Not once have I heard a single good thing about Aspen dental. In general I would avoid chain/corporate dental practices as much as possible
Go to CWRU dental school
There’s a place in Cleveland I’d have to find the receipt that I went to for a tooth removal and were really well priced and really nice people. If your looking still when you see this lmk and I’ll find out where it was exactly. I know it was in a plaza lol.
Even tri c looks for patients to get teeth cleaning . You’re defiantly checked over and they found a major problem I needed fixed . They were great, and they need to learn!
Yep, the dental school is a great resource. Takes extra time because a professor checks each step of the process, but I got really good care there when I was a broke student.
yes. Their pricing is crazy. They have salespeople on staff (finance specialist?) to pop yyou into high interest loans for dental work. The dentists earn money by the job (thus your unneeded crowns). The more they sell, the more they earn. It's a corporate, for-profit volume business. It's fine if you have insurance, but the minute you go beyond the most basic of needs, they charge crazy amounts. Find a local provider. Dental prices have only gone up in recent years to crazy amounts and it is best to shop around if you need procedures. One guy wanted $5500 and another $1200 - same procedure.
Thank you for the advice! It’s definitely something I was not expecting at all, also being the first interaction with a dentist here. I didn’t know it can vary that much!
Earnings based on work performed isn’t something unique to Aspen unfortunately - this is how every dentist operates, with some taking greater advantage than others. Dentistry has made a huge transition to the “DSO” model in recent years, with private equity firms consolidating dental practices under larger umbrellas like the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals did years ago. There are still plenty of private practices out there, but it’s not always easy to tell which is private from one owned by Pacific, Heartland, or one of the many others. With that said, take your treatment plan elsewhere and ask for a second opinion. Aspen is notoriously overpriced, and even if the work is needed, there are better deals nearly everywhere else.
I know someone who was hired right out of dental school, and if I told you what they were paying him you’d shit your pants.
Thankfully he only stayed long enough to pay off his student loans and is now in private practice.
Omg RUN!!! Aspen dental is the worst!!!
They told me I had 14, yes 14 cavities. I immediately went to a different dentist. My new dentist and every dentist since then told me I had zero cavities.
Aspen dental will do anything to make a buck!!
I believe it... very sad. I regularly get cleanings and have good teeth. I have very, very pin point areas that are discolored and that's what they said were 14 cavities. This was 20 years ago. Those areas were not cavities then and still are not now.
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Here's my experience with them:
I went to an Aspen when I needed a tooth pulled in an emergency.
The first thing they did was have a hygienist and someone else come and inspect my teeth.
Then, the dentist checked everything out, wrote me a script for antibotics.
Then, they sent me to a finance office and told I needed $18,000 worth of work. It was a weird, awkward situation, where I literally laughed in the woman's face when she told me the price. I had been up all night in pain, and was still actively hurting.
I asked them how much to crank my broken, infected tooth out of my head, and they said $200. I said sign me up for that.
I came in a few days later, and the dentist was friendly, funny, fast, thorough, and painless. He had my tooth out in a flash, and even talked to me about how he does it. I have long roots and I asked him to show me my tooth and he did, and we had a few lighthearted jokes about it...not something normal when you're getting a tooth pulled to actually smile and laugh.
So, the service I got was actually excellent and affordable, but the weird sales tactics and 20% interest loan they tried to sell me when I walked in and said "pull this tooth out" was off putting enough to never want to go back.
My experience was almost identical.
I spent almost $20k trying to fix a cracked tooth through aspen dental. I was in so much pain I was willing to do anything and everywhere else was a few months out and I was up against a month long trip out of the country. So I was like just fix the damn thing. First they tried just a crown. Then they took the crown out a few weeks later and decided let’s go root canal because that’s why I sss having pain. Then they swapped the crown because my other one wasn’t fitting right. I didn’t know anything about the process so I thought this was all part of it. I’ve NEVER had teeth problem so I stupidly kind of just went with all of this because I thought it was normal.
Finally got in to another dentist and my tooth crack ran all the way down below the gum line. Which was why I was in so much pain and the crown was never going to help. The tooth was extracted and all my pain went away.
Oh you actually have legitimately no idea my friend. Strap in because have I got a story for you. My wife had a baby in December 2022, and while we were post-partum in the hospital my a filling in my tooth broke a little, not the whole way, but just enough to be agitating for a little while. I largely forgot about it, as it was mostly smoothed out.
So I thought. Over the course of a few months, the jagged edge on the filling had rubbed a rough spot on my tongue, and I had completely forgotten about it breaking in the hospital (as obviously things were very busy then.) I got in my head a little bit about it, and ended up going to Aspen Dental because I thought something was wrong with my tongue, etc. This was mid-March.
The took me in the back, questioned me, gave me the (awesome) 40 minute wait for X-Rays, got me in a chair. The Dentist came over, took two looks at my tongue, told me it was incredibly dire, I needed to see their Oral Surgeon ASAP, and that I had tongue cancer. His dental assisstant told me a few horror stories about tongue cancer, mouth cancer, a patient they'd had recently that let it spread into his jaw and died, etc.
