Pivaroff Bill DDS

I really like all the people who work at this office. However, over the years I've experienced a few things that have made me want to find another dentist. First thing that struck me was something that Dr. Elli said to me once after she recommended using fluoride toothpaste, being a student of toxicology I actually recognize that fluoride is a poison and therefore I choose not to use it, so I expressed that to her. Now, I don't know if she was not aware of what she was saying, or if she actually believes what she said to me next, or perhaps she was judging my choice not to use it and trying to manipulate me into using it, but she proceeded to tell me that we don't absorb any fluoride when using it in toothpaste!!! I mean, that was possibly one of the most ignorant statements I'd ever heard come from a medical professional. I was dumbfounded and didn't want to argue with her after that, however a). Why would flouride be in toothpaste to "strengthen your teeth" if it wasn't absorbed into the body orally? b). Has she never heard of sublingual absorption? It's one of the fastest routes of absorption!!! I let it go and just brushed it off, but it really made me question her integrity. Next she put a large filling in a tooth, and right after I noticed that she left a very large overhang on the filling, it was catching food and tearing my floss, inevitably causing another cavity to form! Great news for her $$$, bad news for me. I asked her to fix the overhang so it didn't catch like that, she says "no problem", goes in and "fixes it", for lord knows how much money, afterwhich there is still an overhang that tears my floss and catches food, fixed my ass. Sorry for my language, but it's really lacking integrity to say you fixed something but in reality do such a poor job. She tried to tell me that I needed to get a crown on that tooth now, that the cavity forming now was in a location which that would be our only option since the tooth already had a few fillings in it. So I decided that I was ready to try a new dentist in the area, get a second opinion if anything. The moment I was with the new dentist going over my xrays they pointed out not only the one overhang on that tooth, but two more locations where there is an overhang catching food, and my floss. I thought my floss was just catching between my teeth because they're so tight together, but now I know! Dr Elli left three overhangs in fillings that have caused me problems ever since. The new dentist told me I don't have to have a crown on that tooth like Dr. Elli insisted because they can do a more conservative version where most of my tooth can remain intact. The other dentist explained that crowns can catch bacteria and cause decay under them. They pointed out an existing crown I have that was placed by Dr. Elli, where there is decay happening at the base of it, however, because Dr. Elli uses crowns that have a metal layer underneath, the xrays cant pick up what is under the metal, leaving us totally blind to seeing if there is more advanced decay. The new dentist told me we can replace the crown with the type they use which are all porcelain and can be seen through in an X-ray and monitored. Dr. Elli never noticed the decay under that crown. She also didn't notice another cavity forming under a filling she had placed that my new dentist pointed out. Basically I'm very happy with my decision to see a new dentist. If you have good teeth and you're only visiting this office for teeth cleanings there's no problem, but if you need Dr. Elli to do work on your teeth be ware that she may not have the artistic skill it takes to be precise enough to make smooth fillings and provide the most advanced options in dentistry available.