[words]To make a long story short(er), I have a pretty extreme fear of the dentist going back to childhood trauma. It had been several years since I had been and I knew I needed work done (had a nagging tooth) and I had heard about Waterlase so I googled "waterlase dentist raleigh" and Dr. Theresa Robinson's "New Smile Magic" clinic came up, so I booked an appointment. I told them how about the fear, etc. and how anxious I was about even getting an exam. We agreed to an examination only, saving a deep cleaning for when I was under sedation. Also, she said that Waterlase technology was not at the point where it could cut hard tissue (teeth) and so traditional methods would be used.

During said exam, her and her hygienist were very accusatory about the state of my teeth and were nonchalantly just counting off cavity after cavity, noting several in a few teeth. All in all, they said I had at least a dozen cavities, if not more, and one might need a root canal. She said I had cavities in every molar and pre-molar. She said that she would do sedation (extra $500) and make me sign a wavier saying if it was indeed a root canal, she could fix it along with any additional cavities she found during the procedure, which would increase my bill even further. Her treatment plan estimated the work (minus additional root canals, etc.) at around $8,000.

First of all, I didn't feel comfortable with her or her staff and thought something was amiss. Second, I told my parents about it, who recanted the story to their personal dentist who said there was no way that was possible. So what I did was search for a dentist that would do this massive amount of work while I was under general anesthesia in the operating room. The only guy in the state that will do this is a professor/clinical director at UNC School of Dentistry:

This guy was like night and day compared to Dr. Robinson. He genuinely cared about my fear/anxiety and agreed that he would take me to the operating room at UNC hospital to do any work I needed done. He did a comprehensive examination on me and found that I only had ONE cavity. ONE. To treat it in the clinic would be $500-$1000 with a deep cleaning depending on sedation, or about $5,500 to do it in the OR. He said other than that my teeth were perfect. It sickens me because it seems that Dr. Robinson preyed on my anxiety/fear to her advantage in order to rack up a huge bill and was going to drill into healthy teeth for sheer profit, without a medical need to do so.

tl;dr - Dr. Robinson said I had over a dozen cavities and wanted to charge $8,000; got a second opinion from one of the best dentists in the state who said I only had one and it would be $500 to fill

[Edited on May 31, 2013 at 9:38 AM. Reason : .]

5/31/2013 9:36:05 AM

Always ask friends where they go when going to a new doctor or dentist.

Lots of idiots

5/31/2013 9:46:07 AM

I, too, have anxiety about dentists and have also not been in years. I also need to find one that will sedate me (or not mind if i down a handful of xanax before the appointment)

5/31/2013 9:48:50 AM

there are tons of sedation dentists. I had tried that when I got work done several years ago and it was still not enough for me. I went to Dr. Robinson because she had Waterlase and that was it, but even she said it wasn't up to the hype.

5/31/2013 10:00:11 AM

Seriously, people. Go to the dentist. Going less often makes your individual experiences worse. Ask for Valium if you have anxiety issues. With enough Valium, they could set you on fire and you wouldn't care.

5/31/2013 11:41:46 AM

5/31/2013 11:46:33 AM

you should get 5 on your side on the case, that woman needs to have her license revoked

5/31/2013 1:37:33 PM

File a BBB report.


Better yet, go on Yelp and write a bad review. Maybe that will fire her up.

5/31/2013 1:50:00 PM

might write some bad reviews but I'm not trying to be all up on the news and shit, and certainly don't want to involve the other dentist that I really like. he wouldn't comment on her diagnosis for professional reasons anyway.

5/31/2013 2:12:49 PM

I've been going to the same dentist since 1988 (when we moved to NC from CA).

My dad is a dental technician (he makes gold crowns, caps etc) for two dentists in town. I'll have to ask if he knows Theresa Robinson. He knows a lot of the dentists in town.

5/31/2013 2:17:30 PM

it would be interesting to know what other professionals candidly thought of her.

There is another guy that has posted on city search and a few other sites with a very similar story. She had also told me that I had "bone loss" which was in fact negligible.

