Smiles Dental – Eugene

I had the opportunity to be treated by Smiles’ new dentist, Tristan Parry recently and it was a very positive experience. Dr Parry was personable, efficient and explained all the procedures to me as he was replacing a filling. No one really enjoys going to the dentist, but Dr Parry and Joanne made the experience both comfortable and as pleasant as possible. I had been thinking of looking for a new dentist elsewhere, but I no longer feel the need.

Jen called and gave me a chance to complain. Mailed back my check for second half of bill and apologized. Said she would modify the bill.

I’ve been coming to this dental practice for nearly 10 years. Although I have thouroughly enjoyed Randy as a hygienist (he is fast, efficient and friendly) that’s where it ends. In the begining, I never had any issues with billing errors but over the past 4 years I have spent countless hours on the phone, writing emails and sending letters regarding issues with their billing. I have spent more hours following up with billing than I have actually in the dentist office — that is crazy! I’m constantly being told my insurance didn’t cover something when it in fact did. Earlier this year, I received in the mail, yet another invoice that seemed incredibly inflated. After confirming with my dental insurance claim department what they paid, I followed up with Smiles Dental. I advised the invoice they sent me was incorrect and requested to get a detailed bill from my recent visit since the only thing I had received was a bill with an amount due listed. In no way did it list any services or individual costs. Keep in mind, this was just for a semi-​annual cleaning (no exam by the dentist as he wasn’t in that day, nothing else). I repeatedly called and emailed asking for an intemized invoice. I repeatedly said I have no problem paying as long as I know what I am paying for. They never sent me the intemized invoice, they did however, send me to collections for $ 100. After being harrassed by collections and still unable to connect with anybody at Smiles Dental I went ahead and paid the inflated invoice due. Jump forward a few months, I went back for my semi annual cleaning and at check out I was advised that I had a large credit on my account. The office manager apologized for not communicating and sending me to collections and said that my vist would be covered by my insurance and there would still be a large credit left on my account. I appreciated the apology and thought it was just an honest mistake. She also stated that this situation would be used as a learning expierence and her communication would be better moving forward, she gave me her word. A few days later I received an itemized invoice in the mail for nearly $ 100 due (cleaing only, no x-​rays) including a fee for having to send me to collections. That was their error. Well, 6 phone calls, countless emails and a certified letter I still have not heard back from this practice. My next step is a formal report with Oregon Dental Assocaition. I am very disappointed.
UPDATE: Despite mulitple requests for an explanation in writing from this office, I only received another bill. Their sales practices are shady at best. Beware.

Horrible is the first word that comes to mind. The office staff is snobby. I wrote in my chart 5 TIMES I was pregnant (7+ months along at the time) they didn’t even read my chart they tried taking xray and when I said no threatened to charge me for them Anyways. The hygienist that did my cleaning laid me back too long and I started complaining that I needed to sit up it wasn’t good for me to by laying back that long, so told me to stop complaining. At that point I was done, I got up started walking out stopped at the front deck to complain. Look I’m pregnant and you aren’t treating me right I’m leaving! The hygienist who follow me answer I had no clue you were pregnant I thought you were just fat! I got a call that night from the dentist apologizing for the way I was treated and tried to reassure me that it would never happen again. So I scheduled my appointment for a filling. It just happened to be on the day I went into Labor. The voice mail I was left by scheduling was one of the rudest Messages I’ve ever received from a professional establishment. Then she called my husband who picked up his phone, who informed her that I was in labor. She told him she didn’t believe him. Then told him they take cancellations very seriously and that I could never make an appointment there again for missing mine. If I wanted to have my filling done I would have to call every morning to see if there were cancellations for that day. I will never go back there.

