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Review content:
Avalon Dentistry has quite the racket going on. I switched to this dental office when my insurance changed and I had to leave my previous dentist, Portola Dental (whom I now truly appreciate). Unfortunately, I didn't investigate Avalon first.
My story is remarkably similar to many other reviews I read for them. Having had only two or three cavities in my entire life, and no cavities when I was last checked six months ago, I was told by Avalon that I had SIX cavities, requiring five fillings and one onlay. This would cost $2000. They briefly explained this all to me, then asked me how I would like to pay for the procedure. I gradually realized that they intended to do the work then, immediately, and I was in shock. Were my teeth really this bad? But I was a fool, this was my new dentist, so I trusted them. They planned to do the left side of my mouth first (of course the side with the more expensive onlay), then would do the other side a week later.
So I got half the work done, went home to recover, and started doing some research. The onlay they did was twice the price of what it had to be; I later found out from my insurance company that I had signed an ""Optional Treatment Form"" supposedly declining the cheaper procedure (one of the many forms they had thrown at me to sign without presenting any other options). Furthermore, for each filling they were charging me the standard insurance copay fee, plus $150 per tooth for ""desensitizing medicine."" I found out that they cannot legally charge me for the desensitizing med: it's supposed to be covered by the copay as part of the insurance plan, and my insurance company is in the process of receiving reimbursement from them for that. Even if they could have charged me for the desensitizing med, they were charging what I found to be almost three times as much as the average fee from other dentists in the area.
Obviously I went to a new dentist after this experience. I told them about the cavities on the right side of my mouth that Avalon had intended to fill. They took a look themselves and determined that only one of the teeth needed any work at all, and that it would be a less-invasive procedure than a filling. I feel violated by Avalon; how much drilling did they already do to my teeth that was totally unnecessary?
I also just learned that a friend had a similar experience at Avalon six years ago: several root canals (including one that was botched and needed redone), a deep cleaning, and crowns totally $4000.
And as others mentioned on Yelp, the billing manager Candy seems to be the mastermind behind the deception. She's the one who presented the costs to me, got me to sign the paperwork, dismissed me when I tried to bring up concerns, and ultimately told me to bring my complaints to the insurance company when I called to explain why I was concerned about the procedures they had done.
Bottom line: these guys charge inflated prices for unnecessary procedures, and cover it up by inciting fear (""you need to have this done now!"") and a lack of straightforward information. I don't understand how this is legal.
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