I want to start by saying that my opinion and perspective is only that of my own. Others will have more positive experiences and there will always be those who have a negative experience. Unfortunately my experience was upsetting to me and upsetting to Heartland Family Dentistry. As a result they canceled the scheduled appointments for my children and terminated our relationship. Here is the story of my experience with Dr. Scott M Nguyen D.D.S. and Heartland Family Dentistry.
I had not been to a dentist in a number of years. Partly due to the lack of importance in my upbringing and partly due to the financial strain. As I relocated to Kansas City I was able to afford dental care and sought out a local dentist after I broke a tooth. My first visit at Heartland Family Dental was great! Dr. Nguyen explained what needed to be done immediately, and what needed to be done after my broken tooth was treated. I was very satisfied and made appointments for my two children and my wife, who has a lot of fear and anxiety for dentists. They all had their new patient appointments without issue. The following week I had my new patient appointment, even though I had already been seen for the urgent issue of my broken tooth. This visit started off by taking the same x-rays that they had taken just a couple weeks before with my broken tooth. Using these x-rays and measurements of my gums they immediately referred me to a periodontist 15-minutes into my two hour appointment. The hygienist asked me to wait for Dr. Nguyen and handed me the referral. Unfortunately Dr. Nguyen was busy with other patients, and, as I was in the middle of my workday, I decided to leave because I believed there was nothing I could do until after being seen by the periodontist.
Later that day I wrote Dr. Nguyen an email stating that I was disappointed that I was referred to the periodontist based on the same x-rays and a quick exam. I was of the opinion that I could have been referred during my urgent visit, or my second visit when I had the tooth crowned. Being unhappy I thought that Heartland Family Dental might want to hear my feedback, and provide an explanation or possibly identify a change in their internal processes.
Unfortunately, Dr. Scott M Nguyen D.D.S. and Heartland Family Dental did not take my unsolicited feedback well and chose to reply to my email telling me that they has canceled my children’s future appointments, that they had terminated our relationship, and I would need to seek out another dentist. He did, however, offer to attend to any urgent dentistry my family or I may need in the interim.
After receiving their response I was surprised and shocked. I thought that there must be a misunderstanding. Perhaps they misconstrued the tone of my email. I went to his office at the end of that same day and asked to speak with Dr. Nguyen. After much debate with the office staff, Dr. Nguyen did finally speak to me from behind the counter with his entire staff next to him, and me on the other side of the counter by myself in his lobby. Dr. Nguyen heard nothing of my explanation. He was very upset with my email and he told me that it meant that I did not respect him. I did my best to plead my side of the story, and that I wanted to continue our relationship and that I felt he was great with me and my family, but it fell on deaf ears. He and his staff were wholeheartedly against me. One of his hygienists even made me feel guilty. She scolded me, pointing out that I had made my wife’s visit worse by being in the room with them and making jokes.
As I said in the beginning of this review. There will be others having great experiences at Heartland Family Dental, as well as others having had not so great experiences. I can only tell my story and I hope that you find a dentist whom you are comfortable with and who will listen and respond to any concern you may have.