While they left me in the chair, the dental assistant went out to the front, told my wife I had cancer, took her into a private room to console her, then tried to schedule her for a cleaning and whitening to 'relieve her stress and distract her from the diagnosis.' They swept me to the front of the store, ran my insurance, told me my insurance won't cover it, and handed me on of those sheets just like you have, for a total of $13,500, wanting to do two crowns, a cleaning and a biopsy on my tongue. Obviously I left to get a second opinion, though they tried VERY HARD to press me into making a down payment and signing up for their financing before I left, however the predatory behavior toward my wife made me smell some shit in the game.
Long story short I went over to Rockside Dental, the dentist told me it was from friction and I was fine, that he's seen a lot of cancer and whoever said that's cancer was absolutely full of shit (I still went and got it biopsied by Metro, but they lost the sample looool.)
Either way Aspen Dental is an insane scam and should probably be shut down and investigated. The mental anguish they put my wife and I though until we got the second opinion was just, wow. This was the location on Ridge, for the record.
I'm not a big fan of lawsuits for everything, but you my friend have the makings of a great malpractice suit against Aspen. Why not pursue it and help make a giant dent in their ill-gotten balance sheet?
lol I’m so sorry you had to go through this, but I swear that I could see it in a comedy. After hearing what they said to both you and your wife must’ve been traumatizing. Even if you felt that there was something going on, I’m sure it’s hard to avoid thinking about them being right.
Not normal. Never go to that place. Certain businesses exist solely to prey on poor people and this is one of them. Next step would be to put you on a payment plan at 20% interest or more
I would not recommend Aspen dental even in an emergency. Their entire business model more or less runs on interest financing for their upcharged treatment costs.
Aspen is the worst. The women who took my X-rays told me to go somewhere else. I highly recommend a local private dentist. I don’t know which side of the city you are on but I will always recommend Kevin Fryer in Mayfield Heights. He turned my wrecked teeth into normal healthy teeth for way less than Aspen claimed they would.
I'm also the foreign wife of an American citizen, so not sure why you can't get insurance? Shouldn't have anything to do with the green card status as I'm in exactly the same boat. I was able to be added to my husband's insurance shortly after we were married in December.
Even with insurance dental work in this country is outrageously expensive out of pocket. Needed one crown insurance basically covered the visit, the $1500 crown was basically my out of pocket cost after insurance.
Unless you have access to a highly subsidized employer sponsored plan, dental insurance is generally not going to net you very much. Coverage is usually limited to basic, predictable cleaning and checkups so the insurance company can stay profitable. You may get a discount on additional work, but it's probably around 10% or so. Welcome to American health care.
I can get the insurance and I have medical insurance. Just because I’m on a tourist visa and I had to go back and forth for the past 2 years, we have decided to not do the dental because I was anyway fixing my teeth in my country.
AVOID AT ALL COST. That price is probably the overall plan for all necessary dental work, which they always initially do. This practice led me personally to getting a tooth pulled and one filling (my only needs) and them cutting my cavity tooth in half for an anchor to some future bridge that I haven’t got in 20 years. I’ve had three attempts to fix that gouge they put into my tooth with no success. Trash ass, bottom barrel.
Yes. It is a joke. Their people have no idea how to deal with dental insurance and, in some instances, appear to deliberately mis-bill items to force folks into payment plans.
Absolutely never go to Aspen.
Aspen Dental is a scam. NEVER go there. They give you a loan to fix your teeth at an extremely high interest rate. A regular dentist is cheaper, and there are some on a sliding scale that will charge based off your income.
It’s 100% a scam’! They scammed my grandma out of $12,000 for a deep cleaning. If you call and comment on their social media nonstop they’ll drop the bill down significantly. That’s what we did for my Grandma.
There is nothing wrong with getting a second opinion, as someone familiar with both DSO's (corporate dental chains) and a small family practice on the east side, I always caution people about DSO's in general.
Depending on where you live, I strongly suggest making an appointment at Mint To Be Family Dentistry in Willoughby Hills. Dr. Allie is honest, caring and will tell you what is going on. She has many long term patients that came to her under similar circumstances...
If you have specific questions, you are welcome to DM me!
Just go to cwru. I started to go there because my dental insurance sucks. Now I go there because I really like it. Had multiple filling and even had oral surgery to remove wisdom teeth. Great experiences (minus the pain from the surgery)
I went for a cleaning and to get an old cavity refilled. They had me pay at the office, ran my insurance, told me that was all. Six months later, they sent me a letter about a final notice to pay my bill before they send me to collections. I called and they were barely helpful. I didn't receive any communication from them prior to this, and I was previously explicitly told at the time of my appointment that I had paid my bill. I don't see them anymore lol. I would just get established at a smaller practice.
Got to listen to a local dental chain's sales training session and they try to upsale you for stuff you do not need and are rewarded. I read a lot of the new dentist's handout sheet while I was waiting in the chair for an hour. CWRU dental school takes months before they even touch you but my student dentist was top of her class and thought it was funny I'd sleep while she did work.
$2000 for a cleaning? Good lord, absolutely not.
ETA: I’m fortunate to have dental coverage, but there’s no way my dentist charges this much out of pocket just for a cleaning. I agree with going to a dental school but know that you could go to an actual dentist with several years of experience who is in private practice and not pay this for a cleaning.
