Beetham Family & Cosmetic Dentistry

I’ve been coming to this dental office for several years. I’ve seen Dr. Nagata and Dr. Beetham. The service has always been pleasant, but my last few visits were not, and after switching to another office, I think it’s important that I warn people about this office.
The first incident is from when I received shots in my gums to prepare for fillings. My gums were not numbed properly and the shots were so painful that I yelled out in pain. Rather than stopping and putting the numbing solution on for longer, Dr. Nagata continued as I writhed in pain. I was in tears so she left me there to «settle down». When she returned she told me that the bottom gums are always more painful and that this was normal. FYI — It’s not normal.
The second incident was that Dr. Nagata placed a filling in improperly. I came back and let them know it hurt to bite down on anything like a cracker or a potato chip. The told me it was just the bite being off. I mentioned that it also hurt to floss between that tooth and the tooth next to it — that pulling the floss out hurt. That is NOT indicative of the bite being off. They told me the filling was probably still too new, although about 8 weeks had gone by at this point. When it continued to bother me, I came back. Dr. Beetham saw me on this visit and continued to insist it was just the bite. She filed it down a bit and sent me on my way, telling me that if it continued to bother me, to come back. Of course this didn’t work. My new dentist tells me that the filling was not secured properly, and that there is also subsequently a chip in the filling. It seems obvious to me that Dr. Nagata/​Beetham didn’t want to admit the filling was placed improperly because that would mean replacing it for free. If they could make me live with it for long enough, they could say it wasn’t their fault and charge me to fix a filling that was never correctly placed.
That may seem like a strong accusation, which brings me to my last and most important story.
When I started coming to this office I hadn’t had insurance in several years. So when they told me that my mouth was full of decay and that I needed several fillings in each quadrant, I believed them. I was told all 4 quadrants needed fillings, between 4 and 8 fillings each, and that one tooth had so much decay that I needed a root canal and crown. Over the course of 2 or 3 years, I went back to them for the work I was told I needed. It cost me hundreds of dollars out of pocket, even with good insurance, and the crown cost me over $ 700. I was a single mom on a very limited income — this was a huge cost for me. I got 3 of the 4 quadrants taken care of, all except the bottom left quadrant, which I was told needed several fillings. I can’t remember the exact number, but it was somewhere around 4 – 6. Before I was able to get the fillings, my employer changed our dental plan and I could no longer come to this office. My insurance began with Willamette Dental Group, where the dentists are not paid per-​procedure, they are paid on a results basis. This means they are penalized for doing things that aren’t necessary for the patient, and are incentivized for teeth staying healthy over time.
I got my x-​rays and cleaning done at my first visit and awaited the diagnosis. I expected them to tell me about the fillings needed in the 4^th quadrant that I hadn’t had done yet. Instead I was told: «Your mouth looks great, there are no signs of decay and your gums are very healthy!» I told them they must be wrong. I asked them what Dr. Beetham’s office had told me. Concerned they said, «Oh my, let me check again and see if I missed something!» …That would certainly be a lot to miss. After looking over my x-​rays and checking my teeth again just to be sure, they confirmed that there was NO DECAY. None.
So either I have teeth with the incredible healing power of Wolverine, or some very immoral, fraudulent things occurred in my time as a patient here. Now I question everything I had done here. Not just the many, many fillings, but especially the root canal and crown. I wish I had gotten a second opinion.
I know this is a long review, but I wish very much I had been given some warning. This office was highly recommended to me by a friend, but I wonder if she was just lucky, or if she had hundreds of dollars worth of unnecessary work done too.
Patient beware.