Waterfront Dental Implant & Oral Surgery Center: Dipa J. Patel, DDS

Sophia Robichaux

My experiences at Waterfront Dental are easily the worst I’ve had in a healthcare setting. I was recommended by my dentist to have my wisdom teeth extracted here. I scheduled my initial consultation for the end of July. The office canceled this appointment & re-scheduled in early August. The receptionist called me 3 times to confirm the new appointment. The day of the consultation, as I am going up the elevator, I get a call from the receptionist saying the Dr. Patel never confirmed the appointment I am *literally* coming up the elevator for & asked if I could come back in 2 hours. I went upstairs to speak with her in person, & after 30 minutes and speaking to her, another staff member, and Dr. Patel, my appointment was re-scheduled for TWO WEEKS LATER. Noting the disorganization, I also asked to confirm my surgery date, which was originally scheduled for early August, as I & my companion had already taken off work in preparation. Of course, the receptionist and the Doctor informed me that my surgery was never confirmed as the doctor was going to be out of town that day even though I had the date in my calendar for over a month. The surgery was pushed a month, leaving my companion and I to rearrange time off. During the consultation, I was seen by two dental assistants & Dr. Patel, who at one point stepped out to yell at 2 members of her staff for leaving another patient alone on nitrous gas. After the altercation, she came in and looked at my chart, noting the same thing that the 2 assistants told me moments prior: that I only had 2 wisdom teeth and 2 baby teeth & would therefore only need two teeth removed. This went against my dentist’s original recommendation, and of course, I was skeptical, but as a medical professional I heeded her advice. After hearing Dr. Patel yell at her staff, I tried to find another oral surgeon, but was unable to. So, surgery. Receptionist called me 3 separate times prior to confirm. I arrive that morning with my companion and have to request *myself to complete payment beforehand as I know I won’t be able to afterwards as I’ll be regaining consciousness after being under anesthesia. I am then brought to the procedure room. Of course, the first question I ask is to confirm exactly how many teeth I’m having removed. Neither of the two dental assistants nor Dr. Patel recall telling me at my consult that I had 2 baby teeth and 2 wisdom teeth and that I am having all four removed. But this previous council was confirmed when they reviewed the paperwork from my consult and said they’d have to bill me separately for the two additional teeth extractions as they weren’t included in my original payment. I can only assume they looked at another patient’s chart/X-rays during my consult. I was prepped for surgery by a dental assistant and what I can only assume was a student due to her extremely unprofessional bedside manner. During prep, they couldn’t figure out how to put electrodes on me; didn’t know what certain pieces of medical equipment were; laughed in response to my answers to sensitive questions about my health and medical history (namely my birth control and pregnancy status); and continued to ask me questions AFTER I was administered nitrous gas. More specifically: I was on nitrous when I was asked about my sexual health/history. I considered getting up and leaving because I did not feel I was in capable care, but ultimately stayed given 1) the expense and 2) the amount of time and effort it already took me to get to have the procedure. Then surgery. It went fine, I guess. I’m still recovering, though I was provided no post-op instructions for cleaning the extraction sites (counsel was take medicine and eat soft foods). Then of course, 2 hours post-op, I get a call from the receptionist while I am passed out from anesthesia saying she forgot to book my post op appointment and went ahead and scheduled me one two weeks from that day. Well, cancel it, because I am never setting foot in that office again.

Emily

This place is an administrative disaster. They called me two days before my wisdom teeth removal to say I was quoted the wrong price for their office and would either have to come in to the VA office the next day or pay more. When I asked how much more to avoid taking an extra vacation day and rearranging my family's entire schedule, the receptionist was unwilling and unable to help. How does any business not know what a service is going to cost a customer? I realized to late this information was readily available on my insurers website (insurers have set billing rates per zip code that every office should know). I was also over charged and a random administrative fee called "problem focused" was added to my bill. It gets better. The office gave no instructions for cleaning the empty sockets beyond "gargling" so I dealt with two weeks of trying to dig out food particles on my own which sucked. Everyone I talked to said they had been given an angled syringe to remove large food particles. For the finale, when I returned for my post-op appointment, the had no record of me ever being scheduled and called me the wrong name. Find another oral surgeon.

Ellis Williams

This place is amazing! I went in on a last minute notice due to complications with my wisdom teeth, 12 hours later I am in surgery feeling better then ever! I highly recommend this place, the doctor did such a great job removing my wisdom teeth that I had little to no pain 10 hours after surgery!!!

Ankit Patel

Great service, quick scheduling, convenient location in Navy Yard and reasonably priced. Kendall at the front desk was very helpful with scheduling and answering billing questions. Dr. Patel was thorough with explaining the procedure up front and the steps post op. Very responsive via email.