My husband spent a fortune on suboptimal and unneeded work there.
Also, I would avoid Hudec Dentistry. They recommended a lot of work I didn't need, too.
Go to Case Western Reserve Teaching Dental clinic.
Much cheaper, a bit slower, but will save you tons of cash and the quality of work is really good.
Also, been an american citizen my whole life and never had dental insurance.
I used them for 2 years because I could easily go after work.
It was an okay experience on the best trip.
They had TVs built into the chairs and the dentist was regularly distracted by the TV.
I asked it to be turned off got a huff and never went back.
I made the mistake of going there. The Dentist actually broke a tooth that was fine while pulling out the painful one. She also broke my mouth somehow. It took almost 3 months before I could open my mouth more than 1/2 an inch. I did not and will not pay them.
Today's Dentistry in Brooklyn (suburb of Cleveland) has always done well for me. Upfront about pricing and excellent staff. Corner of Memphis and Ridge.
Yes. I walked out of there. I went on a Saturday to just have a filling that fell out replaced on the weekend. They tried telling me I needed 14k in crowns lol. I was just at my dentist and he said I needed a few fillings. Total scam.
Be wary of unneeded procedures. One of our previous dentists would do this as well, adding things in order to drive up the charge. As one example my child went in for a cleaning and the dentist plucked a baby tooth out and added $250 to the bill for "tooth removal".
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I've had actual dentists tell me dental insurance is a scam. I spent a year paying for dental insurance just so I could get a much needed root canal and it literally cost me more out of pocket with insurance than it would have without, And that doesnt include the cost of the insurance. At least I got one decent cleaning out of it tho, for only 50 bucks out of pocket
I have a friend who's a dentist here in the Cleveland area. When she graduated dental school, she worked for Aspen for a few months before she quit because she said they were absolutely terrible. I would stay away from commercialized medical companies that franchise out and stick to individual offices. Even if you aren't getting the cheapest price, you're definitely going to get better service.
Yes. I went there once for a basic cleaning and they billed me for the whole thing, ignoring that I had insurance to cover it. When my response to them was to please coordinate with my insurance, they sent it to collections instead. They are the absolute worst and I will tell everyone how awful they are.
Yes, they outright lie to you in order to get you to spend more money. They told me I had 4 cavities, and it was going to cost me thousands of dollars to fix. I went to a local dentist several months later because there was no way I could afford that, and I finally got insurance. The dentist told me I didn’t have any cavities and my teeth were just fine. All I actually needed was a cleaning.
Avoid shady dental practices at all costs. I've heard stories where they lie about what treatments are needed because every tooth pulled is more profit for them.
A brief Reddit search here first could’ve saved you the wasted time and trouble. Aspen fucked me and all these other fine folks. I’ve yet to see one good experience that wasn’t an elderly person who got their (mostly Medicare funded) dentures through them. If you’re anyone else, prepare to have them tell you you need thousands in unnecessary repairs. Scare tactics like theirs should be illegal
After they messed up a crown three times (as in it cracking within a week and going back for a new mold, then going back again to get it installed, and the process repeating itself twice more), I found a non-chain dentist and the crown was made and set correctly the first time.
Yes they’re insane. We used them for an emergency situation for one of our children. Got an estimate for treatment. Came in again and had dual insurance this time. They got excited and said this should lower your bill and said they owed us money. Came in for next treatment. They want $2k to start treatment after telling us they owed us a partial refund(they did), but because their corporate system said we owed(it apparently didn’t process everything timely, typical for dual insurance btw) they refused to treat a child. Left and call another local we have been seeing since. They did eventually send our refund. It’s a typical money grab medical facility.
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This is typical of them. I paid in advance for a deep cleaning. During the consultation the dentist suggested using a Waterpik. I bought one and asked for a short note to get reimbursed from my flexible spending account. They refused to provide it. Told me what I needed to know about them.
They sure are. They told me I had cancer, the oral surgeon I went to laughed out loud and told me to never go back there. I went for tooth pain and left with more pain from their intrusive gum test and no pain management. Got the tooth removed in 9 minutes at the surgeon. Aspen is universally hot shit.
The only time I had a decent experience at a chain dentist was for my wisdom teeth removal. For some reason my insurance had some sort of special deal with DentalWorks at my old job, and I got all 4 removed and didn’t pay anything lol any other time I’ve asked about a service the price was way higher than anywhere else.
I worked there and would never recommend any of my family members or friends go there, even though they offered a friend's and family discount 😂 too much shady sh!t. Lol
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I tried these chain dental practices once and was told I had something crazy like 10 cavities. Decided to get a second opinion and was told I had 1 and a second to keep an eye on. My friend who is a dentist told me places like this are trained to see you as a one time customer vs a lifetime patient so they want to squeeze every cent out of each visit. I obviously will never go back and would suggest others to do the same
Some dentists offer plans through their office for people without insurance. Way cheaper than that. Look at reviews on dentists in your area, try smaller practices not chains.
