Dentists - Soledad, CA

"I moved to Soledad about 3 years ago, so I needed to find a new dentist in this area. My friend said Talal Daas, DMD was pretty good, so I went to him. The first time I went to him was on June or July 2013. They were very friendly & looked very professional. They did my exam & explained what needed to be done with my teeth & how much I had to pay. Angie (the manager / receptionist) explained everything. She said I needed a deep cleaning & 6 fillings. So I did all those in the next few months. When I came back in January 2014 for my regular cleaning, the dental assistant took an x-ray again. I was confused since they just took my x-ray about 6 months ago. I work in a dentist office too so I know that we only take x-ray once a year, unless the patient is in pain or something unusual happens with the patient's teeth / condition. I told the dental assistant that I was there for regular cleaning only, & I asked why she took my x-ray. She said that I was due to get another x-ray. And when the dentist saw me, he said that I needed some fillings too. I said I had done with all my fillings. He said, no, my teeth still need a lot work. So after I got my regular cleaning done, I talked to Angie & asked why they took my x-ray while I just had my x-ray about 6 months ago, & why the dentist said I need some fillings. Angie said that I did need 8 more fillings. I was very upset because after my exam she said I only needed 6 fillings, & now she said that was only one side & the other side need 8 fillings. I didn't understand why she didn't explain my whole treatment plan in the beginning. And her explanation about their taking my x-ray after only 6 months was that my condition can change a lot in 6 months, so they need to confirm that my condition stays the same. So I asked her whether they will take my x-ray again in July if I still haven't done the rest of my fillings. She said no, not until next year. It doesn't make sense. Right there, I just knew that they took my x-ray because it was a new calendar year & my insurance would pay for it. Basically, I didn't need another x-ray. This dentist just tried to make money by taking unnecessary x-ray. So I cancelled the rest of my appointments with him & I asked for them to email a copy of my x-ray so I could bring it to another dentist for second opinion. If a dentist trying to make money like that by doing an unnecessary thing, you know you can't trust this dentist. Guess what, she said they don't send x-ray copy through email. They had to send it by mail & I had to pay $25 for that. Really?! I know that is the maximum fee that is allowed by law for a dentist to charge a patient for a copy of his / her x-ray. I decided not to spend another penny for this dentist. So now I have to wait until next year for me to be able to change to another dentist, so my new dentist can take my x-ray & charge it to my insurance. They didn't know I work in a dental office too, so I know more or less how they work. They thought I wouldn't know if they took unnecessary x-ray. About a month ago, one of my co-worker whom was a dental assistant went to this dentist too because she had a toothache. They took an x-ray & the dentist said she needed a root canal. My friend looked at her x-ray and knew right away that she only needed a filling. So she told his dental assistant what she thought & that she was a dental assistant & knew from her x-ray that she didn't need a root canal. Well, the dentist tried to play it off by saying that he did diagnose a patient for root canal before but at the end that patient only needed a filling, so "Let's just pray you only need a filling". Really? And you expected her to believe you? It was so obvious that he was trying to make more money from my friend. At the end, he only did a filling on my friend. That incident just confirmed what I suspected. I wonder how many patients he lied to just to make money from them. Now I wonder if I really needed those 6 fillings. I can't confirm about the other 8 fillings that he said I need until next year when my new dentist can take my x-ray. My advice is "don't go to this dentist, you can't trust him period!""