Business ProfileforMidwest Periodontics & Implantology, PC

I have never, NEVER had the kind of wildly unprofessional, uninformed, imprudent treatment from a medical staff of any kind like I experienced at this dilapidated, uninviting "office." I'm struggling to even come to something to compare it to in order to give you a full picture of how horrific this place is and I'm coming up empty. Whatever nightmare customer service experience you've had in the past that's the worst one popping into your mind, triple it. Then triple it again.I was referred to this practice for care, made a phone appointment (where they asked next to no information to begin with--including not asking who the referral was from), and began a nearly two month wait for a December appointment. About a week beforehand, the office called to tell me "the Dr. is out of the office on vacation and has to reschedule." Maybe part of the blame is on me here for not taking that wildly unprofessional behavior as a sign to simply cancel my appointment. I have no idea what kind of dental professional would make an appointment that far in advance and not factor in taking time off for the holidays? And ditch a new patient like that? Great impression about your professional standards and attention to palliative care.The office is not in the well-kept ********* Center you may be familiar with from other medical specialists. It's across the street (on ********* north of Washington) in a squat, ugly building with barely any signage. Everything inside is a depressing shade of ***** or tinged yellow from aged paint. The elevator is floor to ceiling peeling wood veneer. The hallways are so narrow and claustrophobic I'm confident two wheelchair users could not pass one another in opposite directions if the need arose. I enter the office and the door is flush with the front desk countertop, and the width of the door covers half of the counter. Immediately across from it is the door to the actual rooms, which only misses the front door by a few inches. The waiting room is more narrow than the building hallways, and over half of this space is taken up by an old sofa. The rest of the waiting room runs perpendicular and is equally narrow. The sofa blocks a door to something in the office. A coatrack blocks half of the sofa.The receptionist requests my card to pay for the $135 fee for a consult. If youre keeping track, Ive barely been in this ***** Wonka hallway of an office for ten minutes and have not seen the dentist who has already cancelled on me to vacation. I autopilot hand over my card (again, my fault here). As we're turning the new patient paperwork in, the woman at the front desk informs me that my x-rays are not there (my dentist sent them weeks ago, and has been incredibly timely in my past experiences). I ask them to call and resolve this. She informs me she's called twice and they're closed. I know the office isn't closed, and they're always great about answering phones. I pull their number up in my phone, call, and have a live person answer on the second ring. The person informs me she's in the office with two other people ******* phones, and they've received no calls. The front desk woman at MP continues to insist she called and makes me verify the number on my referral. Yes, the number on the dentist's professional letterhead is indeed their office number.Her next plan is to take new x-rays here. Absolutely not. We will not be taking, nor paying for, unnecessary x-rays after Ive already paid to have comprehensive scans at my dentist. The doctor cannot do the evaluation without the x-rays, they say. He needs them to put your comprehensive care plan together. I clarify that no, were simply here for a consult. They (both women behind the desk) argue that I was booked for this evaluation, which I have not agreed to, prepared for, or heard of before. I literally have a voicemail reminding me of my consultation appointment. I insist that Im not going to be paying for a new set of x-rays. Suddenly, they change to saying the dentist could to his evaluation with a single simple x-ray for this visit. Not only did they change their story, but theyre still not listening to the fact that Im not going to be paying for this unnecessary scan. I tell them that Im going to be leaving and seeking care elsewhere. They have a policy that youre charged a $50 cancellation fee if you cancel or no-show your appointment without 24 hour notice. I said they can charge that if they must, though in a customer service situation its laughable to do so, but they will need to refund the $135 theyve charged me since I wont be seeking treatment here. I receive a bumbling answer about how the payment cant be cancelled or refunded for ******************************************************************* establishment. Refunds can take longer to process, yes, but a cancellation is always possible immediately after a transactioneven if only to correct a user error. No, she says, this isnt possible. My software wont let me do it. Its on the processors end (Can you call the processor and have them adjust it?) No, they wont do it. (Can you call them to make an exception in this situation?) No, they wont help. (I thought you said it was on their end?) Ive worked here for so long and I know the processes. (It seems like you dont. Im going to need to get this resolved before I leave this office.) Well do YOU want to call this processor? (Im not the business that ran the charge? Theyre not going to do anything for me? You need to fix this). I cant do anything. Reader, are you having a hard time following? So was I. I informed the office I would be calling my bank and reporting an unapproved charge on my account and ensure this was handled before I left. Meanwhile, as I stand by the counter to ensure everything is above board as Ive got no