Sunflower Dental

I found Sunflower through my health care exchange, and I’ve had a great experience there. I’ve got problematic teeth that need a lot of fillings, and the one that Dr. Gyapong did was an easier experience in every way than I’ve had at previous dentists — she’s very skilled with both the work itself and the anesthetic.
The culture at their three-​woman office *is* sort of familiar and blunt, as another reviewer put it, but I thrive on that stuff myself and wouldn’t want them to change. Dr. Gyapong is great at getting me to let down my guard and stop feeling anxious about dental work.
I’ve also been consistently impressed with their communication, from appointment-​setting down to explaining the problem areas in my mouth and how best to take care of them.

I found Sunflower Dental through the Oregon Exchange site. I found the office pleasantly decorated and liked the idea of having a female dentist.
I was called repeatedly by the single office staff member. The morning of the appointment I was told to come 45 minutes later than scheduled. I did, arriving to be chastised as being «very late» and told as a result of my lateness there was no time for a cleaning.
The dental hygienist complained of boisterously of «slow computers» to chart my teeth. The dentist entered abruptly criticizing the staff’s slowness. She was rude, saying I’m a «lazy brusher with bad technique.» Not something noted in the previous 35 years of dental care I’ve received. She then recommended two fillings my current dentist deemed unnecessary.
My partner went in for a basic exam. They performed a cleaning on her, despite not having the time for a cleaning for me and charging her $ 250 cash as a patient without dental insurance. Apparently cash patients are easier to schedule.
I spent 45 minutes on the phone with the front office staff to secure my x-​rays, listening to a litany of inter-​office complaints of under staffing and the dentist’s «pushing to reduce per patient times for more profit.»
There are other much better dentists in Portland. I would recommend seeing one of them.

I’ve been coming to this dentist for about ten years now, and I’m relatively content. Dr. Gyapong clearly knows what she is doing, and she is very, very passionate about dental hygiene. She’s friendly and conversational in a way that I can see rubbing some people the wrong way — a little overly familiar and blunt — but as that style of conversation doesn’t especially bother me, it hasn’t been a problem. Her team is great — very kind and patient — and the general air of the office is lovely. Dr. Gyapong is always very happy to tell me when my teeth are doing great and she can usher me out with nothing more than a regularly scheduled cleaning, but she’s also thorough when explaining when and why I need additional work done, or when I don’t need work done yet but probably will soon.
The only downside is that I find her dental work overly aggressive sometimes; there’s a lot of jerking my mouth around or shoving with quick, rough movements, and as I obviously can’t see what she’s doing in my mouth, I don’t know how much of it is necessary and how much of it is either haste or her feeling very comfortable in what she does and being a bit less cautious than necessary. It’s not uncommon for my mouth to feel a lot worse for a few days after an appointment for anything more than a cleaning from general aches before clearing up.

I’ve been going to the dentist regularly my whole life. I recently moved to Portland and purchased dental insurance through the health care exchange. The only dentist that was on my plan nearby in downtown Portland was Sunflower Dental.
The visit started off just fine. The dental hygienist was very friendly and personable. She took her x-​rays and then the dentist came in to do the oral evaluation.
One of the first things the dentist said to me was that I asked a lot of questions. She must have overheard my conversation with the hygienist. I told her I was just trying to be informed. She was not very friendly or conversational with me at all.
During the evaluation she was having the hygienist record information about each tooth in the computer as she went along. She wasn’t explaining to me what she was finding so every so often when she took her hands out of my mouth I would ask her what that meant and she would briefly say something about what she found. But she didn’t keep telling me in plain language what she was telling the hygienist in dental code as she went, only when I asked. It was kind of frustrating because I felt like she wasn’t really addressing me.
So after that, she told the hygienist that I need to have deep cleaning on my lower teeth. In addition she said I needed 2 fillings. I was a little surprised at this, since my previous checkups have all been good. I had never had a deep cleaning, and I hadn’t had any fillings since I was a child.
I asked the hygienist if I could get the cleaning done today and she said yes. She said deep cleanings could only be done on one side at a time because it require numbing the gums. So she could do one side today, and then I would come back to do another deep cleaning on the other side.
I asked her what if I just wanted a regular cleaning. She said she couldn’t do that because it would be against the law. I asked her what law and she said she couldn’t remember the name of it. Then she said she would check with the dentist to find out the details about the law. She came back and she told me it would be a case of negligence if they didn’t do the deep cleaning. This made no sense to me since it would seem like I should be able to choose my own treatment even if they recommended something different.
Shortly after this discussion she abruptly told me she had another appointment and she couldn’t do any cleaning today after all. So she had me scheduled for a cleaning later on in the month.
After leaving I started thinking more about my experience and I just didn’t feel very comfortable with things. The dentist wasn’t very personable and didn’t take really any time to explain things to me. So I decided to get a second opinion.
At the second dentist, I asked him to do an oral exam and let me know if he agreed with the treatment plan provided by sunflower dental. After he examined my teeth, he said he would NOT recommend a deep cleaning on the lower teeth, but only a regular cleaning instead. As for the fillings, he did say that one of my fillings was cracked and probably would need some repair, but he did not find anything wrong with the other tooth where Sunflower Dental said a filling was needed.
In summary, I feel Sunflower Dental doesn’t do a very good job of explaining things and in my case, recommended more expensive treatments that were not actually needed. I was told there was some legal reason why they had to perform a deep cleaning rather than a regular cleaning. This is clearly false and it makes me question their integrity and ethics.
I would not recommend Sunflower Dental to anyone.
Chris Mandeville

