.

Went in to just get an idea on a bridge I needed to have done on the top 2 teeth they talked me into it rushed me through the dentist said you only need a filling then we will make an impression and give you a temp. Bridge all for 3, 600 (What a deal huh?!) wrong! The girl didnt know what she was doing who took my impression had to do it 3 times! The dentist was saying he wished jesus would just come and take us all out of this bad world!.. Thought he was (Nuts!) the dentist gave me 5 shots letting me swollow most of the medicine including everything else! The was yelling at the girl while I was laying there at there mercy! He shoved a temp. Bridge in there that did not fit.. I had to go back could not chew for 2 days he was mad and my gums were all swelling he jammmed the needle in my gums and yelled kep still its not the end of the world!.. Had to remove the bridge he ground down my eye tooth that never needed any work at all puting a cap on it he never told me he had put a temp. Cap on the tooth he was suppose to only fill!.. Well now its thurs. Before labor day weekend and my plans for camping or cancelled because the cap fell off and (By the way had a pin hole in it so everything was leeking through on to my ground down to nothing stub of a tooth he ruined! The nerve is exposed! And now I must take off work to find another dentist to try and fix what they did to me!.. (Please dont do there! He's name is thomas wont even call him a doctor he dosent deserve it!) reporting him to the dental board!

I went in because one of my tooth was hurting. After my x-rays got back the dentist walked in and took a quick look at it and say that I have two root canals. She never took the time to explain what options I have nor did she explain what procedure is going to be done. A while later the assistant came in and quoted me $2600 out of my own pocket after milking $1250 from my insurance. I told her that it was kind of expensive and that I'll think it over. They took an x-ray only but also tried to bill my insurance $351 dollars which included exam fees, x-ray, and cleaning (never got anything done for this). I had to call back for them to make adjustments and told them that I never got cleaning done. Worst experience ever in a medical/dental office. I am currently looking around for a better dental office. Take my advice and STAY AWAY! They basically charged my insurance company $250 for x-rays.