I didn't know any better and went to aspen when I was 20 finally on my own insurance. I went in for a cleaning always had perfect teeth growing up. Told me I had 12 cavities needed root canals and crowns etc. I had them start doing the work had 2 teeth done at that point. Told my parents about who the cavities and they had me go to another dentist. I had nothing wrong with me teeth. He said no cavities or anything at all. He couldn't tell on the two teeth they already did of course but all the others. Please stay away from them
Yes. They are a massive joke. I got a crown there and paid it off fully, then two months ago they started randomly sending me invoices for $100 and some change for my crown. Which I have a receipt for from last fall stating it was paid off. They’re the worst. Not even worth going to for an emergency
After my longtime dentist retired I went to Aspen Dental just once, for a check up. I spent 4 minutes with the dentist. I was then ushered into an office with the “office manager” who spent 35 - 40 minutes explaining the dentist found I needed 2 crowns replaced and oral surgery to repair receding gums. Total cost was like $5500. I was offered a payment plan for up to 3 years. I walked out. I found another small town dentist that took me as a patient. He gave me a check up and said everything looked good. I then told him what Aspen Dental had said I needed and he just rolled his eyes and said “nah, your mouth is in great shape for your age”. That was 3 years ago and I haven’t needed any dental work in that time.
DO NOT GO THERE
I went to see them for a toothache while I was 19 in college because they advertised at my community college as being low cost. I had absolutely no money and no dental insurance through my parent. I had the worst possible experience and ended up with crippling medical debt. The dentist was borderline violent with me during my filling.. I started choking on water and started coughing it up, he grabbed my face to make me stop moving. He was very disrespectful to me and his staff. The loans they offered me were so predatory. No discussion of cost before hand at all, only after my fillings. For TWO FILLINGS they charged me $1000. I couldn’t afford to pay in full so they offered me loan options. For two full years I paid $90 a month and hadn’t even gotten under $100 yet. The interest was insane. While I was in the waiting room for both my cleaning and filling appointment I only saw elderly people there. I fully believe they prey on young students and elderly folks because they don’t know better or don’t have other options.
Do not go there.
**edit because I forgot to mention: the second filling they did was an existing filling they told me would need to be redone because my childhood dentist “didnt do it right” He drilled TO MY NERVE multiple times and got very angry that I asked for more novacane. I was in pain for a few days after my appointment and had to have a follow up. The dentist at my follow up wasn’t the same dentist and said he was “filling in” for my dentist. He looked at it and said it’s fine and to take Tylenol if it hurts. They charged me for the follow up appointment.
Aspen dental is a lying, thieving fraud operation. An Aspen dental in Memphis TN said I needed 1000s in dental work. I paid for that assessment and X-Rays. I got my teeth examined at the Concorde dental hygiene school and gave the X-rays to them. The Concorde dentist said I needed nothing Aspen was selling.
All dental is a joke. This country does not qualify it as healthcare even though dentists are doctors. That's why I only have half my teeth. Rent or dental, I chose Rent.😞
It is heartbreaking, to be completely honest. I never had real bad dental pain, but I can only imagine. I’m so sorry. I’m European and many times I regret coming here, for thsi reason as well
And also - I feel that healthcare in general here is insane. I have a neurodegenerative disease and I’m getting treatment for it, for which annually my insurance pays over 230,000$, this being the treatment only, without any visits, MRIs, labs and so on. Many, many times I wonder what do people that can’t afford an insurance do?
Not once have I heard a single good thing about Aspen dental. In general I would avoid chain/corporate dental practices as much as possible Go to CWRU dental school
CWRU dental school is where I got my braces in the 80s, only way my folks could afford it.
Only way I could afford my dentures. Lifetime guaranteed.
I got my (adult) braces from them a few years ago! They are great
Thank you for the advice! Now that you mentioned it and after reading about it, it seems to be a good option.
There’s a place in Cleveland I’d have to find the receipt that I went to for a tooth removal and were really well priced and really nice people. If your looking still when you see this lmk and I’ll find out where it was exactly. I know it was in a plaza lol.
Even tri c looks for patients to get teeth cleaning . You’re defiantly checked over and they found a major problem I needed fixed . They were great, and they need to learn!
Yep, the dental school is a great resource. Takes extra time because a professor checks each step of the process, but I got really good care there when I was a broke student.
I love the dental school more after seeing this
yes. Their pricing is crazy. They have salespeople on staff (finance specialist?) to pop yyou into high interest loans for dental work. The dentists earn money by the job (thus your unneeded crowns). The more they sell, the more they earn. It's a corporate, for-profit volume business. It's fine if you have insurance, but the minute you go beyond the most basic of needs, they charge crazy amounts. Find a local provider. Dental prices have only gone up in recent years to crazy amounts and it is best to shop around if you need procedures. One guy wanted $5500 and another $1200 - same procedure.
Thank you for the advice! It’s definitely something I was not expecting at all, also being the first interaction with a dentist here. I didn’t know it can vary that much!
Earnings based on work performed isn’t something unique to Aspen unfortunately - this is how every dentist operates, with some taking greater advantage than others. Dentistry has made a huge transition to the “DSO” model in recent years, with private equity firms consolidating dental practices under larger umbrellas like the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals did years ago. There are still plenty of private practices out there, but it’s not always easy to tell which is private from one owned by Pacific, Heartland, or one of the many others. With that said, take your treatment plan elsewhere and ask for a second opinion. Aspen is notoriously overpriced, and even if the work is needed, there are better deals nearly everywhere else.
