SmileCare

This dental office was a nightmare, the lady orthodontist was extremely careless, and didn’t numb me correctly for a tooth extraction. I had a bad feeling about it cause I could still feel the nerve, when I told her about it she informed me that I would have to come back if It was to painful to proceed. She kept giving me false information which I knew was a lie but not wanting to return (being that I’ve already had multiple booking issues with them in the past) I decided to let her pull it. Long story short, the most painful procedure i have ever had, I was literally screaming in pain in the office, no exaggeration and I’m a pretty big dude! Anyway this lady is the epitome of why some people fear dentist’s. Take my advice DO NOT let this women work on your mouth. Just my opinion, the office and dental staff however very friendly.

I only gave this crook a 1 because my review wouldn’t post without a rating. The staff at this facility are very friendly and caring, however it’s the dentist who is the reason I will never go back. He is the one who up-​sells every single procedure you need and in some other cases, that you don’t need, just like a used car salesman. He charged me $ 875 for a crown telling me that is my portion of the co pay, which I found out later, my copay was $ 350.00 I didn’t think I needed to bring my statement of benefits to protect myself from being cheated. He told me I needed 9 crowns.(scare tactics) so figure 9 x $ 875. The red flags started flying when a crown fell off and he wanted to charge me another $ 875.
By the time I called my insurance company to complain about what he had done, it was too late. She said WOW, you should never have had to pay that much. I’m sad that I got scammed by this place. If you read the reviews, you’ll see I’m not the only one who got taken. This guy is a fraud. I’m thinking of contacting the dental board to report him. According to my insurance company, what he did to me is quite common with some of the more unethical dentists. The insurance representative told me eople just don’t report them or pursue the issue. Previous to this guy a Dentist had to pay me back over $ 2000.00 for double billing.
You’ve been warned.

Ortho messed up my teeth and refuses to fix them. Now I have TMJ and a huge over bite. Worst place ever. Avoid!!!

I’m fairly new to Riverside and just got my teeth cleaned at the local SmileCare. I can say that my experience at SmileCare-​Riverside was very positive and they have an extremely nice and knowledgable hygienist named Kelly. I don’t get my teeth cleaned as much as I should but this was the best experience I remember having. Kelly didn’t rush the process at all, she talked to me in detail showing me my problem areas and detailed a plan of action. I was really impressed by SmileCare Riverside and highly recommend them to anyone!

Be aware … This place is horrible! I made an appointment to have a tooth removed that was hurting me and when I got home and removed the gauze from my mouth, I realized they removed the WRONG teeth! I couldn’t believe it. When I called and spoke to the manager, all she could say was «sorry». I called my insurance company and switched to another dental office immediately, because I sure the hell wasn’t going back! On top of all this… the guy that came in to clean up, put this private parts on my arm, while he was putting my chair in the up right position. I was so uncomfortable! I’m sure I’m not the only woman he’s done this too!
This place is a DUMP! Should of known by the looks of the place, to turn around and leave! I really hope no one else has to go through this.

They’re great if you’ve run out of ibuprofen and have four hours to kill. But if you’re in agonizing pain don’t expect much except different chairs to sit and appreciate it in.

This place by far is the best dental facility I ever been to (a lot better than western dental I’ll tell you that) They really make you feel welcomed and special and on top of that the service is a lot better too… There’s no beating around the bush or any B.S. of that matter. Thank you guys, your really great!

This place is terrible! I had a general cleaning there and to my surprise they told me I would need extensive cleaning due to my «swollen gums» at the cost of 1500. Then they would need a specialist to come in and take a look and decide the next step which would cost another 1500. Feeling a little scammed I decided to go next door to gentle dental. Without informing them about my experience at smile care I went through a regular check up. Everything went fine and they said my teeth were in great shape. The conclusion: BEWARE OF SMILE CARE. They will scan you! It’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’. Don’t make the same mistake I did and do your research first. Unfortunately I’m stuck with them for the remainder of my braces treatment.

As an adult patient I was hesitant about getting braces. I spoke with one other orthodontist before I decided to get braces with Dr. Bakar. He had a clear plan and explained the process in great detail. He and his staff worked with me to arrange my appointments and to always ensure that I was receiving quality care. Dr. Bakar worked with me and my regular dentist to ensure that my orthodontic work would be compatible with my regular dental needs. Ultimately, I ended up with a beautiful smile that is worthy to be in commercials. Thanks to Dr. Bakar and his staff for all their efforts and quality work.

