Farishian Barbara G, DDS

Everyone who knows me, has been begging me to leave this practice for years. I have had so many dental issues, that I was afraid to start with someone new. But, this winter I finally had enough of the ridiculous wait times, and long appointments, which had caused me to miss work. I was also dealing with 2 bottom bridges that never fit properly.
My new dentist was appalled when he saw how badly my bridges fit. The oral surgeon showed me on the only X-​ray Dr Farishian was willing to provide, how she had damaged the implants and stripped the screws by constantly tightening them in an effort to make these ill fitting bridges stop rocking back and forth. I endured this discomfort for many years and spent many thousands of dollars.
I had to replace both bridges and the infrastructure that screwed into the dental implants as well. Fortunately, my new dentist knew how to redo this properly. For the first time in many years, I no longer suffer from jaw pain caused by improper dental work. My appointments start on time, and never last more than an hour. It wasn’t unusual to spend 9 hours at a time in Dr Farishian’s office. Even cleanings could take 4 hours. There is only 2 hour parking near her office, but no appointment was every under 2 hours.
I just had my first cleaning with my new dentist. The hygienist told me everything looked great! It took 20 minutes. I hadn’t had a cleaning in 8 months due to changing dentists, and dealing with all the problems Dr Farishian’s ill fitting bridges had caused. Dr Farishian told me my gums were inflamed and that was the cause of my problems. My new dentist says they look great, and they’ll see me in 6 months. I believe I have been scammed for years.
When I tried to get my records sent to my new dentist, her office made excuses. She would not cooperate with my new dentist’s office. After my husband sent a threatening email, we were finally able to get one set of X-​Rays sent. That X-​ray showed how 2 of my implants were literally pulling out of the bone from too much tightening. The oral surgeon actually showed me and said she should have seen it as well.
I highly recommend you do not use this dentist.

I strongly do not recommend this Dentist!
My experiences with Dr Farishian started out ok, but eventually turned into a nightmare. Wait times were always 20+ mins. Cleanings were horrifically painful and I must have spit more blood than a boxer. Every visit resulted in a filling. I’d never had this before with any other dentist.
But the real issues began after I agreed to getting braces (at the age of 35). Back then (this is like 15 yrs ago), Dr Farishian’s practice partner was Dr Blake (DDS/​Ortho) and after consulting with her I went ahead with getting braces.
Things went ok at first, but then Dr Blake left the practice. Dr Farishian told me Dr Blake left on maternity leave, which was believable since Dr Blake was pregnant. So Dr Farishian sent me to another Orthodontist with whom she was friends, saying I’d see him until Dr Blake returned from maternity leave and that I would keep making all payments to Farishian’s practice, and she’d deal with reimbursing him at their convenience.
Well a year and a half later, the Ortho she’d sent me to (I cannot remember his last name, only that his first name was David. And he was excellent!) tells me that he’d yet to receive any payment from Farishian (who’d I’d been paying during this time) and that he would need to start charging me for my visits. Understandable on his part, and I was impressed he wasn’t asking for any compensation for the previous year-​and-​a-​half I’d been seeing him.
So I call Farishian’s office asking to speak to her, or for her to call me back, so that I could discuss the billing situation (after all, what was I paying her for, if she was doing none of the work?) and was told, after being on hold for 5+ minutes, that I’d have to come in to the office to discuss things.
At this point I told the receptionist that I did not want to be charged for an office visit to discuss billing issues and she assured me I would not be charged for the visit. When I arrived, after the requisite 20 – 30 minute wait, Farishian saw me and had me come into one of the two examination rooms and sit in the chair while we talked. I asked her why the Orthodontist was telling me she hadn’t paid him, and she flat-​out told me every penny she’d been charging me over that period had gone to him.
I then asked when Dr Blake would be back, since a year-​and-​a-​half seemed a tad long for maternity leave, and Farishian told me that Dr Blake had decided to stop practicing to raise her child. (I later found out, from Dr Blake herself, that she’d not retired at all, but instead had a falling out with Farishian and quit the practice to start her own.)
During our discussion, I told Dr Farishian that there was no way I was going to pay both her and the guy she’d sent me too at the same time, and since he was the one I’d be seeing for my ortho work, it was only logical to stop paying her and pay him directly. At this her demeanor became cold and after 5 more minutes she agreed that I’d make all further payments for my ortho work to the guy actually doing it. Our entire conversation lasted no more than 15 minutes and she did not do any dental work at all.
A month later, I get a bill for $ 270 for the talk we had!!! I called her receptionist, the same one who’d assured me the visit would be free, to challenge the charge, and she acknowledged that it should not have been charged and told me she’d take care of it. Two months later, we get the same bill in the mail, along with a threat to send it to a collections agency! WTH?
So I call again and the same receptionist apologizes but goes on to say that Dr Farishian insists that it was an examination and not a free consultation and that the charge would not be dropped. So I insist to speak to Farishian, and am told I can only make an appointment to come in to dispute the charge!!! I mean, are you kidding me? I told the receptionist that not only would I not be paying the bogus bill, but that I would also not be seeing Dr Farishian for anything ever again.
About a month or so later I get a letter from a collections agency regarding the $ 270 Farishian was trying to fleece me for. So I called the collections agency to contest the charge, and after only 5 minutes of explaining the situation, the woman at the agency told me that they would not be pursuing the charge and that this was one of –several– very similar cases concerning Farishian and charges she’d forwarded for collection.
Luckily, that was the end of my dealing with Dr Farishian. But thanks largely to her, I now suffer anxiety when visiting the dentist. Avoid this Dentist at all costs!

