General Dentist - Ithaca, NY

"I am a first year student at Cornell University. In November, I noticed my wisdom teeth growing in and was alarmed. On top of the stress of school, I was now concerned about the state of my teeth, wondering if I would need to have surgery in this new setting. My mother turned to the Cornell Parent’s Facebook Group, where Dr. Ambis came recommended. My mother then called the office to discuss insurance with the receptionist. She was told that our insurance was in network and that a regular x-ray would be $250 and a CAT scan would be $580. Then, my mother had me call the office to schedule an appointment. Upon arrival, Dr. Ambis did not explain to me what type of scans I would need and quickly ushered me towards the CAT scan after briefly examining my teeth. As a first year student, 3000 miles away from home, already stressed by school, I simply followed without question. After my scans were taken, I was told to send the address of the office that would be removing my wisdom teeth. I was told that they would be sending the scans via CD, not digitally. Soon after giving the address of my dentist at home, I was notified by my dental office at home that the CD had broken in the mail. In response to this, the dental office at home attempted to call Dr. Ambis’ office multiple times and left messages. Additionally, my mother called multiple times and also left messages. It wasn’t until nearly 2-3 weeks later when I personally texted the receptionist that we got any response. They agreed to send a new CD. This next CD arrived safely. However, this whole exchange had taken over a month. Then, my dental office at home was unable to open the CD. They were unable to see the scans and had to send me to another office. This second office was also unable to open the CD and view the scans. I had to have CAT scans retaken here. At this office, my CAT scans were only $250, much cheaper than the $580 I was charged at Dr. Ambis’ office. For reference, this office was in California, a state where cost of living is much higher than upstate New York. I had my wisdom teeth removed here, and for the removal of all 4 teeth and the CAT scan, I only paid $594, much cheaper than the $680 ($580 for scan and $100 for consult) I was charged at Dr. Ambis’ office. Overall, my visit with Dr. Ambis’ office was a complete waste of time and money. While Dr. Ambis’ office has modern technology like the CAT scanner, they lack modern standards of communication. Even with their outdated methods of communication with the CDs, Dr. Ambis’ office cannot even effectively communicate, as multiple offices were unable to open the CD. Did the office bother to check that the CD was readable before sending out? Calls and messages were not returned, which is inexcusable. Dr. Ambis takes advantage of vulnerable college students, charging them an exorbitant amount for unnecessary scans, and then sends CDs which were damaged and then not recorded properly. "