I came here to get my teeth cleaned and filled as Dr. Salar me to. First off I know my teeth aren’t perfect, but they are Not terribly bad. Smile care called to confirm my appointment, and in the same day called to cancel because Dr. had an emergency. When I finally decided to come back to get what I was told to get done, they end up telling me I needed a $ 700 cleaning!!! That’s insane and unheard of. I can understand $ 300 – 400 for a deep cleaning. They told me I needed 2 crowns which I probably do. So instead of getting 3 teeth filled and a cleaning, they refused to do it and wanted me to pay $ 2,500! They will try to get you for everything. They will try to sell you more services. It gets better, I had scheduled an appointment to see the orthodontist specialist because they suggest I need braces. (Which I don’t) I then decided while I was there to cancel after I found out how much they were charging. Weeks later, they called to tell me I have appointment. I never scheduled one for today! Also, the lady who explains your payment is really pushy and constantly will ask you if you decided which payment plan you want.
I have relatives that used to come here, they told me they even got the X-​rays mixed up! Wow!
In all honesty I liked Dr. Salar and wish I saw him the 2^nd time, he is really nice but had his reasons to why he didn’t want to work on my molars. For some reason, I ended up with a different Dr the 2^nd time. Kelly, the hygienist, will get you. She recommend that I get 1 quadrant done at a time since I couldn’t afford it, & to get a start. Then she told me should wouldn’t do a basic cleaning because it’s against malpractice to not treat the gums. Very contradicting. I would think if my gums were that bad, it would spread if you’d only worked on one quadrant. I’m not a smoker. I can’t imagine what they charge people who are smokers & worse teeth. I will no longer be coming back and I will not recommend this place. Too much mistakes and prices are too high. I was that bothered, I took the time to do this review.

Very sad I had to give this place even 1 star ! Back in 2009 my company changed dental insurance and I could no longer use the dentist I had used for several years, I lost a filling so after checking with the insurance company this office was close to my work, well it was a filling so I didn’t think it would go that bad, after an exam and x-​rays the office manger came in to tell me how lucky I was to have come in that day, apparently my teeth were in terrible shape I needed my bridge and veneers replaced as they were rotting underneath ! Strange thing was they had been on less than a year! She told me I could start treatment that day and they could discount it to $ 7800! I paid my co-​pay Asked for my x-​rays and ran! I went to another dentist armed with the x-​rays, the verdict? I needed the filling replaced with a $ 20 co-​pay!
So this happened in 2009, and last week a collection agency reported that I owe $ 112 to smilecare, I never once received a bill or phone call stating I owed any money, why would I owe anything I paid my co-​pay and the insurance covered the x-​rays and exam, if I owed them anything why would they give me the x-​rays? I called the office and they informed me they did infact send me several bills and I never responded, I asked what address they had for me she responded 10 001 Indiana ave, riverside ! That’s their address ! So no one in the office noticed they were sending a bill to themselves? So I asked for a copy of my bill, she responded its too far back and it can’t be found, but it does say under my name how much I owe but not what I owe for!
My only guess is that my insurance company was never billed for my visit, that’s not my fault I gave them my insurance card and my correct home address. Smilecare has an f rating with the BBB, if you google their name pages of complaints appear, many typical of my story, I have filed a dispute with the credit agency’s, it’s only $ 112 but it’s the principle, at this point I will not give this company a dime and will use every resource I have to get this of my credit,
4 years after my visit they send me to collections? Do not go to this office, you will not have a smile on your face and all they «care» about is ripping you off!
I should also ad that my bridge and veneers that they were so concerned with are still attached and have not given me any problems what so ever!

worst experience, i think they like to just upgrade everything! my filling fell out and they said i needed a crown, temporary crown fell out 4 times within 24 hours! really!?? everyone else i know that has crowns say they’ve never experienced a temp falling out! also, they said it takes 10 days to receive the permanent crown, so they scheduled me to go back 23 days later??? 13 days more than it takes to get it??? no sense! rip off! they immediately try and finance you and charge everything they recommend to you to your account! for the difference that your insurance wont pay! Now i’m wondering if they were even honest about me needing a crown if my old filling only partially fell out!

This is a high pressure sales operation.
Sure, they take your insurance, but they are constantly trying to sell you services that are not covered by your insurance. I think they employ more «sales» staff than they do actual dentists.
I had several fillings done here a few years back. Each and every one of those fillings has had to be replaced, and two of them required implants. This was due to the dentist not doing the fillings correctly and leaving behind decay which continued unnoticed under the fillings.
AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!

This place tried charging me for upgrades and antibiotics that my insurance wasn’t going to cover. They added these charges onto my estimate without even explaining what they were. $ 1480 out of pocket for a root canal and crown? I have Cigna Dental HMO and they told me never to go here again.
I even took in x-​rays from the week before that I had done at another dentist and these jerks still re-​took the x-​rays and now I have to pay for that set since my insurance allows 1 set per year. Great.
SCAMMERS!!!

I have had general as well as orthodontic treatments here. I have excellent insurance, but still they received hundreds of dollars from me and my husband.
General tries their best to milk you for extra money by scheduling additional appts. A lot of times they over-​lap their general cleanings with deep ones. The will bring in two specialist to assure you that you need that extra expensive treatment. However, 90% of the time its not covered by your insurance. They always want to sell you that expensive electric toothbrush along with a $ 20 toothpaste.
The ortho dr is great, but after 10min he’ll hand you off to some of the harsher oral hygienist. THE OLDER ONES HAVE NO MERCY! I have swallowed snipped wires, my lips have been pinched by their tools or smashed by their fat hands. One even told me to keep my eyes closed because she kept pushing my new wires down towards my face.
There has even been a time where they charged me $ 50 to which they had no idea what it was for. Talking it over with them assured me it would be fixed but apparently they are not good at relaying information to their corporate office, so i was eventually sent to collections!
Horrible service, and the older the ladies at the front desk have a horrible attitude.

Gentle and quick. Best dental facility I have ever been to! Abosolutely amazing! They work very well together here and I am so pleased with the results I have recieved.