Yet another post about dentists

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

New job, new insurance, etc etc... Aetna PPO does not appear to give me a lot of choice -- none of the people who've been recommended in this community before appear to be part of their network. So, this is probably a long shot, but does anyone know anything about ANY of these dentists? Good experiences, or bad ones...? I pulled them pretty randomly off the Preferred Provider network of people close to 02144. (And no, they won't let me go to Dr. Casey Cook, despite the fact that he wins these please-recommend-a-dentist questions every single time!!!)

Paul K. Shick, 56 College Avenue, Somerville
Lewis Jeffrey Lowenston, 51 Holland Street, Somerville
Dental Arts Associates, 396 Highland Avenue, Somerville
George C. Galitis, 754 Broadway, Somerville
Lina A. Al-Aswad, 1133 Broadway, Somerville
New Era Dental, 2400 Mass Ave, Cambridge
Lorna Lally (and others), 1696 Mass Ave, Cambridge
Yi Wang, 101 Mass Ave, Arlington
John J. Boyle, 43 Broadway, Arlington

Comments

[desireearmfeldt]

I go to Dr. Shick (but have recently switched to him after my family dentist retired). He seems fine so far.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

I will recommend against the only one I've had personal experience with in this group which is George Galitis. When I took my son to an appointment with him I got a bad feeling about the place and then when I went online I found quite a few negative reviews (and no positive reviews). I can currently only find one site which requires either payment or reviews to see their full reviews but the combined stats give him a fairly poor performance. I know someone else who personally had one appointment with him and said she won't see him again.
For any of the above names I would probably start with a google search for "review dr_name dr_city" for each of the doctors you have listed.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

I did not like Galitis - he wouldn't take appointments 6 months ahead, and left me sitting on his stoop for half an hour when he was too sick to come in. (I eventually called and got his secretary.)

[nalz.livejournal.com]

Just as a note - Dr. Cook isn't in my insurance network but they will still bill it. So far the only stuff I've had to pay out of pocket for is a filling - cleanings and checkups have been within prices my insurance will reimburse for. So it might be worth it to check it out anyway.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

There are insurance plans where you can go anywhere and will just pay less for in-network and more for out-of-network providers -- but with mine, I get no coverage at all if I go out of network. It really sucks, but it seems to be the plan where I pay the least amount of money if I need a lot of work done (which I probably do), so I didn't feel I had much of a choice. :-P

[warlord-mit.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's too bad. I've also got the Aetna Dental PPO and I've been using Dr. Duarte in Porter Sq. I've been using him for years and I really like his work. But I might have a different Aetna plan than you do.

[gmpe.livejournal.com]

We've been happy so far at Dental Arts. (Just went there the first time in June.) Their hygienists are communicative and friendly and the dentist will actually discuss options with you if you need something done. (He'll still have the way he thinks is best, but will talk to you about why he thinks so, which I like.)

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

I go to Dental Arts Associates, and I really like it there. I started with Dr. Izedian, but was switched to Dr. M (I don't know how to spell or pronounce his last name!) on my last visit. I'm unclear on whether Dr. Izedian is gone for good or was just on vacation or something, but I highly recommend either of those guys if they're available.

I can't really speak for the other dentists there (I think there are two or three more), but the two I've gone to, along with their whole office staff, are so nice that I would be willing to give them a chance myself if my regular guys weren't available. :)

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

I've gone to Dr. Dobrin at Dental Arts for 5 years, and he's great! The hygienists are too, as has been mentioned above. I highly recommend them.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

I have Aetna PPO and I just saw Karen Bright at Bright Dental and was quite pleased. So, I recommend her.

The address is technically Washington Street, Somerville but without knowing the address I'd have said it was on Kirkland Street, Cambridge just a few doors down from Dali's.

[ludimagist.livejournal.com]

It's a bit of a subway ride, but if your network includes the Tufts Dental School I'd highly recommend them.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

It's worth noting that while they are definitely excellent (and much cheaper) IIRC, appointments will also tend to last much longer.

[punkaccountant.livejournal.com]

I also use Dr. Shick. He was really nice and efficient. His receptionist was also very kind and thorough in her explanation of the estimated costs for my fillings/dental work and related things to me in a clear and concise manner. It was easy to get an appointment with them and they accomodated my schedule quite well for future dental work.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I went to Dr. Shick. He seems awesome so far.