Mount Vernon Periodontics & Implants

Karen Gimnig Nemiah

a year ago

After two procedures with Dr Bal, I changed doctors. As best I can tell, he is skilled surgically and he cares about his patients. I was willing to overlook his arrogance and the sterile feel of his office until a procedure failed and everything changed. I have no way to know whether Dr Bal made an error or whether I was just unlucky - every doctor has some bad outcomes. My problem was that once the bad outcome occurred, Dr Bal became defensive and unpleasant. When I asked him why the bad outcome had occurred, he said "I don't know. That's up to you to figure out." When I complained that his post op instructions (lasting more than 2 weeks - for a recovery that he had told me would be 3-5 days) were impacting other elements of my health, he told me he didn't care about any of that, he was only interested in the part of my mouth he was working on. I could go on, but the point is that for me, skill and caring were not enough because when I needed it most Dr Bal appeared to be caught in a shame storm and prevented him from having an intelligent conversation. I hate to think what would have happened if I have blamed him, yelled at him, or been oppositional. All I did was ask him rational questions and push him for answers and he did all he could to shut me down. I didn't fully appreciate how much difference empathy and care make until I found an office that has them. I felt so much safer and calmer with a doctor who noticed my discomfort and took steps to reduce it. If you need a periodontic procedure, it's not going to be fun, but it doesn't have to be cold and arrogant. My wish is for Dr Bal to grow his interpersonal skills. If he could build compassion, empathy, warmth and curiosity to the level of his surgical skill, he would be an ideal doctor. Sadly, this seems unlikely to happen. If "bedside manner" is at all important to you, or you prefer not to take the chance of a bad outcome being made worse by arrogant defensiveness, go somewhere else.

Todd Stevens

2 years ago

Dr. Bal pulled a rear molar and it went so well I wanted to leave a review. Staff is great. It did take a little while before they were able to schedule me for the extraction but it was worth the wait. Pain free and relatively fast!

Kell McDaniel

a year ago

my partner came here... she was treated horribly by the dentist. he wouldn't look her in the eye, and even though she had her gums inspected only a couple weeks prior by another office who sent over records, he insisted on "checking for himself because he's a specialist and knows better." and then he poked her gums so hard that her mouth started filling up with blood, and he insisted that it was "just inflammation." when she tried to tell him he was going too hard, he laughed at her and said maybe she should go somewhere else then--he barely got through a quarter of her mouth before she asked him to stop because it was too painful. her gums were sore and tender for days after, absolutely cruel and unnecessary. my partner is a butch woman, and frankly it felt like he was judging her from the second he walked in the room.