Dr. Peng has been my family's dentist since...2002, I believe. Long time. She and her staff are great. The place is always fantastically clean. I'm a low-maintenance patient--two cleanings/check-ups a year and that's it--but my husband has had several fillings and some tooth repairs done by her with no complaints whatsoever.
Earlier this week one of my friends, Khalid, told me he had a horrible toothache and his dentist wouldn't see him for two weeks. I immediately called Dr. Peng and asked if he could be seen. It was 11:30am, and they gave us a 1:30 appointment. They said their policy is to see people with toothaches on the same day they call, if at all possible. Which I think should be standard of dentists everywhere. (TWO WEEKS?!)
Khalid doesn't have insurance, so I asked about the cost. No charge to be seen, no more than $20 if they have to do an X-ray. Khalid's dentist was going to charge $150 for the appointment alone.
So, at 1:30, we went in to see Dr. Peng. She quickly assessed the situation and determined he'd had a filling fall out. If she could clean it out and fill it with no problem, the cost would be $90. She felt confident she could do that, but if it ended up that he'd need a root canal, the cost would be $550. Ugh. Thankfully she was able to fill it and so far, so good. We're keeping our fingers crossed that he won't need further work on it.
So, the total charge for that same day appointment was $90. He saved $60 and two weeks of pain. Yay!
Today, I went in with my husband and two kids for our semi-annual checkup. I love the fact that I can call in and say, "I'd like to make an appointment for my whole family on a Saturday." They never have a problem getting us in within two weeks or so. We all show up at the set time and whoever wants to go first gets to go. It's effortless.
She does a great job with my 3-year-old. She makes a big deal of telling him she's going to COUNT his teeth, so he's not scared of what she's doing in there. Then she tells him she's going to use magic toothpaste on him, and only the good girls and boys get to have that--he's very lucky that he's allowed to have it. :-) He was thrilled, and when we came home he couldn't wait to use the Transformers toothbrush she gave him.
Dr. Peng herself does the cleanings, by the way. When I first went there that shocked me, but now I think it's kind of cool.
After my appointment, I asked Dr. Peng about buying the $65 Crest whitening strips she sells. They're the ones that are only available through a dentists office. "Eh," she said, "you'll be fine with the over the counter ones." LOL! You can't argue with a dentist who doesn't want to take your money.
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