Sears Dental - Fox Valley Mall - Aurora, IL Review

I too went to sears dental in fox vallley mall, aurora.  they sold me $12 flouride toothpaste and $25 mouthwash supposedly necessary and not available anywhere else but there so i had to keep getting it from them.  from one visit to another (3 mos later) they told me that i had an aggressive periodontal disease that would require $1,200 worth of scraping & deep cleaning by the hygenist.  if this didn't work, i would be referred to a periodontist because all my teeth would rot  & I would lose them if i didn't go thru this.  They took bite wing x-Rays which i now understand are inferior to Periaprical X-Rays which show the entire tooth up to the root.

the Sears hygienist told me that pockets/bone loss in each tooth from  1-3 was normal but 4 & up were bad #s.  she was poking my gums sometimes & not at all other times but was hurriedly calling out 5s, 6s, & 7s all over the mouth as opposed to 2s & 3s in the previous appointment.  when i questioned her, she said , "well maybe the deeper pockets were there before but i didn't catch them."  she came down on me... hard.  they had terrible pictures of advanced periodontal disease on display in the little room.  Nothing like i had seen in my mouth but my mind was going there.... for the future. i am over 40 & she blamed me for not brushing & flossing well. she  scared the heck out of me. 

at the recommendation of another medical professional, I got copies of my Sears bite wing x-rays and went for a 2nd opinion.  this dentist was refered to me & described as being really nice.  well, he was nice .  he picked at my gums & briefly looked at my mouth but never measured the pockets. he said that based on what he saw, he would not do any deep cleaning but watch it instead.  he would do 4 cleanings a year and watch it....ON THE OTHER HAND, (he seemed to be worried about making a decision), it would not hurt to do a deep cleaning and then watch it too. " well, this was not much help.

I saw another dentist in kane county  for a 3rd opinion.  He took his time and did a thorough measurement .  i was so relieved to hear that most #s he was calling were 2s & 3s.  there were a couple of 4s which he felt were the result of crowns...they apparently sometimes have to dig deeper to get the crowns in .  he was not at all concerned with the conditions in my mouth.  he saw no need for special flouride toothpastes or flouride mouthwashes.   his recommendations, including one cleaning and perioaprical x-rays  left me with a bill, after insurance,  of under $100  vs a total bill of about $1,500 with an out of pocket bill (after insuance) of $500 at Sears Dental.  I avoided lots of needless PAIN , EXPENSE, & follow-ups.  Tonight will be my first night of good sleep since my last Sears appt.   Words cannot express how angry I am at them for scaring me so much... needlessly.  

Oh, and when I picked up the X-rays at Sears, I noticed what I believe was a newly installed giant TV on the wall... in the reception area.  Running, what appearsed to be continuously, was a film about how periodontal disease is RAMPANT in diabetics. There are  lots of hispanics, many with low-incomes, in aurora & lots of them have diabetes....guess who could be targeted next?  guess who could be going into debt to get services they are scared into believing that they need?  Now, the thought of this really pisses me off !!!