Prestige Dentistry - Palm Harbor

STOP OVERBOOKING!
Everytime I've come in now I have to wait 30-40 mins just to get in and it's frustrating on my time. I understand that dental is time consuming but make sure you have time for every one. The amount I've waited to just get in is beyond belief and I'm very done with being put aside once again

Secondly the pricing is quite high for what it is and I am unsure if I'll continue to come here after treatment.

The ladies at the front are hit or miss with if they are nice or not :/ the doctor is nice but as of recent I just feel like I'm just a number here and not a patient which really hurts as when I first came I was cared for properly.When he rushes he tends to knick and poke my gums and it's quite frustrating now as I can't leave without my mouth bleeding from not my doing...

Now I've got quite some work done here and I hope the assistants are aware that they are pinching and hurting their patients as they are sometimes quite careless on how they use their mirrors to move aside your cheek for work. I hope they become aware of this in the future.

Finally I hope they treat each other nicer here . There was a new assistant and the one girl was belittling everything he did. Now being new to a place is quite daunting itself so instead of talking down to the new employees is to treat them with kindness and help guide them as it looks extremely unprofessional on their part.

I hope this place gets better by the end of my treatment...

Hooray for shady providers!!

Summary: A wonderful story about Prestige Dentistry practicing high pressure predatory sales, super shady billing and little to no recourse or customer service after they've taken payment.

I want to start by saying that we naively signed forms to shield the dentist from shady billing. It authorized additional billing on top of insurance approved procedures, so our recourse to be refunded may get tricky and most likely we'll be laying in this bitter bed. Boy were they excited to bring that up when we confronted them :/

Here's the skinny. A family member went in for a cleaning and exam at Prestige Dentistry. There was concern before the visit because of teeth grinding and damage because of the grinding. The family member has very healthy teeth and has had very little work done over the years.

Our initial red flag was a "deep cleaning" due to bone loss from the customary CT scan (didn't know that was a thing these days). Of course that is up and above insurance. The second portion of the visit was a sales presentation to sign up for $9k worth of restoration and preventative equipment for grinding. It was worse than being pitched an extended car warranty.

The procedures and equipment were scheduled and equipment ordered. I thought it was also strange to take a deposit for equipment and for scheduling the procedure. The equipment seems ok besides needing some adjustment, so no issues there (for now, lol).

Upon arrival of the procedure, my family member was presented with a bunch of documents, one specifically stating that there would be overbilling in the amount of $5k up and above what insurance would cover. This was a required form and noted technical procedure codes that would be billed for and not included with insurance. A signature was required to continue. Service would have been denied without a signature. Last huge red flag and it should have stopped there. We're not experts in billing or dentistry, but we do understand that typically providers can't bill over negotiated rates.

The procedure was a success and we were billed most of the fees up front thinking that prior authorization was run through insurance on all charges. Turns out everything listed on that sheet that said they could overbill were not submitted and there was no intent because they knew it wouldn't be covered. Of course our insurance was like "yeah, we've never seen anything like this". The overbilling came to just shy of $2k. Of course this company's response was "well you signed it, so no we're not going to do anything." So they balance billed (not surprised on that) and billed for procedures not recognized by insurance companies. cool.

I would have rather burned the cash in my firepit. At least it would be a good story to joke about for years to come.

On a side note, I went in for a cleaning and exam after the bigger story with the family member to see for myself. Of course they wanted to deep clean and handed me a bill for $3k after insurance coverage for work that needed immediate attention. They spent 45 min in a sales pitch and reminded me 3 times of how much I needed a deep clean. If they were a professional outfit and I was required to do a deep clean, wouldn't you think they would have refused a normal cleaning? Just saying...

Do not let this dentist do a root canal as he is NOT an endodontist and has no business doing root canals. This place is shady and after multiple years of questionable root canals - every one had to be redone. They shouldn't even have a license.

Stay clear of this place and Doctor Pielak. No wonder he drives a Mazzeratti! As everyone has attested, be prepared to be ripped off. To pay more than top dollar, more than going prices and all with Polite cheery smiles. My experience has been nothing but frustrating and when I declined to carry on with the procedures recommended; implant, root canals etc, there was no refund for the exorbitant monies I had already paid. They bill the insurance company for what they think they can get away with......this is a joke. And when I questioned the practise the answer was nothing but garble goop! He has his staff well trained!!!!
I have a good mind to contact a solicitor because this practise seems to be chronic according to the reviews!

If you feel like trying to buy a used car instead of a dentist, we'll then you've found the right place... they try to up sell everything- I don't think anyone has ever left there without needing a "deep- cleaning" and prescription toothpaste! Stay away!

Good experience very thorough and both doctor and Asst explained everything in detail. I felt for the first time that they had my best interest and was not rushed.
I learned a lot about my dental needs in just one visit I feel I can trust the doctor and his recommendations.
Thank you.

I have to agree with what was said in the majority of the other reviews for this place. It is almost impossible to keep the same appointment time that you originally booked. They must have called me at least 6 or 7 times ( Always at the last minute) that I needed to change my appointment time or date because they were overbooked. Sometimes they wouldn't even tell me they changed the time! On more than 1 occasion I would receive a confirmation text or email with a different appointment time than I had scheduled. They didn't even ask if I was ok to change it!

I don't think I've ever experienced up selling at a Dentist to this degree . I had recently bought a car and felt more pressured at the Dentist! Saying no was definitely difficult . I will definitely try to find a dentist with a more personal touch where I feel like I'm more than a number.

Watch out for Smiling faces that is about to rip you off. I had an abscess on an old root canal. Never found out the Dentist name nor his assistant however, after the dentist explaining to me the cost of putting in two post for almost $5,000 + 450 for insurance if the post breaks!!!! What!!!! Do I have stupide written on my head. After I told her I couldn't afford it. The assistant come back with a cheaper deal of $3000,00 to put in a bridge. I went to Dr Tao's office with a better staff with lots of laughter and had surgery done for 1,600.00, I am painless and it's over. If you want to go to this office Open You Wallet Big

Just updating since Prestige replied back to my review. The incident I decsribed is true and did heppen at this establishment. There just might be more than 1 John M in the area.

I'm very unhappy with the crowns I had done by Dr. David Pielak. I was charged more than the going rate in the Palm Harbor area for 4 crowns on the left side of my mouth, and they caused quite a bit of pain. I was never able to chew on that side. My bite never completely met after the work was done.

I went back into the office several times, hoping he could do something to improve the "fit" of the crowns, but he never managed to make the pain go away. My bite was never what it should have been. I returned to the dentist I went to before that, and he ground down the bad crowns to make them better--but they still weren't as good as they should have been. At least I was able to chew without immense pain.

I went back and told Dr. Pielak that I lost confidence in him. He literally turned around and walked away. I was disappointed that I overpaid and never got the decent dental work that I expected.

After less than 3 years later, one of the crowns popped out. These crowns were made in the office, and I have since learned that dentists should stick with what they know best and leave crown design up to people who actually know what they're doing.