North Melbourne Dental

I’ve been a dental patient of Dr Julian Moore since I was in high school and found him to be friendly, professional and thorough. He is a bit of a larrikin, which makes many of his patients feel more at ease. The reception and assistance staff have always been lovely, and I do miss Natalie who greeted mat my appointments for a long time.
I’ve had several fillings, a Fischer seals, a front tooth cap and preparation/​maintenance for large scale Orthodontic/​Maxillofacial treatment over the last 5 years. I don’t think I’ve ever had any dramas, although I always find dentists (like Chiropractors) are good sales people!
Given the amount of money I’ve spent on dental and associated treatments over the years, the laws of probability suggest I might be due for a bad experience although I think sometimes dental work is unpleasant enough with adding extra factors. The customer service and friendly nature of Julian and his staff really does make a difference. He’s even remembered details of our small talk from previous visits, which is a nice touch.
Pricing is standard; a 6 monthly check-​up, clean and scale (no X-​rays) without any private health rebate is around $ 180, including the «showbag» but it’s good to note tooth mousse is extra at $ 35 a tube.

In my search for a new dentist after moving to Melbourne, I thought I’d give a local a try. Big mistake.
Firstly, I booked a cleaning/​scaling and check-​up, but when I arrived they hadn’t schedule enough time for both, so I had to come back for a second appointment. They should have known that as a new patient from a foreign country I’d probably need to get new x-​rays done. I was billed for both appointments.
Secondly, at my follow-​up appointment was advised that I should get all of my fillings re-​done because this dentist prefers metal fillings to the white fillings most cosmetic-​sensitive dentists use. When I expressed some skepticism — the United States isn’t exactly backwards when it comes to dentistry, and I’d had a pretty good one — the dentist insisted that my filings had all been done poorly and needed to be redone.
Thirdly, the dentist tried to prescribe me a dairy-​based tooth gel. I am very allergic to dairy products and had listed this as an allergy on my intake form. Obviously, the dentist had not reviewed this information.
Fourthly, when I asked to have my x-​rays sent to another dental office — naturally, I wanted a second opinion — the dentist called me personally, while I was at work, to try to talk me out of it and was incredibly difficult about releasing my x-​rays even though it is his legal obligation to do so. He asked which dentist I was going to, and then insulted that dentist and her entire office by suggesting that they were unskilled. His entire manner was extremely unprofessional, confrontational, and even hostile.
Fifthly, the follow-​up exam with the other dentist confirmed my suspicions. My fillings were fine and — besides a single filling that had been chipped — did not need to be re-​done, saving me hundreds of dollars.
I would warn anyone from coming to this dentist (Dr. Julian Moore). Unprofessional conduct aside, I have good reason to suspect that he is simply out to gouge patients for money by insisting on unnecessary procedures.