I have been a patient of Dr Gyapong’s for almost 20 years and was a bit taken aback by the previous reviewer’s comments. She has been thorough in her assessments of my dental health, admonished me for not flossing, filled my cavities, capped my teeth and recommended root canals only when necessary (yes, my mouth is high maintenance). She and her staff have been accommodating when I had to get in for an appointment (even with the limited hours, it has never taken me more than a week to get an appointment, and emergencies are always given priority). The email reminders are helpful as well.

Where do I start sigh. Okay, at the good: the hygienist is very competent and nice.
The dentist, however, is the farthest thing from. The first time I saw her she commented on how discolored my skin was – total non sequitur and totally rude. At another appointment she said, «Oh, your teeth are a mess as always!!» I think she just has poor social skills, but I still don’t want to be insulted by a healthcare professional.
It turns out that she is incompetent, too. She thought that I had the need for up to five root canals, and referred me to an endodontist. I asked why she couldn’t handle the problem – after all, she advertises that she does root canals – and she got angry and said «I didn’t say I could handle these ones!»
The endodontist said there was no reason for me to see her at all. I did have cavities, but she said there was no pulp involvement or anything approaching the need for a root canal. She shook her head and was like «uh… no idea why this woman made you come here…» This after I had been so worried about the cost and pain involved in root canals for so long. Unbelievable.
I went to a different dentist, who has confirmed that I had only three cavities that need to be filled. So instead of $ 10,000, $ 300, and none of the worry. Fay Gyapong put me through more worry about my teeth than I can tell you, and she was entirely, spectacularly wrong, as confirmed by two other professionals. I get the feeling that whenever something is more than a simple cavity, she reflexively refers to a specialist.
Lastly, I had a cleaning done; when I scheduled my next cleaning, it was clearly booked as a cleaning. Gyapong didn’t even LOOK IN MY MOUTH during the «exam» that cost me $ 60 with insurance – the receptionist and hygienist checked my pockets and she eyeballed the x-​rays. They then billed my insurance for some special periodontal cleaning – which was in no way different from a typical one (other than that the dentist wasn’t involved!), which my insurance would not cover. I told the receptionist that if they booked for a cleaning, they should charge for a cleaning. The receptionist haughtily accused me of wanting them to resubmit the bill and «force them to commit insurance fraud.» Unbelievable. I wanted them to eat the costs because they essentially defrauded me. I got them to do so – and we mutually agreed to part ways.
Note that their hours are VERY limited as well, and it can take weeks to get in for an afternoon appointment.
My new dentist, Dr. Huong at Broadway Dental, is excellent. He doesn’t charge for needed extra x-​rays as Gyapong did, either. Or insult me or say he can’t handle routine dental care. I can get an appointment in the same week, too.
Worst dental experience ever.

I was very impressed with Dr. Fay and her staff. The office was simple, painted in lavender hues. It reflected Dr. Fay’s love of horses and her love of art. The dental care was perfect. All the modern equipment that you would expect in an office today. The staff were friendly and respectful from the first contact on the phone. I have the feeling that Dr. Faye has a mind to keep dental care affordable. I appreciate that. have and will continue to recommend this office.