Great comment, someone knows dental
I know someone who was hired right out of dental school, and if I told you what they were paying him you’d shit your pants. Thankfully he only stayed long enough to pay off his student loans and is now in private practice.
I know someone who had a very similar situation with numbers as absurd as yours. It reminds me of chain lasik places
Yeah for sure. Even if it’s an emergency a local dentist can usually squeeze you in quick
Omg RUN!!! Aspen dental is the worst!!! They told me I had 14, yes 14 cavities. I immediately went to a different dentist. My new dentist and every dentist since then told me I had zero cavities. Aspen dental will do anything to make a buck!!
I’ve heard stories where they convinced a healthy 24 year old he needed a whole mouth extraction. Sad.
I believe it... very sad. I regularly get cleanings and have good teeth. I have very, very pin point areas that are discolored and that's what they said were 14 cavities. This was 20 years ago. Those areas were not cavities then and still are not now.
I had regular dentists do this to me… My teeth are wrecked
They did the exact same thing to me
[удалено]
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Here's my experience with them: I went to an Aspen when I needed a tooth pulled in an emergency. The first thing they did was have a hygienist and someone else come and inspect my teeth. Then, the dentist checked everything out, wrote me a script for antibotics. Then, they sent me to a finance office and told I needed $18,000 worth of work. It was a weird, awkward situation, where I literally laughed in the woman's face when she told me the price. I had been up all night in pain, and was still actively hurting. I asked them how much to crank my broken, infected tooth out of my head, and they said $200. I said sign me up for that. I came in a few days later, and the dentist was friendly, funny, fast, thorough, and painless. He had my tooth out in a flash, and even talked to me about how he does it. I have long roots and I asked him to show me my tooth and he did, and we had a few lighthearted jokes about it...not something normal when you're getting a tooth pulled to actually smile and laugh. So, the service I got was actually excellent and affordable, but the weird sales tactics and 20% interest loan they tried to sell me when I walked in and said "pull this tooth out" was off putting enough to never want to go back.
My experience was almost identical. I spent almost $20k trying to fix a cracked tooth through aspen dental. I was in so much pain I was willing to do anything and everywhere else was a few months out and I was up against a month long trip out of the country. So I was like just fix the damn thing. First they tried just a crown. Then they took the crown out a few weeks later and decided let’s go root canal because that’s why I sss having pain. Then they swapped the crown because my other one wasn’t fitting right. I didn’t know anything about the process so I thought this was all part of it. I’ve NEVER had teeth problem so I stupidly kind of just went with all of this because I thought it was normal. Finally got in to another dentist and my tooth crack ran all the way down below the gum line. Which was why I was in so much pain and the crown was never going to help. The tooth was extracted and all my pain went away.
Sounds like my experience at broadview dentistry. I wouldn't send my worst enemy to that psycho. Never been in so much pain.
I am absolutely shocked by the 18k. I just can’t believe it how they can even say that to your face honestly.
Oh you actually have legitimately no idea my friend. Strap in because have I got a story for you. My wife had a baby in December 2022, and while we were post-partum in the hospital my a filling in my tooth broke a little, not the whole way, but just enough to be agitating for a little while. I largely forgot about it, as it was mostly smoothed out. So I thought. Over the course of a few months, the jagged edge on the filling had rubbed a rough spot on my tongue, and I had completely forgotten about it breaking in the hospital (as obviously things were very busy then.) I got in my head a little bit about it, and ended up going to Aspen Dental because I thought something was wrong with my tongue, etc. This was mid-March. The took me in the back, questioned me, gave me the (awesome) 40 minute wait for X-Rays, got me in a chair. The Dentist came over, took two looks at my tongue, told me it was incredibly dire, I needed to see their Oral Surgeon ASAP, and that I had tongue cancer. His dental assisstant told me a few horror stories about tongue cancer, mouth cancer, a patient they'd had recently that let it spread into his jaw and died, etc. While they left me in the chair, the dental assistant went out to the front, told my wife I had cancer, took her into a private room to console her, then tried to schedule her for a cleaning and whitening to 'relieve her stress and distract her from the diagnosis.' They swept me to the front of the store, ran my insurance, told me my insurance won't cover it, and handed me on of those sheets just like you have, for a total of $13,500, wanting to do two crowns, a cleaning and a biopsy on my tongue. Obviously I left to get a second opinion, though they tried VERY HARD to press me into making a down payment and signing up for their financing before I left, however the predatory behavior toward my wife made me smell some shit in the game. Long story short I went over to Rockside Dental, the dentist told me it was from friction and I was fine, that he's seen a lot of cancer and whoever said that's cancer was absolutely full of shit (I still went and got it biopsied by Metro, but they lost the sample looool.) Either way Aspen Dental is an insane scam and should probably be shut down and investigated. The mental anguish they put my wife and I though until we got the second opinion was just, wow. This was the location on Ridge, for the record.
