Coast Dental - Gainesville (FL)

1 /5 Jorge Cabrera: I had a very similar experience to what Anna M mentioned in a previous review. I have never experienced the amount of waiting and forepayment needed until I visited this practice. Causing important time disruption and prolonged physical discomfort. Im willing to discuss with anyone in this company who ever picks up the phone, which in my experience is only answered for appointment scheduling. They do charge a $100 fee upfront to enter you into their system even if you took 10 minutes the day before to fill out their form, but that was just one of the surprises on that first visit. They will also charge you upfront for future procedures. The office tends to smell like cigarettes and some of the equipment has visible rust on it. They only have one doctor seeing other 5 people while you wait and the anesthesia wears out. Every step of the process takes extremely long, except for billing. I decided not to go back after I went to have a fair amount of adjustments from a previous visit where the doctor started to get frustrated because he was overbooked. Im glad they only touched one half of my mouth because it took weeks to get the adjustments done while I was painfully trying not to chew on the one side they worked on. Im still waiting for reimbursement for the other half I had paid for upfront. At this point Im taking them to the Alachua Small Claims court for a reimbursement they said it could take up to 12 weeks, and here we are 24+ weeks later and no response, passing the ball from office to office, department to department and no mythical regional manager has ever contacted me like their customer service reps said they would. Theres an obvious disconnect between their customer service and the office. Messages are never passed down and no one assumes responsibility, but somehow, I still get calls about appointments that I never scheduled.

1 /5 Anna M: AVOID THIS DENTIST AT ALL COSTS!! My unpleasant experience with Coast Dental began before my first appointment. I was already running behind my regular cleaning schedule and needed to be seen sooner rather than later. I scheduled a new patient appointment and cleaning for July 1. I got a text June 27 saying my appointment was canceled due to change in doctor’s schedule. I attached a photo of this message. I reschedule it for August 9th. On August 8th I get a text that my appointment was canceled due to water line break. Again- attached this message. If I had the option, I would have gone ahead and scheduled with a different office, but this is one of the only places in Gainesville that accepts Cigna insurance. I was able to get scheduled on the third try to come in and get everything done. My appointment started at 8:30, one of the first of the day. I was called back around 9:30. Had full x rays taken. Got examined by the hygienist, and she was done by 10. Said the doctor would be back shortly. I kid you not .. I waited 50 minutes in that chair to be seen by the dentist. He finally comes back and takes a look close to 11. The hygienist almost didn’t do my cleaning since I had already been there 3 hours, but the main purpose of my visit was to get a cleaning, so I told them that and was able to get a cleaning done. I finally left at 11:45am. I had a second appointment recently to get a filling. This appointment was at 11:30am and, similarly to last time, I wasn’t called back until 12:30. The space is decently clean, I wouldn’t use the words “filthy” like some other reviewers. I did see a small dead roach in the waiting room. Overall, They seem to follow necessary office practices. There is also parking out front which is nice. The dentist was kind and helped to ease my anxiety. UPDATE: I was scheduled for a routine 6-month cleaning 4/4 at 4PM. Without consulting with me, the office rescheduled my appointment for 1PM (photo attached). This was fine since it was with enough time to plan ahead. I even confirmed my appointment was at 1 via text (attached). At 10AM the morning of, I get a message that my appointment is at 12PM. I’m obviously at work and can’t come on a 2 hour notice like that. I call them and ask what’s up, and I am told on the phone that my appointment is indeed at 1PM. I think, okay, it must have been a typo. I drive to my appointment for my now double-confirmed appointment at 1PM and the door is locked. On the front window is a sign that says lunch is from 1-2PM. WTH? I knocked and heard voices inside but no one came to say anything. I called again and said what happened, I just confirmed my 1PM appointment and now they’re actually closed? The service rep tried to transfer me to the office but no one answered. Thanks for your kind reply, Coast Dental, but you absolutely did NOT impress me on my next visit. I will not be returning here again.

4 /5 Judy Ellis: Chrissy was very professional and courteous. She kept us informed of everything and the doc was cheery and very courteous. He was very meticulous with my pre dentures. Making sure everything lined up. They both were very apologetic about the long wait time we have. All in all, my experience today was very good compared to my last visit.

1 /5 Jessica Richards: This was literally the absolute worst experience Ive ever had with any dentists office in my LIFE. I went in as a new patient, to get a cleaning and some x-rays. I went in so happy to finally get seen by a dentist, especially with how long I waited. But in a short period of time, I learned how fraudulent and money hungry these scam artists are. They charged me $128 WITH insurance for a cleaning and X-rays. Want to know why? They have a fee for "Oral cancer diagnosis test" It was $70. Initially, I didnt catch it until I reviewed the itemization I took a picture of before I went back, so when the tech came in the start my exam, I advised I would like that service removed and would like a refund for it, as Im 26 and I have no sores in my mouth and really no need to pay for that service when my insurance doesnt cover it. The tech then told me at coast dental its in their policy and that if you dont get the oral cancer screening the dentist wont see you. Youre literally forced to pay (out of pocket I might add) for a service *they* want you to have, you have no say so in it. The front office lady was incredibly rude about the entire thing. She said "well you already paid for it" and I advised it was my right as a patient to change my mind about a service I dont want to be provided. She talked to me like I was an idiot for wanting a refund. I left that office in tears. I called my mom and was crying in the parking lot with how god awful my experience was. My mom called and talked to the front desk lady, and to no ones surprise, she was rude to my mother as well. She told my mom because I wasnt "professional" things went down hill. I didnt yell, I didnt cuss, but I was incredibly disappointed in being told I had no say no in my oral care services. I pay for my insurance, I should be able to choose what gets done to my mouth. Which was ultimately the reason I left, policy or not, its idiotic. They also advised it would take 10-12 weeks for a refund. All I had done was X-rays (which my insurance pays for) mind you, this refund is for services that WERE NOT rendered by the way. Which is literally fraud. Like you cant give me my money back for 10-12 weeks when you didnt do any services I was charged for? I do not recommend this place unless you want to be squeezed for every cent you have and possibly leave in tears. Thank you for reading.