Pleasant Hill Smiles Dentistry

WELCOME TO PLESANT HILL CRIES!!!
I went in for a wisdom tooth extraction recently. I had made an appointment about two weeks prior and was told that a specialist comes once a month and does all the extractions. I also had asked several times over the phone and in person when I had gone in for a check up if I needed to take any antiboitics prior to the extraction to avoid any complications and was told that I did not need any. When I checked in to have the tooth pulled I was told that an oral surgeon by the name of Benjamin Shimel was going to do the extraction. I wondered why I needed an oral surgeon since my tooth was in one piece, complete and not broken off or anything like that to need surgery! Anyway, I was called into the room for the procedure and here comes in the mean Dr, Dr Benjamin Shimel in a big hurry and before I knew it he adminstered 3 shots into my gum with the help of his assisstants and barely was he finished with the shots that he started making an incission into my gum which I found out later. He was in such a big hurry that you would think his plane was leaving the gate in a couple of minutes and he had to just run!!! Then he immediately proceeded to pull out my tooth which hurt like hell. I also started feeling heavy on my chest and felt very weak all over like all the blood has drained my body! For a second, I thought I was going to die! I waved my left hand as I had been told to communicate with them if there was an issue and they stopped what they were doing and cleared my mouth so that I can talk. When I complained about the pain telling the Dr that he should waited a few minutes for the drugs to take effect, the doctor took it personal , became very angry, defensive and territorial! He told me that the drugs had an instant effect and he did not have to wait to do the pulling! I told him that I'd had teeth pulled out before and was pretty much familiar with the procedure. But he took it as an insult and started arguing with me. He told me that he either had to administer more anesthesia or abort the procedure which I chose the latter since I knew I couldn't take anymore of it in since I was already passing out and I didn't think he was cut for the job! Therefore, right away, he started stiching up my gum and dismissed me. In the mean time he was telling me that I needed to be completely knocked out and unconcious for him to do the extraction which seemed very odd to me and proved the point that he was the wrong person to extract my tooth! He also argued that I had needed to take antibiotics before the procedure which really enraged me since I had asked about taking them and everyone in that clinic had told me not to! Moreover, I don't know why he had to cut my gum when my tooth was intact and completely showing above the gum level for him to easily grab it and pull it out. Now, I was leaving Pleasant Hill Smiles with my gum cut and stiched up with a lot of pain and the tooth still not pulled out!!! On the way out, I noticed that the waiting area was packed with patients waiting to see Dr Benjamin Shimel. It was then when I realized why the Dr was in
such a big hurry to pull my tooth because Pleasant Hill Smiles cares about their pocket not the well being of their patients by booking that many people in a tight schedule. Eventually, my wife drove me to another dentist nearby, Dr Joe Liang. Luckily, his patient had just cancelled and he was able to take me in. He checked out my tooth and was very surprised as why the other dentist had to make an incision while my tooth was complete and easy to pull. Dr Liang did a great job of xraying my tooth, administering the anesthesia, waiting a few minutes for the drug to take effect and caringly pulling the tooth out. PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF PAIN, SUFFERING AND INSULT AND DON'T VISIT PLEASANT HILL SMILES. I WOULD CALL IT PLEASANT HILL CRIES!!!

Amazing service and staff!
Thank you Dr Maryam Alubaidi for the treatment🌹🌹🌹

My husband came in for service and they didn't actually do any work, but did extensive cleaning and set up a plan for future work. The cleaning was going to cost us $1,000. He paid $375 and they were billing us the balance at $175 a month.

I called the insurance company because this didn't sound right. Found out the special laser cleaning was covered and we should have only paid $248. They were supposed to issue us a refund.

Four days after this call, the collection agency called me about the $175 payment. I explained this was incorrect and a refund was being issued and they can talk directly to the office to confirm.

Didn't hear anything else, didn't see a refund, but 3 weeks later we got charged $175 again.

They are inept at what they are doing. I'm moving out of state in 30 days, so I won't have to deal with them, but you bet I'm going to have my money back before I leave.

Update 9/16: 3 months later and Medeana Rahmani the office manager is not calling Cigna back regarding my claim. I finally left her a message that I would be returning to California in a few weeks and if she doesn't resolve this, I will just drop into the office and get it resolved.

They used a American Dental Association code of D4999 for the laser treatment. They know full well this is a misc dental code that WILL NOT be paid by the insurance company. They same cleaning and scaling services should be billed under codes D4342 or D4341. That's how they try to get you. Medeana said the insurance company refused to pay based on the code. I told her then I knew it was not an approved code for the ADA. They think they are slick.