5/31/2013 2:20:09 PM

If you have't yet, you should get, in writing, the bad dentists action plan an estimate. Get that published along with what actually was done at a superior dentist.

Should tank her business if you publish these in the right spots.

I had a similar situation years ago with a dentist. I now go to Dr. Wynn and couldnt be happier.

Plenty of unethical dentists out there.

5/31/2013 2:37:58 PM

Veterinarians too for that matter, to hell with Gentle Care in Cary

I digress, free bump

5/31/2013 4:03:42 PM

^^I do have the plan of work and will think about it. It's pretty sickening to think she'd just drill holes in somebody's teeth for sheer profit, especially when that person has had trauma in the past. I just got a bad vibe from her and the hygienist the whole time.

5/31/2013 4:13:02 PM

I'd also look into filing a complaint with the licensing board.... Surely there is recourse. Your new dentist may know how this works and guide you to whom you should contact

5/31/2013 7:42:22 PM

Was the guy that did ya right Dr Sopko or Dr Stancil perchance? bc they rock. Did mine and my husband's root canal.

Dr Sopko knew of my anxiety as well, and when I was kinda feeling something and was just slightly annoyed by it, he took notice and gave me two additional shots to be totally comfortable.

5/31/2013 8:13:27 PM

I'm sure she wouldn't actually drill holes into your teeth that don't need it. Probably just poke you a lot so it feels like it and make an extra $7k.. And maybe fix the one

[Edited on June 1, 2013 at 12:05 AM. Reason : ~]

6/1/2013 12:05:15 AM

anyone gone to the dentist and been tortured by their new scraper thing that has a tiny waterjet built in?

i swear i think the god damn thing vibrates too and its basically a sensitive tooths worst nightmare.

fucking ice cold too.

sends lightning to my toes then out my eyes and ass.

6/1/2013 12:25:11 AM

Yeah, screw all this Yelp and "smear campaign" stuff. I'd get documentation and go straight for the licensing board with this one. I'd be surprised if they didn't have some serious problems with a licensed dentist straight up lying to you.

6/1/2013 6:15:29 AM

Quote :

"anyone gone to the dentist and been tortured by their new scraper thing that has a tiny waterjet built in?"

is that the ultrasonic thing? dear god literally made me cry like a little girl the first time they used it. I now floss every day under thread of a repeat "treatment"

6/1/2013 7:50:29 AM

I had waterlase used on a cavity a while back and it was surprisingly painless. It cost like $150 total...this Robinson chick sounds like a total ripoff.

She sounds like she's trying to recoup the cost of the machine which is $Texas

6/1/2013 9:58:28 AM

Quote :

"anyone gone to the dentist and been tortured by their new scraper thing that has a tiny waterjet built in?"

I love that thing

mostly because it's better than the feeling of them dragging metal on my teeth

plus I always use a sensitive toothpaste anyway, so maybe that's why it doesn't bother me

6/1/2013 12:41:43 PM

yeah i think its ultrasonic too, but i swear it squirts water.

id much rather have plain metal just scraping along like the good ol days.

6/1/2013 2:20:59 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, screw all this Yelp and "smear campaign" stuff. I'd get documentation and go straight for the licensing board with this one. I'd be surprised if they didn't have some serious problems with a licensed dentist straight up lying to you. "

Indeed. Make this happen, OP. It will be good for other patients who might otherwise hand money over to this scamming bitch, good for justice, and good for TWW (because we'd all love to watch the story unfold.) Go for it.

6/2/2013 8:13:08 PM

FOR GREAT JUSTICE.

6/2/2013 10:00:55 PM

Should have put this in chit chat and let the lulz roll forth.

6/2/2013 10:11:48 PM

I think there is some wiggle room for what counts as a cavity that needs immediate filling and what doesn't. And the bad dentists will count every little thing, especially on a reluctant patient who doesn't go to the dentist often.

6/2/2013 10:30:01 PM

Quote :

"id much rather have plain metal just scraping along like the good ol days."

agreed.

