[Cliff]

I have not been looking at Talk of the Villages for quite some time. I fell into a pit of feeling like a lot of the contributors were a bit short of brain power. That said (and dreading the reaction I may get) I will add that the topic on dentists in the area caught my immediate attention. My last posting on this subject was just one of the many comments made about The Village Dental. I should add that I started seeing a dentist and a periodontist in Fruitland Park. I was very satisfied with the service I and my wife received from the two dentists there. When the periodontist (Dr Bonner) moved his office to TV, I decided to switch my regular dentist to Dr Barnes at Laurel Manor Dental which is next door to Dr Bonner's office. My regular cleanings there were professionally done and I was satisfied with the arrangement, particularly since I was a Navy Retiree as was Dr Barnes. Then one unfortunate day I had a tooth split. Dr Barnes insisted that I needed to have it repaired by having it crowned. To my horror and surprise, I was quoted a price of $1200+ for the crown. Feeling trapped, I agreed to have it done there. During the procedure I found that most of the work was being done by an assistant and not the dentist. Shortly after the crown was installed, I began to have discomfort from sensitivity on the opposite side of my mouth from where the crown was installed. I refused to go back to Laurel Dental and was fortunate to find Dr Kathleen Williams in her new offices of Palm Ridge Dental on CR 101. She was a breath of fresh air. She took the time to listen to my compaints, and, deducted that the crown was not ground down to fit properly and it was causing discomfort with my other teeth which were not meeting correctly. She found the answer to my problem, charged me a price that even I could afford, and is now my regular dentist is addition to Dr Bonner. Would I recommend my retired Navy dentist - no way. Would I recommend Dr Williams - you bet your bippy I would.