Paul Symeonides, DDS

Total scam!!! Stay away!!! I went in for a cleaning and he told me that I had three cavities, which is strange since I haven’t had a cavity since I was 12. I said that I am a student and can’t afford to pay for that because my insurance doesn’t cover it and he convinced me that I really needed it. I set up an appointment to have the cavities dealt with and then began to realize that it might be a scam. I went to two other dentists to get a second opinion and turns out that guess what, I have no cavities! I saved myself $ 250! I can’t believe how greedy and disgusting a person can be.

HORRIBLE, don’t go there. Dr is always in a rush, in a bad mood, rude, he would never make you feel comfortable, instead you will have fear and be afraid to even ask something because he will respond you with defensive way, doesn’t really care a bout patients.

he deserves negative stars, but they dont have them here ! stay away, he bills your insurance for no reason. this guy try to tell me i had two cavities, when i went for a second opinion they said there are no cavities. i heard from a good source, this guy tries to just drill in people’s mouth, so he can make money. i am so happy, i went for a second opinion. i will report him for being unethical!

I wish I could rate –5 … long story short, do your search, find another dentist.
This guy is one of the most unethically and morally corrupted human beings. I’m trying to say that in the nicest classiest way possible. It’s scary and dangerous to have such greedy people in our society, responsible of other peoples’ lives and health.
Anyways, I might be wrong, but you could check other reviews an ratings across the web.
Bottom line, This guy will try to milk as much money from you or your insurance as possible. Don’t let the sweet talk fool you. He will always recommend stuff that you don’t really need. Also, ask for your dental records after each visit, and make sure you understand what is going to be done to your mouth before you let him dig in you mouth. Or else, you will end up with dental work that you really didn’t need, like cavity fillings, and some weird charges you will find in your dental records.
I feel sorry for those seniors citizens who go to this place. That’s mainly the people who go there; older people who I think don’t check the internet… and they’re using their medicaid or medicare to cover their costs. Mr. Doc will try to squeeze as much as possible without you knowing it.
There are currently some law suits pending against Dr. Paul for malpractice and insurance fraud. I’d suggest finding another place.
There is another dentist there called Maria. I don’t know her, and never had her. So I have nothing to say about her. Better google Astoria Dental Concepts and find our for yourself.

I called to make an appointment with Mr Paul Symeonides. I told the woman on the other line that I had a pain in my tooth and need to make an appointment to take care of this soon. She asked if I needed a cleaning and I said no I really need to fix the tooth pain first since it is really hurting me. She schedules me and appointment for the tooth pain and then pushes the tooth cleaning and check up again. I politely said no but I should of realized this was the first bad sign.
The blessed day comes and I arrive at the office 15 minutes earlier than my appointment time to fill out my forms. After waiting for about 40 minutes the receptionist calls me over and informs me that the doctor will be leaving and can’t see you. I was so stunned at this point. I left work early and I consult which means I lost money to do this. Wow what a way to make a great first impression on someone. A professional would of came up to me himself and apologized in person. The irony was that I filled out a novel to see him and one of the forms I had to sign stated that if I was to cancel 24 hours in advance I would be charged 25 dollars. I jokingly asked the receptionist if I was to receive 25 dollars for my troubles. The answer was a no. I looked around and there was a few people that came in after me so I suppose they would be getting the same treatment as well.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. While I was waiting I could hear him talking to the patients in the other room. He spoke to them as if they were dying of some kind of rare form of tooth cancer. As he came in and out of the room he looked miserable. This poor old man went to the front desk and the receptionist gave him a bill for about $ 1250 to do a root canal. He walked out of there with a glazed look on his face.
When I got home I looked him up and I started to see that he has some very poor reviews. I guess it was a blessing in disguise that I didn’t see him after all. Now I am writing this first review I have ever posted to make sure that no one goes through what I went through. Hope this helps.
Positives: The two receptionists were polite and courteous.

find another dentist…

I wish you could rate someone with 0 stars. This guy is so full of himself it’s not funny. If I would’ve heard him say «I’m gonna tell you something,» or «I’m gonna show you something» one more time I was gonna walk out. First of all I waited for about 45 minutes. The entire cleaning took less than 1 minute. I was berated for the other 15 minutes about my fillings that were performed by someone not as skilled as him. This guy has serious issues and is not stable enough to be poking around in peoples mouths. I’m going to recommed his license be revoked to the State Department of Health. And, just as Michelle C. posted, sure enough I was supposed to come back in 3 weeks… yeah right.

If I could give this place negative stars, I would.
This place is a complete sham. (Think shady car mechanic.)
From the start, as I was waiting in the waiting room, I noticed that every single patient who finished their appointment went to the counter to schedule another appointment for the next week or two weeks out. I thought that was rather odd. Every single person had to come back right away. None of the «see you in 6 months» stuff.
Next, I was called into the room with the chair, and the dentist — Dr. Paul Symeonides — began looking at my teeth and poking at my fillings (don’t get me wrong, this is completely normal). Then he began «tisk tisk“ing me saying that my teeth were in horrible shape. Granted, I do have a ton of dental work in my mouth from my defiant youth — lots of sugary candy, poor dental hygiene. However, I’ve learned from my mistakes and take pretty darn good care of my teeth.
I asked if I needed fillings and he said «I’ll show you». He pulled down a flat screen TV from above and began showing me pics of my teeth. He said that my fillings were eroding to the point that I need multiple crowns. I’m not sure what exactly I was supposed to be seeing in these pics. Clearly, they were pics of my teeth, but he neglected to show me this erosion he was referring to.
He again told me that my teeth were in horrible shape and backed that up by pointing out that I’ve had lots of work done. Using the old attack-​your-​self-​esteem-​in-​order-​to-​induce-​compliance tactic.
What he didn’t know (or bother to ask) was that I’ve received regular dental care and haven’t had a cavity or any other problems in almost 10 years. I think he saw all the previous work and saw dollar signs. He recommended that I leave, upgrade my dental insurance, and return.
Since I had trouble believing that all my fillings were magically eroding at the same time, AND I wasn’t noticing any changes, I told him that I was going to get a second opinion.
I went home and couldn’t find anything — I mean anything — on the internet about filling erosion. Granted, the internet is no substitute for a doctorate, but surely I would have found something on the subject.
Next, I scheduled an appointment with another dentist in the area. That appointment was today. Now, I didn’t say one word about my previous appointment with Dr. Paul Symeonides or his diagnosis — I did not want to introduce bias into their evaluation.
Magically, the eroding fillings problem must have corrected itself because I had no problems. All I needed was a good teeth cleaning. This dentist asked me all about my dental history and habits. He acknowledged the work I’ve had done, but said that my teeth should hold up about another hundred years. He further said that my teeth look great and to keep doing what I’m doing. HA! Guess where I’ll be returning for my next check up in 6 months? NOT Ditmars Dental Concepts, that’s for sure.
I’m reporting this scheister to the Better Business Bureau — believe that. This guy should be stripped of his license.
Clearly, ethics aren’t exactly encompassed within Dr. Paul Symeonides’ repertoire.