Dennis C Hiller DDS

Subpar office. Beware if you have to have a referral. If you've never had to deal with anything more involved than a cleaning consider yourself lucky. I didn't have issues with this office until I needed a referral for an extraction. Here's my experience from start to finish with the "referral" and ensuing inquiries for an extraction. First Ciccone's receptionist Rachel assured me that the insurance would cover the $79 consultation fee to see Dr Hannon (oral surgeon). I'd heard rumors that the insurance normally would NOT cover consultation fees. I asked her to please check with my insurance directly while I was having my cleaning. She called them and came back and said "No, they don't cover it at all." Dr Hannon would also not book a separate extraction appointment in advance to accommodate my work schedule. That was what I was told when I called Hannon directly to make arrangements. Rachel said "Well, there must be some confusion, let me see what I can find out." She took it upon herself to call him and he told her the same thing "No, we don't do it in advance!" OK. Time to find another surgeon. I asked her to cancel that appointment with Hannon and find another surgeon. Fine. Appointment was set up with NVOS in St Johnsbury. They didn't charge any consultation fee, etc. Great. A month or so after that was arranged, I get a notice in my mailbox stating that office was closing entirely due to the surgeons medical reasons! I call Rachel back and she said "Yes, we got a notice too but I was under the impression they were remaining open." I said "That's not the way I understand it from speaking to them." She said "Well, you must be wrong, let me find out." So she calls them, they tell her Yes, they ARE closing, the closest remaining office is Berlin VT!!! I declined to drive that far and make someone take an entire day off from work to accompany me, its too far to make multiple trips. On the hunt again..... I, myself finally managed to locate someone local (in Littleton no less) that does not specifically advertise as doing extractions but is more than willing to do it AND book the extraction appointment in advance. I checked the rates for that office against the insurance, etc, made 2 appointments (one for consultation and one for extraction) after speaking to them at length about how in depth they wouldcould go if necessary with the issue(s). I called Ciccone's office to let them know that there was someone apparently very accommodating schedule-wise and could accommodate a more in-depth extraction if needed and that I had made the appointments. You know what??? Ciccone's wife Carrie, who works in the same office with him snatched the phone and screamed at me something about finding someone on my own? I said "Excuse me? I was explaining to Rachel that I HAVE in fact found someone. The conversation was between Rachel and myself. Is there something I can help you with?" I was so shocked I'm not really sure what she said after that to be honest. Brilliant display at how to quickly kill business. One thing I did learn from dealing with the insurance company on my own is that if the surgeondentist bills the insurance company for a "professional consultation" the $70-$100+ consultation fee will NOT be covered at all. Whereas if they bill it as a "Problem exam" or "Exam" it will be covered usually at 100% or slightly under depending on the particular insurance companycoverage level compared to what they consider is customary pricing for that service to be rendered. A customer service rep at my insurance company was nice enough to offer that information because she felt sorry that I'd had so many issues in finding and making an appointment!

My experience with both Dr. Santilli and his staff has been very good. His expertise in the dental field is abundantly clear, and the staff is always friendly. I highly recommend his services to anybody who\'s looking for a dentist.