Honestly, if the ladies at the front weren’t so nice after my initial check up, I would be giving this place no stars (If that were at all possible). I got in first thing as they opened and sat in the waiting room to be helped. When the receptionist finally noticed me she took my info and told me that she had to go into a meeting with the entire office and would return shortly. A half hour of waiting and I finally get called to the back. I explained to the woman that I was very self conscious about my teeth and hate being insulted by my dentist. The reason I chose to go here was because the commercial always raved about how this place is great for people that hate the dentist. I’m aware my teeth are not perfect, but you don’t need to rub it in because I’m doing all that I can to make it better. The initial tech was very odd, but sweet. I noticed immediately that the staff is VERY PUSHY about scheduling the NEXT time you’ll be in before you’ve even started the reason you were there in the first place. That was frustrating. When I got to see the actual dentist, I made it clear that I had low self esteem when it came to my teeth and twenty minutes later he proceeds to tell me that one tooth in my mouth was an «absolute disaster» No one wants to hear that. When I got up to leave to pay at the front, the hygienist walked off without telling me to follow so I had to try and find my way back to the front and felt really awkward when I was not escorted up there. Finally when paying the bill and looking at the potential costs for my future ALREADY SCHEDULED FOR ME appointments, she held her hand over the out of pocket costs and told me to not freak out and to look at the adjusted price. After one glance at the price AFTER insurance it was still over three grand. I began to get very upset unaware my mouth was in such bad shape. The Receptionist then pushed me to put it on my credit card or apply for financing through Care Credit. This was 4 months ago. I’ve gotten multiple calls over the past months to try and get me back in because «Dr. Dave is very concerned about that one tooth and doesn’t want it getting any worse». I called today to cancel my last appointment, and the woman on the phone was holding onto me for dear life. No means no.
Needless to say, I will NOT be returning. From the looks of all the other reviews, I should’ve never gone in the first place.

I would not return to Dr. Dave Matthews. Based on two visits resulting in sloppy unsuccessful treatment, apathetic and uncommunicative attitude, and stopgap approach to care.

This was by far the worst experience (in 40 years of having teeth) that I’ve ever had.
I needed to change dentists from Roseburg to Eugene, so I picked Smiles based on the over-​the-​top great Google reviews. I really wish I had seen the Unilocal!reviews first.
While my one and only visit there was questionable in a number of ways, the worst of the worst of it was Jen, the finance person, who you will have to deal with for anything that is not covered by your insurance. I have never experienced a high-​pressure, sales-​pitch in a dentist’s office before. It was really distasteful. I felt like I was on a used car lot at the end of a slow month… In fact, my last shopping visit to a car dealership was way easier than dealing with her.
The fact is I needed a crown for a cracked tooth, Smiles was not In-​network for my insurance and I was being quoted the cost by Jen. Now, I don’t know if she is totally incompetent in her role there, or if she lies to make the sale, but based on the high-​pressure, relentless push to try to make me get a Care Credit card to pay for it and schedule the appointment… I have to lean toward sales-​related lies.
Jen gave me the quote for the crown of something like $ 1500 covered at 50% by insurance, for an out-​of-​pocket of around $ 750; which sounded crazy to me. I was surprised and told her that I needed to look into what it would be with my old dentist, who was In-​network because I was sure that my coverage was more like 80 or 90% and I have good insurance, etc. And the pitch was on…
It took me about 20 minutes to get away from her from the first «Let me do some research» to the final «no.» Not only did she push Care Credit on me – over and over again, she literally pushed their application at me on my way out the door after I had repeatedly refused it. We actually argued about how putting it on credit is still me having to pay for it. She insisted that the «no interest» was a great deal. Well, OK, but not if I can get the same thing for a lot less somewhere else, so you don’t have to put it on credit. Sigh… it was exhausting.
But, the most troubling part is what she said, «No matter what dentist you go to your insurance is only going to cover 50% of a crown. The cost of the crown may be a little less somewhere else, but you will still be out-​of-​pocket for 50% of it – and you won’t get better care anywhere else.» Thankfully, I’m not stupid; I finagled my way out of there, saw my old dentist and paid $ 220 out-​of-​pocket for the same work. That extra $ 500 in my pocket is better than out, and I did get better care somewhere else.
I called Jen to point out her error and to ask why she would tell me that my insurance would only cover 50% no matter where I went and she replied, «Well, I didn’t guarantee it.» What?!? No, I’ll agree to that, but she sure sounded certain of the fact when she was trying to sell it to me. Ugh! No credibility there what-​so-​ever. I’m concerned for the elderly or easily confused going there.
As for the rest of it, as one bad apple shouldn’t spoil the barrel…
The front desk gal was sugary sweet, no real complaints except her lack of response to my emails post– visit in trying to get my x-​rays sent to my old dentist.
The hygienist was good, except he didn’t want to fuss with my long thick hair when protecting me from the x-​ray radiation, so he skipped the x-​ray «collar» that protects your throat and neck and asked me to just try to keep the main «blanket» held up as high as possible. Hrmmm, this is cancer causing radiation, right? Anyway…
The Dentist, Dr. Mathews was OK — not especially personable, but seemed pretty competent. Except, he noticed a space next to an old crown and after confirming that food gets caught there constantly he recommended a filling to close the space. Sounded great to me until my old dentist, who I returned to, said the appropriate solution was a new, correctly fitting crown. That makes more sense.
All-​in-​all, if you’re looking for a new dentist and choose this one, I hope you have money to burn — good luck.

