Monday, April 14, 2008

Smile Starters Dental Clinics North Carolina

Not such a great review for the one in Fayetteville, NC

See here

Rated a 2 out of 10 because parent was asked to sign a blanket release giving permission to strap child down in whatever kind of device they saw fit.

Kristi said:

The front office staff at smile starters was very friendly and the office itself seemed clean and organized. As for the rest of the dental staff, I can not speak of them because we didn't make it that far. I knew when I made the appointment that parents are not allowed to go back into the dental area with their children. Although I was a little uneasy with that, I decided we would give it a try. We found out when we got there, that they would not see our children at all, unless we signed a statement giving them authorization to try a whole list of restraining methods if the need would arise. They did inform us that before they utilized the baby papoose method, they would come and get us first, but there were many other methods including having a doctor or nurse physically hold them down or,the doctor or nurse putting there hand over the childs mouth, that they would use without coming and notifying the parent. This just being a cleaning visit, I did not feel it was worth it for my child to have a bad experience and us be in the waiting area having no idea what was going on, when we could just find another dentist. This could very well be a terrific dentist office, but being military and the mother of three children, we have visited many dentists and never been asked to sign anything even close to this, so I didn't even know to ask about it when I made the appointment. That would have saved us a little wasted time, this just isn't the dentist for us.

1 Must Read Comments:

Anonymous said...

I have two girls, ages 15 and 10 that have been served by "Smile Starters" since they were very young. The dentists that we have dealt with are very professional and I do believe that they have done the best job that they could have done on my children s mouths. We go to the N.Tryon location in Charlotte NC. You are correct about the great office personnel but the dental hygienist that work there are cruel to the children and talk to them very demeaningly and have no respect for the self esteem of children. I have voiced my opinion of how ugly they talk to the children for at least the past 4 years now and it has yet to change. These personnel that work there are not held accountable for their actions and do not come out to speak to the parents.
My oldest daughter comes out in tears each time she has her teeth cleaned by one of them, not because of the physical pain but because of the way that they talk down to her and insult her. Her teeth have never been "bright white" and will never be so. She brushes her teeth and flosses twice each day and sometimes more. She doesn't drink soda and has become very self conscious about her teeth now and begs me not to make her get her teeth cleaned at "Smile Starters"
If your child can get past this, I think that you will be very happy with the work that the dentists here perform. If you are concerned with your child's self esteem, I suggest that you have your child's teeth cleaned somewhere else if you can afford it. I can not afford it.
F. Benson