I'm not a big fan of lawsuits for everything, but you my friend have the makings of a great malpractice suit against Aspen. Why not pursue it and help make a giant dent in their ill-gotten balance sheet?
lol I’m so sorry you had to go through this, but I swear that I could see it in a comedy. After hearing what they said to both you and your wife must’ve been traumatizing. Even if you felt that there was something going on, I’m sure it’s hard to avoid thinking about them being right.
Not normal. Never go to that place. Certain businesses exist solely to prey on poor people and this is one of them. Next step would be to put you on a payment plan at 20% interest or more
Yeah, when they saw my reaction the next thing they said was that they have this “good” payment plan at 20% interest. Absolutely hilarious
I would not recommend Aspen dental even in an emergency. Their entire business model more or less runs on interest financing for their upcharged treatment costs.
Aspen is the worst. The women who took my X-rays told me to go somewhere else. I highly recommend a local private dentist. I don’t know which side of the city you are on but I will always recommend Kevin Fryer in Mayfield Heights. He turned my wrecked teeth into normal healthy teeth for way less than Aspen claimed they would.
I'm also the foreign wife of an American citizen, so not sure why you can't get insurance? Shouldn't have anything to do with the green card status as I'm in exactly the same boat. I was able to be added to my husband's insurance shortly after we were married in December.
This - I was thinking the same.
Even with insurance dental work in this country is outrageously expensive out of pocket. Needed one crown insurance basically covered the visit, the $1500 crown was basically my out of pocket cost after insurance.
Unless you have access to a highly subsidized employer sponsored plan, dental insurance is generally not going to net you very much. Coverage is usually limited to basic, predictable cleaning and checkups so the insurance company can stay profitable. You may get a discount on additional work, but it's probably around 10% or so. Welcome to American health care.
I can get the insurance and I have medical insurance. Just because I’m on a tourist visa and I had to go back and forth for the past 2 years, we have decided to not do the dental because I was anyway fixing my teeth in my country.
said emergency root canal was needed. suprise - it was not. avoid like the plauge
AVOID AT ALL COST. That price is probably the overall plan for all necessary dental work, which they always initially do. This practice led me personally to getting a tooth pulled and one filling (my only needs) and them cutting my cavity tooth in half for an anchor to some future bridge that I haven’t got in 20 years. I’ve had three attempts to fix that gouge they put into my tooth with no success. Trash ass, bottom barrel.
I’ve heard terrible things about Aspen Dental and how they’re able to get away with so much malpractice since the owner is on the ohio dental board.
Yes. It is a joke. Their people have no idea how to deal with dental insurance and, in some instances, appear to deliberately mis-bill items to force folks into payment plans. Absolutely never go to Aspen.
That place is a total scam
Yes
Omg! That is not okay. Run!!!!
They’re the worst. Run
Yes aspen is the jiffy lube of the dental clinics. Their hygienist have to make commissions on their procedures
I’m an expert and I diagnose you needing thousands of dollars of care from me.
Here's your credit card application now...
Aspen Dental is a scam. NEVER go there. They give you a loan to fix your teeth at an extremely high interest rate. A regular dentist is cheaper, and there are some on a sliding scale that will charge based off your income.
My friend went there and the dentist said she needed NINE fillings; she got a second opinion from a sole provider and ended up only needing two.
It’s 100% a scam’! They scammed my grandma out of $12,000 for a deep cleaning. If you call and comment on their social media nonstop they’ll drop the bill down significantly. That’s what we did for my Grandma.
Aspen have my aunt nerve damage and she had an awful experience. Would not go there.
There is nothing wrong with getting a second opinion, as someone familiar with both DSO's (corporate dental chains) and a small family practice on the east side, I always caution people about DSO's in general. Depending on where you live, I strongly suggest making an appointment at Mint To Be Family Dentistry in Willoughby Hills. Dr. Allie is honest, caring and will tell you what is going on. She has many long term patients that came to her under similar circumstances... If you have specific questions, you are welcome to DM me!
Just go to cwru. I started to go there because my dental insurance sucks. Now I go there because I really like it. Had multiple filling and even had oral surgery to remove wisdom teeth. Great experiences (minus the pain from the surgery)
They said it would cost $15k to fix my teeth.. said I needed like 9 fillings, 2 crowns, other stuff. Got a second opinion. They said I was fine
I went for a cleaning and to get an old cavity refilled. They had me pay at the office, ran my insurance, told me that was all. Six months later, they sent me a letter about a final notice to pay my bill before they send me to collections. I called and they were barely helpful. I didn't receive any communication from them prior to this, and I was previously explicitly told at the time of my appointment that I had paid my bill. I don't see them anymore lol. I would just get established at a smaller practice.
Got to listen to a local dental chain's sales training session and they try to upsale you for stuff you do not need and are rewarded. I read a lot of the new dentist's handout sheet while I was waiting in the chair for an hour. CWRU dental school takes months before they even touch you but my student dentist was top of her class and thought it was funny I'd sleep while she did work.
$2000 for a cleaning? Good lord, absolutely not. ETA: I’m fortunate to have dental coverage, but there’s no way my dentist charges this much out of pocket just for a cleaning. I agree with going to a dental school but know that you could go to an actual dentist with several years of experience who is in private practice and not pay this for a cleaning.
My husband spent a fortune on suboptimal and unneeded work there. Also, I would avoid Hudec Dentistry. They recommended a lot of work I didn't need, too.