Front office staff is overly nice and feels very fake. I have told them I can’t afford certain treatments and they drop the smile and look at me like they have no idea what I just said. There is also a definite push to use a credit card or apply for financing.
I can definitely identify with the complaints about the appointments. I got treatment plans for myself and my son. They were for over $ 1500.00 total. They asked me when we wanted to come in and I told them I would have to call them back after taxes, etc. A couple of months later, I got texts out of the blue as to when our appointments were scheduled. They went ahead and made the appointments for both of us without even talking to me!
Dr. Matthews is okay. He doesn’t say much and is very quick with fillings, which I like.
I don’t believe I have had a worse cleaning in my life. There wasn’t much to the actual «cleaning.» She only scraped in a couple of places. The gentleman who did my «polishing» barely just «brushed» my teeth. Any time I have had this in the past, other offices are very good about getting in the areas between the teeth and up by the gums (you know, the kind of polishing where you can’t stop running your tongue over your teeth because they feel so clean?). I was questioning what he was doing while he was doing it (didn’t feel complete) and definitely did not have that fresh, clean feeling after. I can do better with my Sonicare and some baking soda.
I am looking for a new dentist. I really haven’t had much luck since moving to Eugene but I know I wouldn’t recommend this office.

The 1-​star rating says it all. Find absolutely any other dentist.

I have had my doubts about this dentist since my first appointment. I was suspecting that the reviews on google were far too positive to actually be real, and now that I have read some other reviews here I have learned that I was right to be skeptical.
I needed a filling my first visit in, which was to be expected as I hadn’t seen a dentist in a long time, but they up-​charged me a ridiculous amount and I had to call my insurance to find out what was going on. Turns out that whatever fillings they use are more expensive than my insurance covers and I had to cover the difference. I asked them about it and they flat-​out lied to me saying that no matter where I went that I would end up paying the same price. I told them that it was ok that I would prefer to just go somewhere else and they kept me on the phone until I agreed to continue seeing them. I relented. My mistake.
Every time I go in to get a cleaning, which are covered 100% by my insurance, I am billed for something that I shouldn’t be billed for. Every time I go in they try to sell me something that I don’t need for way more money than I can afford to spend. They are x-​ray-​ing my teeth completely every time that I go in there and I’ve never had such a difficult time with those at previous dentists. Every time that the x-​rays are done here I start to gag uncontrollably and come dangerously close to getting sick. And when they clean my teeth there is far far FAR too much scraping. It’s just constantly scraping until my mouth is a bloody mess and I take great care of my teeth.
Just go somewhere else. Please.

