Is anyone use the dentist by the Publix in Magnolia Plaza? Any good? Thanks

Also interested in the answer to this question re: Magnolia Dental.

Yes, that is a more than reasonable price for this area. I do not have insurance either, and I pay more than that. $150.00.

Beware corporate chains. Revenue targets are important to retaining their employment.

110 is a fair price for cleaning. Dental plans dot com show cost by dentist and procedure. About 10 a month for discounted pricing. Excellent if your dentist participates

Had occasion to "fill in" once at one of the corporate chains. Didn't get the lectures about how it works. Was basically just there so that they could legally be open that day. It was mostly patients coming in for emergency first visits. After examination and x-rays, a "treatment coordinator" came in and presented the company's standard (I presumed) treatment plan.

The patient's chief complaint was ignored - even with pain and obvious swelling. When I checked back in with the patient - who was still in pain - I found that his series of "deep cleanings" had already begun. They must teach some *very* fine "scripts". Our world has a fair bit of absurdity going around.

That is about what I pay unless x-rays are ordered.

Went in for a standard prophy cleaning, would not do it unless I got a "deep cleaning" before. Also a few shots of Arestin and fluoride varnish. Nice profit add-ons. About $1200 estimate. Went to my regular dentist whom I've known for years and he said "no way" and just laughed. My advice - if you go there, get a second opinion before you agree to open your wallet. Interestingly enough, I started getting promotions from them offering a 30% discount on any previously diagnosed treatment. No thanks.

My Crazy Dental Journey
My wife and I signed with Village Health last June of 2022 so that we could have a Primary Care Doctor. Well dental allowance came with the policy and we walked across the street to " Sumter Landing Dental " for a cleaning appointments . First available openings for new patients was 6 months later in December. 6 MONTHS for a cleaning? We keep the appointments just see if this was a joke. December came and 2 days before the scheduled they called and said they needed to rescheduled because their technician was sick and gave us a February date . Now we have 8 months to get a cleaning appointment!!!
Now we show in February for the cleaning because why not it had been 6 months since our new dentist gave us a cleaning. We show up and are told xrays and evaluation are needed before cleaning and insurance will take care of the charges . Well after consultation we are told I need $15,000 of work and my wife $6500 ----- Oh and our cleaning appointments are now scheduled for June 20th of 2023 ... Over a year to get a cleaning appointment Sumter Landing Dental is a joke and scam

Lifetime Dental Care on 441 is great and reasonable Dr Moesching is the best

Absolutely beware of "deep cleaning"... usually best to "just say no". Won't go into all, but very close friend whose son was in dental school in Michigan told us about how part of his curriculum was (and this is so unprofessional for a school of the caliber he attends) how to increase your income... one was "deep cleaning". She even showed me screen shots of passages in one of his texts on this, and other "ancillary" procedures like "routine" x-rays.

Good luck with that ! We've finally give up, similar story, went "up north" to visit our adult children, went to their dentist, same as our dentist for 40 years growing up in south Florida. But here, in the Villages, something is definitely going on. Neighbors have reported over the years needing 6K, 8K, 10K and MORE worth of work. Going "home" to their previous dentist only to find things were okay, cleaning and a small filling, or had to have a filling RE-done as it had deteriorated some, bills of $200 to $500. Yes, somethings not quire right here for sure ! Too many of these stories ....

If you find one PLEASE message me, we have had terrible terrible experiences just finding as you said, an "old fashioned" dentist, who can fill or replace a filling, can fix a small chip on an other wise healthy tooth, and not have "treatment specialists" who hit you with thousands of dollars for various procedures your previous dentist never even mentioned !

Especially if you are being treated for cancer, deep cleaning can exacerbate immune system in the WRONG way.

Magnolia Dental, Summerfield

I work in the dental field. Dental Service Organizations (DSOs) are buying up the traditional 'small town' single dentist or small group offices which were known to provide honest long-term personal services. Recent stats show that 23% of our most recent dental school grads are joining the ranks of these big conglomerates because of incentives bonus' for selling services and not having the stress of having to run the business side of things in addition to providing dental care. Sadly, reality is that we've had patients bring in their 'quotes' that have included work that our dentists say isn't even remotely warranted. Just sayin' .... FYI: The Ongoing Growth and Evolution of the Top DSOs in the US

Village Dentist
 

Do yourself a favor and keep the dentist you have and fly home once or twice a year to see them. Most of the dentist in the villages or around the villages are corporate dentist who graduated with no money in their pocket and a lot of student debt. Tada a corporation comes in sayings we have a system to help you separate your patients money from their wallet. Hence “Deep Cleaning” for deep pockets! Based on my experience with a dentist here, I think the dentists are brain washed by their corporate corrupters and actually believe what they try to sell you on.