faith left in their competence or ability to handle literally anything at this point, The door swings open and slams into my back. The door to the office swings open for a hygienist to come out and hits my foot and my shoulder on the other side, all while Im simply standing at the desk as though anyone who needs to check-in or pay would have to do. More people from the back started to gather in the tiny office area behind the desk to gawk at the interaction (I was speaking clearly, firmly, and louder than normal but was not shouting). While I waited, I requested my paperwork back as they would not be needing to create a patient file for me. They said the doctor already had my referral, which is strange on several levels, especially seeing as their speed and communication abilities are severely lacking. They needed to go retrieve this paper from him. At some point, he peeked from around the corner in the back, but did not come to the front to assist, give guidance, or speak to me at all. Not only are we running a shifty business with childish, rude staff, but were also a coward that has no interest in our prospective patients experience. Batting ****. After I waited on the phone with my bank for 10 minutes or so (again, declining to sit down away from the front desk. Again, laughable since there is no area in this haunted house of an office where you are arguably away from anywhere), one of the women from behind the desks asks if its acceptable to write me a check. Im so grateful to have a way out of this nightmare without being a robbery victim that I accept without questioning why this option wasnt offered when this initially began ***** minutes earlier. Reader, the check was for $85 because they still felt entitled to keep the $50 cancellation fee. Im tempted to send them a **** for my missed wages from taking off for the unfathomable belittlement I received in this office. Id much rather eat hot garbage than walk into this facility again.

****************************** is a periodontist practicing at Midwest *********************************************** in ******, ********. Hes also a clinical assistant professor at ************************. He has been in private practice since 1991.His background includes an internship in oral Maxillofacial Surgery at ***********************, followed by ******************************* ******* area. He then further pursued his education by doing a residency at ************************ Periodontics program. He has maintained a teaching position at the University of ******** on a part time basis. Hes a diplomate of the ************** of ************** and licensed to practice in the state of ********. We perform all phases of periodontics and dental implants in our practice. Our policy is based on being compassionate and professional in our interaction with our patients. We are committed to patient satisfaction.Regarding Review ID #****** This Patient had a confirmed appointment at our office on 01/14/2022. . As mentioned above ************** is a specialist (periodontist).Patietns are referred to our office to get treatment for periodontal disease. ************** formulates a treatment plan based on a comprehensive perio evaluation and review of the x-rays. In addition to evaluation and perio charting he needs to read x-rays for proper diagnosis. Every dentist and specialist needs a set of x-rays in order to be able to have an accurate diagnosis. Usually the general dentists who refer the patient send the x-rays to our office and if not we call them and request the x-rays. In case of this patient the general dentist never sent the x-rays and when we called they didnt answer. When finally we managed to talk to them and asked why they didnt answer the phone they replied, they have an automated answering system and they only answer if we select the patient option not other options. Since the patient was not willing to take x-rays to help Dr. ******** her mouth, he offered to do the evaluation and after receiving the x-rays, to make the final diagnosis.By this time patient was so restless and upset to have to pay a fee for the evaluation that she concluded that our office was ugly and dark and we were unprofessional and decided to leave the office. She was informed about our cancellation policy previously, so she offered to pay the cancellation policy and get a refund for what she paid for the evaluation. The credit card processor (Authorize.net) cannot refund an unsettled transaction. It takes 24 hours for a transaction to get processed and be refundable. Therefore, we wrote her a check and she left. This patient was not familiar with the process of a specialist evaluation. She just assumed she will consult with another doctor for free. So when charged with the office fee she was upset.Our staff are trained to deal with difficult patients. They were calm, polite and respectful the whole time and never reacted to patients unsettled behavior. Our office is located in a medical building, which there are many other medical and dental offices similar to ours. It is a medium size office because we only have one doctor and 3 operatory rooms. Decoration, colors of the walls, paintings , light, music and sound in this office is designed to be calm and soothing for the patients because surgery and dental work are subjects of anxiety in general. This patient was not in our office more than 15 minutes and only in the waiting area. Her impression after she was charged with the evaluation fee was negatively formed, because she was expecting a free consultation and not a comprehensive evaluation. No consultation can be given to a patient by a specialist without a thorough and comprehensive evaluation and review of the x-rays by the specialist.Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any further questions.Sincerely,