I've filed a complaint with the ADA, left a nice voicemail with Eva Bender Dental Corporation D&B # 081231327, and let her know I am about the sue them and charge them for my flight to come back out here and resolve this. Let's see what happens.

I'm 89 years old and last Thursday I went to the dentist and Ruth and Paulo were amazing and Paulo helped what way to go with my dental care and I appreciate hi I'm and Paulo his office so very much !thank you

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!! I came in for a wisdom tooth extraction recently and ended up getting sent to the ER.

Originally I was only supposed to get two of my wisdom teeth taken out but as I was being prepared for surgery (which I was really nervous about) the doctor (Benjamin Shimel) comes in and tries to convince me to get all 4 taken out not giving me enough time to think clearly about it nor telling me what the extra costs will be. All they said was you can talk to the receptionist about that later since I won’t remember anything they say because of the anesthesia. Since they seemed like they were in a rush to get the surgery started and I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time due to my nervousness, I agreed to get all 4 removed.

Fast forward to the end of the surgery, keep in mind that I was under anesthesia and people typically come out of it within a few minutes. Here is when the horror story begins...

I was not waking up from the anesthesia they gave me! ALMOST 2 HOURS passed until they finally decided to call an ambulance. I was unresponsive the whole time. It was like being in a coma where you could hear things but your mind and body were disconnected from each other leaving me with no way to communicate. My body was limp because I had no control over my muscles and I could not get my brain to wake up at all. I really thought I was going to die that day.

The ambulance was called almost 2 hours later and I was taken to the ER where I had a second IV placed in my arm to flush out all the anesthesia and other drugs from my system. That’s when I was finally able to regain consciousness and control over my body.

The ER doctor along with my primary care doctor came to the conclusion that the anesthesia administered to me was way over the amount that I needed.

This should not have happened and could’ve been completely avoided if the doctor and his staff knew what they were doing but clearly they didn’t so don’t risk your life coming here. I had to learn that lesson the hard way.

Dr. Bender is absolutely the best dentist I have ever been to. She cares and does a great job. Always friendly, quick and reasonably priced. I am thankful that I have a dentist I can trust. Thanks Dr. B!

Another great trip to
the dentist. Scheduling was easy, Dr. B was punctual and gave me a clean bill of health. Highly recommend Dr. Bender!

I hardly ever make writing reviews for google or yelp. The experience is horrible!!! I made an appointment last week because the emergency toothache and they told me the appointment will be for next week Thursday which is today at 9:30am. (Both me and my husband heard that the appointment will be today at 9:30am.) How is possible for two people got the information wrong? When I arrived there they told me it’s next next week at 11:00am. They didn’t even notice the change and pretended extremely innocent?? I put off all my schedule for today and they don’t even give a proper apology. No phone call notifications for the changes or email. Now That makes sense their reviews soooo bad in general. And my toothache almost gone by myself. thanks for saving my money PLEASANT HILL SMILES!

7/14/14

I guess they think since they make more money than me their time is more valuable. But it's not. Your time is NOT more valuable than mine, so don't treat me like it's okay to make me wait for appointments that I schedule. I was there on time and if I needed to be late I would have called. No courtesy call from this office.

I've had two appointments here and my husband has had a few as well. I was happy with service initially and also the nice office and their effort to be paperless, but there's no reason that they should treat patients like their time doesn't matter.

My husband's appointment today was over an hour long and he never ended up getting his teeth cleaned. He waited, waited, was asked to reschedule, declined an attempted upsale (exam and x-rays). He was just there for a cleaning which our insurance covers, no extra charges were scheduled. The hygienist never saw him.

I had him take me off their schedule for my next cleaning. I'll find an office that respects their patients and give them my hard-earned money. (Which I can't earn if I'm not working because I'm sitting around waiting for an appointment every time they feel like running late and not calling.)

I went here for the first time for a dental emergency. The staff were all nice and efficient. Dr Ryad and Yannah were brilliant! I was really nervous but they were so good in comforting me and making me feel at ease.

I want to give a five star rating to Doctor Ryad & his assistant Yannah. They were both plesant explained the dental proceedure in a way I understood. These individuals were gentle and had me so at ease in the chair, I really did not want to leave. When Yannah placed the scanner in my mouth, I was so intrigued that it sounded like someone was playing jazz music. Dr. Ryad came back into my patient room right when I was telling his assistant music would be great to comfort the patient. Upon hearing my comment, Dr. Ryad got his cell phone and put jazz on for my confort. Yes they both went the extra mile.

Jane Hurst