Dr. Farishian is the worst dentist I have ever experienced in my lifetime in D.C./VA and is highly untrustworthy.
My family was actually good friends with hers, which is why we started seeing her as our family dentist/​orthodontist. She actually gave every person in my family treatments that we later found out (after paying very high expenses) were highly unnecessary and unrecommended by other dentists. She gave me fillings that were not needed and retainers that I shouldn’t have had for as long as I did.
I am completely certain after much research and alternate examinations, that she did all of these treatments for personal gain and ruined the trust that existed between our families. She took thousands and thousands of dollars from us that leaves me disgusted and repudiated.
I highly recommend that you stay away from this dentist.

I would not recommend this Dentist. I found this dentist b/​c I needed to have several fillings done due to gum recession in my lower jaw. My regular dentist wanted to administer Novocaine for this procedure and since I have had bad experiences with Novacaine (panic attack), he suggested I find a dentist that would administer nitrous oxide to calm my nerves.
I called about 20 dentists before I found Farishian. She was the only one that would administer nitrous oxide. My first impression was that her office is located in a very odd location– inside an apt. building that caters to senior citizens. Also, her office opens at 10:30am and is only open 4 days a week. Odd indeed. I took a half day of sick leave from my job, but ended up having to call my boss and take the full day off… even though she only has 2 rooms for patients. I was the only patient there for ½ the day. I wondered why it took so long but I was grateful at the time for how she seemed to really care about the treatment I was receiving. I mean, why else would she spend an entire day on my fillings? I didn’t question it at the time. During my visit she insisted on fixing my bite… even though I didn’t have an issue w/​my bite… since she offered to do it a free of charge, I let her. Big mistake. I had HORRIBLE pain eating after this ‘bite adjustment’. I was taking 500mg of acetaminophen 2 – 3 times a day. I let 2 weeks pass to see if it would improve, but when it didn’t I went back to see her. It was affecting my eating and sleeping habits. Again… it took quite awhile to get in and out of her office. And then she started insisting I need a special night guard for my bite (remember, I never had issues w/​my bite before). I explained to her that I already had a night guard but I was talked into getting this one from her. Another 3 weeks or so passes and I started having excruciating pain in one my teeth that had a filling done by Farishian. It was so bad it would wake me up in the middle of the night. I went into her office on a Monday at 3:30 explaining the pain I was having. I felt that it was a direct result of my fillings. She agreed to see me and determined I needed a root canal. I asked her how long it would take b/​c I did not want to spend hours at her office again. She told me she could have me out in a hour. I WAS THERE FROM 3:30PM TO 1AM. I feel asleep twice waiting for her. She administered a ½ tablet of vicodin and numbed my gums up with Novacaine… but she would take so long to get back to me that I feel asleep… and then she would administer another vicodin and more novacaine… and I would fall asleep. It got to the point I was near tears. Why was I still there??? I felt like a prisoner. The stress I was feeling was unimaginable. I do not want to say out right why I think it was taking her so long, but I have my suspicions. Why would it take someone 9 ½ hours to do a root canal on a single tooth? I WAS THE ONLY PATIENT THERE THE ENTIRE TIME -. You can’t make something like this up. It was unreal. I was there so long that her elderly mother was brought to her office with her aide and Farishian asked her mother’s aide to drive me home since it was 1AM. It was the weirdest experience I have ever had.
And to top it all off, I only had a temporary crown in. 9 ½ hours for a temporary crown.
When I went in to get what I thought was my final crown, I was informed the root needed to be drained one more time before further work. During this visit she also took an impression of my teeth for that night guard. I was told I could pick up the night guard in a week.
I went to pick up the night guard first thing when her office opened (10:30am!!!) and was told we’d have to reschedule b/​c the doctor was running late due to traffic. Your office opens at 10:30am and you can’t be there on time for an appointment? Frustrating. Since I was there, I went ahead and made a visit for what I thought would be my final visit to put in the permanent crown.
When I showed up for my final appt. I was told that it was in fact not my final appt. b/​c there was yet another procedure that needed to be done. That was it. I was tired of going to this office. I was tired of being there for HOURS. I was tired of not knowing when I was going to get out of there. Right there and then I told the receptionist to re-​submit to my insurance company all the work that I had done up until that point b/​c I was going to go somewhere else for the rest of my treatment.
I walked out and never looked back.
When I found a new dentist (thanks Unilocalers!) I was told they wouldn’t be able to assist me until the new year b/​c seeing Farishian maxed out my dental insurance for the rest of the year. I saw this dentist for a period of 2 – 3 months… and it maxed out my insurance until the new year. wow.
Go somewhere else. My experience was weird and draining.