Yes, had 1 crown and two cleanings. They started with the you need tons of work speech, but I said no. I did have a bad tooth which needed to be crowned, so I let them. Here are my issues with them: whatever time you have spent in a dental chair for any procedure, double that amount and this is how slow they are. Any appointment you make, they will call to reschedule a day or so before. They billed my insurance wrong in that my cleanings should have been free and not counted against my total cap for the year, but they coded in such a way that I was billed for them. When I went in for two broken crowns, it took them 1.5 hrs to x-ray and agree they were broken then quoted me $980 for my portion. The weirdest part was when the dentist came in to tell me my x-ray results, she asked if I had a dentist. Confused I said "you?" The assistant then told her I was their patient. Almost 2 months later, they still didn't have insurance approval. I decided to go to Dr Herb Bennett in Leesburg, they had me in the office the next day, took their own x-rays, told me that one crown wasn't actually broken, just the top layer was chipped and they would just file it. The other crown was replaced within the week and my portion was $177. He and his staff were fantastic and ran the office like dentists in other cities. My husband and two friends also went to Magnolia Plaza and had same experience. Magnolia made my husband go two weeks with a temporary crown that kept falling off because they couldn't find the time to reglue it in. They also played the deep cleaning game with my husband. Fortunately, they only deep cleaned 2 teeth but warned him that he would need deep cleaning on all his teeth next time. We are out of there.

I just had a cleaning and fluoride varnish last month. Both were covered by my insurance which is UHC Advantage Dental. I had no co-pay.

The provider billed $113 for the cleaning but I had insurance so the provider was only paid $58.

The provider billed $52 for the fluoride varnish but I had insurance so the provider was only paid $26.

I have never heard of a fluoride varnish before moving to the Villages. If it weren't covered by insurance, I would have skipped it.

Cost?
 

Rzepecki, what did you pay for a prophy (cleaning) without insurance?

Absolutely 💯 correct!

Wildwood Dentists runs the same scam!

The varnish costs less than $2, and you just paint it on the teeth. Takes only a minute or less. Not a bad add-on for $26, let alone $58.

In my opinion, two dollars is two dollars too much.

From reading this post, it appears that the vast majority of people liked their dentist up north and that the vast majority do not like their dentist in The Villages.

I am trying to figure out why this is the case. Why the price gouging down here and not up north? Why do they recommend treatment down here that they didn't recommend up north? Are the dentists up north incompetent?

Is there any state organization that regulates dentists in Florida? If they are constantly recommending unnecessary treatment, I would think that the state - and the insurance companies - would be interested in that.

The Florida Board of Dentistry

Florida Board of
Dentistry >> Licensing and Registration- Licensing, Renewals & Information

One problem is that there is a lot of judgment in dentristry. If a tooth is cracked, some dentists will automatically recommend a crown. But, a more conservative dentist will do nothing until the tooth breaks, which may occur in a year, in 5 years, or never.

Thanks for the post. I just looked at the website.

Examples of complaints that may be investigated

Practicing below minimum standards or negligence
Impairment/medical condition
Advertising violation
Sexual misconduct with a patient
Misfilled/mislabeled prescription
Failure to release patient records

Examples of complaints that may not be investigated
Fee disputes (broken or missed appointments)
Billing disputes
Personality conflicts
Bedside manner or rudeness

It doesn't appear that they can or will investigate unnecessary dental work (deep cleaning, root canals, etc.) or charging excessive rates for dental work.

You definitely can file complaints. Check other links on the top of the website. Select Home, then Complaints. Lots of information there. Too many dentists are in The Villages are charging for services such as deep cleaning that are not necessary.

I am total agreement with you in that I can’t figure out what the heck is the problem here in TV. I’v had three other dentists in my life and they were all in Jacksonville, FL. I never had any of them do what the ones here in TV try to do. Same with my husband’s dentists. So, northern dentists nor FL dentists have issues. It’s literally TV area dentists. In Jacksonville, they never upsold services, played the deep cleaning game or charged as much as they do here. I have only been here for 3 years. My nephew is a dentist in Jacksonville and he just shakes his head in disbelief. I am thankful I found Dr Herb Bennett in Leesburg. He’s like having a normal dentist again.

No, it doesn't, at least not anywhere but Florida.

In Texas, my annual dental checkup included xrays, cleaning (better than what they call "deep" here), and an exam for $120. Fillings were $30-$150. Crowns $500. I had a difficult implant done the year before we moved here that cost $5000 -- which seemed high until I experienced Florida scam dentisty.

My last three checkups and cleanings in Florida were each $400-$600, most of which was paid by insurance (although last time they billed me for a "deep cleaning" and refused to refund it, even after United confirmed it was covered, until they got the check months later). My last "treatment plan" says they want to replace two crowns and add a third one for $6,000.

I've seen three different dentists since we moved here, trying to find one that isn't a crook. All of their fake "treatment plans" have been for different teeth and procedures. The last dentist was the only time I've been able to schedule both the exam and cleaning on the same appointment, and that was only due to a cancellation.

If there is a real dentist in the tri-county area, I haven't been about to find him.

Yes, there is. My wife, who is retired from practice, found them.