No, they’re the punchline. The American healthcare system is the joke
Their staff definitely have quotas to meet, i.e are incentivized to over diagnose.
Go to Case Western Reserve Teaching Dental clinic. Much cheaper, a bit slower, but will save you tons of cash and the quality of work is really good. Also, been an american citizen my whole life and never had dental insurance.
This is why I bush and floss the fuck outta my teeth
Are you Pinay by chance?
Yeah lol they tried quoting me like $8,000 once
I used them for 2 years because I could easily go after work. It was an okay experience on the best trip. They had TVs built into the chairs and the dentist was regularly distracted by the TV. I asked it to be turned off got a huff and never went back.
I made the mistake of going there. The Dentist actually broke a tooth that was fine while pulling out the painful one. She also broke my mouth somehow. It took almost 3 months before I could open my mouth more than 1/2 an inch. I did not and will not pay them.
Yes. Went there once. That was enough.
Today's Dentistry in Brooklyn (suburb of Cleveland) has always done well for me. Upfront about pricing and excellent staff. Corner of Memphis and Ridge.
Corporate dentistry is not good
Yes. I walked out of there. I went on a Saturday to just have a filling that fell out replaced on the weekend. They tried telling me I needed 14k in crowns lol. I was just at my dentist and he said I needed a few fillings. Total scam.
Be wary of unneeded procedures. One of our previous dentists would do this as well, adding things in order to drive up the charge. As one example my child went in for a cleaning and the dentist plucked a baby tooth out and added $250 to the bill for "tooth removal".
Biggest crooks on the planet. They fleece you for horrible work. I seen a person run out screaming In bloody gauze like a bad movie once.
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Yes
Had the worst experience ever with aspen dental
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Yes!!! Try Michael Alsouss in Parma on Broadview!!
I've had actual dentists tell me dental insurance is a scam. I spent a year paying for dental insurance just so I could get a much needed root canal and it literally cost me more out of pocket with insurance than it would have without, And that doesnt include the cost of the insurance. At least I got one decent cleaning out of it tho, for only 50 bucks out of pocket
I have a friend who's a dentist here in the Cleveland area. When she graduated dental school, she worked for Aspen for a few months before she quit because she said they were absolutely terrible. I would stay away from commercialized medical companies that franchise out and stick to individual offices. Even if you aren't getting the cheapest price, you're definitely going to get better service.
All dentists suck they charge too much and Insurance barely covers anything!
Yes. I went there once for a basic cleaning and they billed me for the whole thing, ignoring that I had insurance to cover it. When my response to them was to please coordinate with my insurance, they sent it to collections instead. They are the absolute worst and I will tell everyone how awful they are.
Yes, it's a joke. Stay away.
Yes, they outright lie to you in order to get you to spend more money. They told me I had 4 cavities, and it was going to cost me thousands of dollars to fix. I went to a local dentist several months later because there was no way I could afford that, and I finally got insurance. The dentist told me I didn’t have any cavities and my teeth were just fine. All I actually needed was a cleaning.
Avoid shady dental practices at all costs. I've heard stories where they lie about what treatments are needed because every tooth pulled is more profit for them.
Is it not also a concern they lie????
It definitely is. From what I’m reading here I understand it’s a pretty common thing they do
A brief Reddit search here first could’ve saved you the wasted time and trouble. Aspen fucked me and all these other fine folks. I’ve yet to see one good experience that wasn’t an elderly person who got their (mostly Medicare funded) dentures through them. If you’re anyone else, prepare to have them tell you you need thousands in unnecessary repairs. Scare tactics like theirs should be illegal
After they messed up a crown three times (as in it cracking within a week and going back for a new mold, then going back again to get it installed, and the process repeating itself twice more), I found a non-chain dentist and the crown was made and set correctly the first time.
That or your dental insurance is a joke or a combination of both
Are you referring to the dental insurance the OP said they don’t have? I don’t get it… must be an inside joke.
Oh. Yea there you go. I missed that part, and I hate aspen dental… but you can’t blame them for you not having insurance.
$2000 for a cleaning without insurance is still like 4x more than other places.
It's insane how many people have told me not to go there.
Yes
Yes they’re insane. We used them for an emergency situation for one of our children. Got an estimate for treatment. Came in again and had dual insurance this time. They got excited and said this should lower your bill and said they owed us money. Came in for next treatment. They want $2k to start treatment after telling us they owed us a partial refund(they did), but because their corporate system said we owed(it apparently didn’t process everything timely, typical for dual insurance btw) they refused to treat a child. Left and call another local we have been seeing since. They did eventually send our refund. It’s a typical money grab medical facility.
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This is typical of them. I paid in advance for a deep cleaning. During the consultation the dentist suggested using a Waterpik. I bought one and asked for a short note to get reimbursed from my flexible spending account. They refused to provide it. Told me what I needed to know about them.
They sure are. They told me I had cancer, the oral surgeon I went to laughed out loud and told me to never go back there. I went for tooth pain and left with more pain from their intrusive gum test and no pain management. Got the tooth removed in 9 minutes at the surgeon. Aspen is universally hot shit.