[Edited on June 3, 2013 at 10:48 AM. Reason : /message_topic.aspx?topic=637213]

6/3/2013 10:47:08 AM

i always thought i was a normal person. I go to the dentist twice a year and actually enjoy it. then i talk to my friends who seem to never ever go to the dentist. for years at a time. wtf is wrong with you people!? take care of your teeth.

I don't even carry dental coverage. My two visits (less x-rays every few years, or the rare cavity) is less than a years worth of dental insurance pay out.

6/3/2013 11:00:28 AM

^ I wish it was that easy but I have a pretty extreme phobia resulting from childhood trauma where the dentist in question later lost his license. (he did a cavity/root canal on me with no Novocaine, just laughing gas; granted this was in a very small town)

Quote :

"Indeed. Make this happen, OP. It will be good for other patients who might otherwise hand money over to this scamming bitch, good for justice, and good for TWW (because we'd all love to watch the story unfold.) Go for it."

I have two concerns, and one of them would be causing any kind of trouble to the new dentist that I like. I don't want him to have to testify or any shit like that and risk losing him as my dentist because he is the only person in the state that will do things under general anesthesia (operating room) but in general is the only dentist I've ever felt comfortable with.

Quote :

"I think there is some wiggle room for what counts as a cavity that needs immediate filling and what doesn't. And the bad dentists will count every little thing, especially on a reluctant patient who doesn't go to the dentist often."

This is the other reason why I think it may not even be worth pursuing to the licensing board.

6/3/2013 1:03:27 PM

You have bad luck in picking dentists

6/3/2013 1:06:08 PM

tell me about it. to be fair, my grandparents made me go to the first one as a kid (appropriate)

6/3/2013 1:15:45 PM

I normally try and go twice a year. I find it annoying more than anything.

6/4/2013 11:48:24 AM

Quote :

"My two visits (less x-rays every few years, or the rare cavity) is less than a years worth of dental insurance pay out."

This is nice if you have good teeth. My teeth fell apart in college, and I've had to get so much work done. My dentist thinks that the Ph levels in my mouth changed in puberty to be harsher to my enamel. Anyway, I don't hate the dentist, but I know every time that I go I get to look forward to another $texas bill. Dental insurance doesn't pay shit when you actually have issues.

Oh, and to the OP, Theresa Robinson sounds like a bitch. Glad you got that second opinion.

6/4/2013 1:20:52 PM

just get tww on the case...

6/4/2013 1:30:37 PM

You could always put her on Reddit...they seem to have a very particular set of skills when it comes to shaming people

6/4/2013 6:06:05 PM

Doctors like to sue when you badmouth them. Be careful.

Also, I think there is some leeway in detecting cavities. At what point does a piece of metal become rusty? At what point is the corrosion severe enough to warrant drilling out natural tissue and replacing it with metal or plastic? The fact that you have an unreasonable fear of dentists unfortunately makes you a less than reliable witness. Even if a person has multiple cavities, my understanding is that most "good" dentists will only tell you about them in order of severity and treat them over a period of years to string you along and keep you coming back. It's just good business sense, really.

[Edited on June 5, 2013 at 8:43 AM. Reason : ,]

6/5/2013 8:37:29 AM

can we turn this into a "recommend a good dentist" thread now? i need one who will knock me out or give me an IV drip.

6/5/2013 8:40:58 AM

I actually checked and this individual currently has very good online reviews including Yelp.

6/5/2013 8:56:04 AM

I really don't see the point of being knocked out for cavities. My brother got a root canal when he 10 and wasn't put out. Seems unnessicary with too many things that could go wrong.

6/5/2013 9:01:33 AM

^^she also had one guy with a very similar story going on each site to bash her.

Yeah I'll probably steer clear of Reddit or anything like that. As others have mentioned, diagnosing cavities could be pretty subjective and I'm not trying to get a libel/slander case brought against me.

However, I don't think the UNC School of Dentistry is in business to keep me coming back by not filling what is already there.

6/5/2013 12:51:10 PM