Clearchoice Dental Implant Center - Spokane Valley

Justin Levesque

9 months ago

Beginning: I went in to this place with no bottom or top teeth, but have had the same upper denture for over 20 years which fit still without glue or anything, and I was hoping for a fix to give me back my missing bottom teeth I had extracted 6 years ago. The guy who went through the orientation with me explained the options, but it did feel like I was being pressured into signing up right away, so I left. After I declined and looked into other options like Aspen Dental, I was contacted by the Clearchoice office about getting the "all in four" implants at $3k less due to a "black Friday" type sale, so I booked it. The surgery went great. The doctor at the time was knowledgeable in dental surgery and I felt he knew what he was doing, and during the surgery they did impressions while I was under to make sure my lower teeth were covered by a temporary that was screwed into the posts. Now unfortunately, before all of this, the finance company that handles it came back at a total $27k over 10 years... ($17K for the work, 10k in APR even with an 800 credit score), and that's alot. However, I determined it was worth the debt and after the surgery (and a few weeks of eating mashed potatoes and jello), I was able for the first time in 6 years I to eat pretty much anything again; like Skittles, pepperoni sticks, ribs, etc: so for me personally, it's worth it. Timeline: I will say, it took over 20 appointments in 9 months to get my final set of the all in 4 bottom teeth. As for the "free" upper denture I got, I can say I am not happy with it and I mentioned it almost everytime I came in after they finally got an impression from me that fit. Sadly the doctor and the dental assistants keep telling me it was how teeth are supposed to look and no real effort was made to make them look like my original teeth or the 20 year old dentures I brought in everytime that were made from my real teeth. Negatives: #1: Me bringing in an upper denture that was made from impressions of my real upper teeth should have been more important to them as the vastly different final upper teeth I was stuck with and mentioned my concerns on how people in my life said things like, "It's great they are white, but that's not how your teeth have looked", got brushed to the side because they didn't take the time to model my teeth on the ones had had for decades. #2: The Doctor who fixes the teeth in their lab kept changing, because the main doctor left the practice. Consistency is important, especially when someone is spending a 10 year debt on your expertise. #3: When a patient tells you how they want it fixed, do it. Explaining how your version is what you think should be right is not how customer service works, especially for 27K over 10 years. If I pay a roofer to redo my roof and ask for blue shingles, and the roofer tells me they installed red ones, but that is how roofs work...that is not satisfying the customers request, it just angers them for wasting money and not being heard or considered. Positives: The dental assistants were very kind given the fact I have a terrible gag reflex and that slowed down the process a lot. Steffie for one, as my first contact in the office, was kind, understanding, sweet, and honestly made me feel like I did at the dentist when I was a little kid...understanded and not judged. I did have several dental assistants while there and they all were kind, especially the one I had at the tail end of it all who I could tell was genuinely sad when I was gagging all the time after impression after impression. Overall: Is it worth it? Well, I had the misfortune of not having any real teeth for over 6 years. No upper teeth for over 25 years. So for me, being able to smile, still having a set of upper dentures that don't require any glue or anything, and I can eat anything people tell me to try...yes, for me it is all worth it.