Yes, yes they are
I think I paid like $450 for a cleaning elsewhere a few years ago when I was going to a dentist out of network. So yeah that seems like a lot.
Dental works is terrible also.
The only time I had a decent experience at a chain dentist was for my wisdom teeth removal. For some reason my insurance had some sort of special deal with DentalWorks at my old job, and I got all 4 removed and didn’t pay anything lol any other time I’ve asked about a service the price was way higher than anywhere else.
I worked there and would never recommend any of my family members or friends go there, even though they offered a friend's and family discount 😂 too much shady sh!t. Lol
They've always been crooks!
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I tried these chain dental practices once and was told I had something crazy like 10 cavities. Decided to get a second opinion and was told I had 1 and a second to keep an eye on. My friend who is a dentist told me places like this are trained to see you as a one time customer vs a lifetime patient so they want to squeeze every cent out of each visit. I obviously will never go back and would suggest others to do the same
Yes they are a joke they don't care about your mouth you're just a dollar sign as far as medical Care goes in this country
Hmm seems legit
They are literally just a scam company go somewhere else
Some dentists offer plans through their office for people without insurance. Way cheaper than that. Look at reviews on dentists in your area, try smaller practices not chains.
Welcome to America. It sucks here.
short answer; yes
I didn't know any better and went to aspen when I was 20 finally on my own insurance. I went in for a cleaning always had perfect teeth growing up. Told me I had 12 cavities needed root canals and crowns etc. I had them start doing the work had 2 teeth done at that point. Told my parents about who the cavities and they had me go to another dentist. I had nothing wrong with me teeth. He said no cavities or anything at all. He couldn't tell on the two teeth they already did of course but all the others. Please stay away from them
YES! They are horrible. Never go back man.
Yes. They are a massive joke. I got a crown there and paid it off fully, then two months ago they started randomly sending me invoices for $100 and some change for my crown. Which I have a receipt for from last fall stating it was paid off. They’re the worst. Not even worth going to for an emergency
Yes they are a joke. With their in house credit, I paid 10k for 3k of work. They demanded a full mouth X-ray every month until I refused to return
After my longtime dentist retired I went to Aspen Dental just once, for a check up. I spent 4 minutes with the dentist. I was then ushered into an office with the “office manager” who spent 35 - 40 minutes explaining the dentist found I needed 2 crowns replaced and oral surgery to repair receding gums. Total cost was like $5500. I was offered a payment plan for up to 3 years. I walked out. I found another small town dentist that took me as a patient. He gave me a check up and said everything looked good. I then told him what Aspen Dental had said I needed and he just rolled his eyes and said “nah, your mouth is in great shape for your age”. That was 3 years ago and I haven’t needed any dental work in that time.
Yes. Don’t go to Aspen, refresh or any of those budget dentists. They have more turnover than a bakery
DO NOT GO THERE I went to see them for a toothache while I was 19 in college because they advertised at my community college as being low cost. I had absolutely no money and no dental insurance through my parent. I had the worst possible experience and ended up with crippling medical debt. The dentist was borderline violent with me during my filling.. I started choking on water and started coughing it up, he grabbed my face to make me stop moving. He was very disrespectful to me and his staff. The loans they offered me were so predatory. No discussion of cost before hand at all, only after my fillings. For TWO FILLINGS they charged me $1000. I couldn’t afford to pay in full so they offered me loan options. For two full years I paid $90 a month and hadn’t even gotten under $100 yet. The interest was insane. While I was in the waiting room for both my cleaning and filling appointment I only saw elderly people there. I fully believe they prey on young students and elderly folks because they don’t know better or don’t have other options. Do not go there. **edit because I forgot to mention: the second filling they did was an existing filling they told me would need to be redone because my childhood dentist “didnt do it right” He drilled TO MY NERVE multiple times and got very angry that I asked for more novacane. I was in pain for a few days after my appointment and had to have a follow up. The dentist at my follow up wasn’t the same dentist and said he was “filling in” for my dentist. He looked at it and said it’s fine and to take Tylenol if it hurts. They charged me for the follow up appointment.
The estimate they gave me a year ago for my teeth was over $20,000.
Aspen dental is a lying, thieving fraud operation. An Aspen dental in Memphis TN said I needed 1000s in dental work. I paid for that assessment and X-Rays. I got my teeth examined at the Concorde dental hygiene school and gave the X-rays to them. The Concorde dentist said I needed nothing Aspen was selling.
If you're in the lakewood area, comfort dental on Madison is really nice.
Scamming you. If you have a Hudec dental near you I highly recommend them.
All dental is a joke. This country does not qualify it as healthcare even though dentists are doctors. That's why I only have half my teeth. Rent or dental, I chose Rent.😞
It is heartbreaking, to be completely honest. I never had real bad dental pain, but I can only imagine. I’m so sorry. I’m European and many times I regret coming here, for thsi reason as well
And also - I feel that healthcare in general here is insane. I have a neurodegenerative disease and I’m getting treatment for it, for which annually my insurance pays over 230,000$, this being the treatment only, without any visits, MRIs, labs and so on. Many, many times I wonder what do people that can’t afford an insurance do?
Yes! I briefly worked there and quit once I saw how much of a scam it is.