I didn’t make it past the receptionist. She was a major %&*+@. Seriously, she must be related somehow to the dentist because she had zero customer service skills.

Wish I could sue.
I’m irate. How can this be legal? Well, there’s no proof. He drilled the proof away and we didn’t get a second opinion. He gave my husband thousands of dollars worth of dental work that he didn’t need. He has had perfect teeth all of his life. He’s regular with his check-​ups and cleanings. We tried this dentist and they said he had tons of cavities and needed a root canal.
They’re liars and cheats. I had the same experience as the other reviewers: they want your money and will do anything to get it. They have the sleazy car salesman philosophy in a health care field.
It sickens me.
I also heard that he has his employee post fake reviews. Have fun with that.

My experience and that of my wife reflect what other reviewers have written. While the office is clean, and the staff seems competent, their «salesy» attitude is unrelenting. I felt less like a patient, and more like a dollar sign. They were actually critical of what care I decided to pursue, pestering me to book unnecessary procedures and «put them on a credit card» or «apply for financing.»
The staff is very pushy and bordering on rude. I eventually switched dentists and learned that Dr. Matthews was charging more than twice as much as other dentists for standard procedures.
The impression I get is that Dr. Matthews has attended one too many «practice management seminars» and placed revenue growth above the needs of his patients.

i agree with the above. they are unrelenting when it comes to getting your business. I had insurance when I went there but it still was costly, so much so that I could only get one of my two fillings completed at the time. after being pestered in the office for making the wrong decision (you should get it done… well we offer payment plans… could you put it on your credit card…) I was then the lucky recipient of regular phone calls and voice mails telling me that I needed to schedule an appointment, that dr. matthews was really concerned about my teeth, that if i didn’t do anything it was just going to get worse, that it would maybe cost several hundred dollars if I continued to wait. i finally answered one of Carina’s calls — on accident, of course — and was yet again told that I needed to take care of my teeth. I told her I knew that but I simply couldn’t afford, especially since I no longer was insured by my employer. Rather than sympathy or understanding, Carina just showed me that her and her company just needed to get another mouth into the office to make some fast cash. After her basically refusing my polite request to nagging me for appointments and again essentially telling me that I was being stupid for not coming to them to get my work done, I was a little rude in telling her this is what happens when part time jobs don’t offer insurance benefits and you live in a country that doesn’t make provisions for the health of its citizens.
I wouldn’t go back there if I had the best insurance in the world

I don’t love any dentist, but I can tolerate it just fine. My husband on the other hand hates the dentist. So this review covers both of our opinions.
The office is clean and well organized. They are SUPER anal about appointments… basically making us feel as if we are only there for them to make a buck or two or hundreds. We have insurance and it is still expensive. You sign a contract at the beginning which binds you to a very strict appointment policy. I am always on time for things and signing this thing made me nervous.
When rescheduling my appointments I get a card at the initial appointment, a card in the mail, and a must call back phone call. Carina, the receptionist, left us multiple messages or would call our cell phones to confirm our appointment. I don’t like the feeling that I am being hunted down by my dentist office. One time she called and left a message for my husband saying that he NEEDED to call back ASAP with no other explanation. I called back because I was worried and she said she couldn’t give me any info because I wasn’t authorized on his HIPAA. She was doing her job at that point, which is good. But I found out from my hubby that the call was to schedule a cleaning. That was URGENT?! Needless to say I was ticked about that.
The hygienist I have is nice, not always neat. And Dr. Matthews is always polite, but I only see him for a split second as he reviews my chart and takes a quick look into my mouth.
The X-​Rays hurt. I don’t know why they don’t have better technology for doing these things, but my mouth is always strained and in pain.
Finally, when my husband asks for laughing gas in order to deal with the dentist, they are super reluctant about giving it and have turned it off halfway through procedures making him super uncomfortable.
I would not recommend this place. It’s okay, but we are looking for a new dentist as I write this.