Hessel Park Family Dentistry

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Don’t patronize Hessel Park Family Dentistry on Kirby Ave, Champaign as your dental provider!!! When Dr Mark was there it was wonderful. I heard that he recently left the practice. Maybe this is the reason why. Here is what happened to me.



Dec 23rd I had an appointment for a cleaning and exam. When I got there they told me that Dr Mark had left recently and he probably wasn’t coming back. The Hygienist did an exam, measured my gums for gum disease, did several x-rays and cleaned my teeth. From all this they recommended that I had my teeth “scaled”. They said I had several 6’s, which indicated an infection under my gums (lower jam). They said they would need to scale the teeth which would be painful and cause my gums to bleed and I probably wouldn’t be able to go back to work that same day, and they would put antibiotics under my gum line to get rid of the infection and strengthen the teeth. They said this would turn to periodontal disease if I didn’t get it treated soon. They said the x-rays showed significant bone loss under my bridges. They recommended removing my bridges and replacing it with a partial plate. Then of course, so that the bite will match up well, I should have a new upper plate made as well.



They gave me an estimate for the scaling. After my insurance paid it would cost me $693; they would accept payment half before and half on the day of services.



I called the next day and asked about the cost of the entire thing: scaling, extraction of bridges, partial plate and full upper plate. I also wanted to know the cost of extracting ALL my lower teeth, making a lower plate and a full upper plate. Both procedure came to well over $4000 after dental insurance picked up their portion.



Being that this was so expensive, I decided to comparison shop. I called the dentist office that make 2 other upper plates for me, Dr Jones office in Villa Grove. I went yesterday.



They took 2 more x-rays (at their cost because my insurance only pays for a set of x-rays every three years. He told me I needed a cleaning. The other dentist office didn’t clean below my gum line at all. They had just scarped a bit between the teeth and that was it. Then he told me that my teeth were in great shape! They are very strong. I do not need “scaling” or medicine placed below the gum line, in fact that has never been proven to work and the only reason that dentist recommended that treatment was to charge me for an unnecessary procedure.



He said my bridges were in great shape. There was NOT BONE LOSS at all, in fact my right tooth was 75% root and 25% tooth, the other side was 50/50 root to tooth so there was no bone loss at all. He said I would have been in for years of dental problems if I had went ahead and had them pull my lower teeth.



This is his treatment plan. Deep cleaning - $100. (Insurance won’t cover it because the other dentist had already “cleaned “ my teeth and charged for it.



Partial plate, I can do this whenever I want to. It will make my lower jaw more stable when chewing. $600 – my cost after insurance coverage.



Upper plate: I can either have it relined - $200 or have them make a new plate $1250 before insurance. It was up to me if I wanted a new one or not. My old one is perfectly good.



So I can now spend $100 to “save” my lower teeth instead of $693. The other things are optional!

Dr. Johnson is a fraud whose work is careless and substandard. I had a number of crowns put on, each of which FELL OFF and/or broke within 6 months. I was guaranteed that they would last a lifetime.



On one occasion when I went in to have a crown replaced, Dr. Johnson never checked to ensure that the crown fit with the rest of my teeth. I’m not a dentist, but I’m the one who had to remind him that the fit needed to be checked, and that he needed to grind down the back of the tooth to ensure that it wouldn’t push my other teeth out of place. He claimed he forgot to do this step. Forgot? That’s unacceptable.



I was promised refund for the sets work that had to be redone, and not only did I not get any refund, but the office sent me a certified letter stating that they no longer would perform dental work on me.



I wish I had gone somewhere – anywhere – else, and I cannot emphasize enough that the quality of work performed at this office is inferior.