Radiant Smiles Dental

I visited this office for Zoom whitening. I had done independent research, reading through hundreds of online reviews of Zoom and its competitors (chiefly Venus White and BriteSmile). My research suggested that while these treatments are all similar, Zoom just edges out the competition with slightly more dramatic results. However, I also learned that the person applying both the Zoom bleach and the protective gel that covers your gums and lips has to be very careful and thorough in order to get optimum results.
Every person I spoke to at Radiant Smiles lobbied hard to get me to change my mind and use a different whitening system, but nobody would tell me why. I can only guess that the Zoom system is more costly for the dentist and provides a smaller profit margin, because seriously, they were all rabid about it. I stuck to my guns.
Before my appointment, the office started calling to ask me to change it. «Can you come tomorrow instead of 2 weeks from now?» they asked. Sorry, but my job just isn’t that flexible.
In the end, my original appointment was canceled because «something came up» for the doctor. Considering the doctor dropped by my chair for all of 60 seconds, I am not sure why this was relevant. Probably they have to give you at least a brief moment of face time with the doctor to maintain their license. Anyway, the way they informed me was very unprofessional. I got a voicemail message 2 days before my appointment that said «Hi, this is (name). I’m calling to cancel your appointment at Radiant Smiles.» Great.
So I rescheduled. On the actual appointment day, I was about 10 minutes late for my appointment. I say «about 10» minutes because I think I was literally 6 – 8 minutes late, depending on the clock. I had also called *twice* to clarify directions. It’s not a very easy place to find if you haven’t been there before.
Be warned: DO NOT BE LATE. Especially do not be late if you have bought a Groupon for whitening (I think they ran a $ 69 deal or something). I WAS NOT using a Groupon, but the folks at Radiant Smiles were under the impression that I was. They told me that because I was 10 minutes late and the check-​in process had taken an additional 10 minutes, they would just have to shave 20 minutes off of my whitening service. They told me there was nothing I could do about it, and that rescheduling was not an option.
When they finally realized that I was not using a Groupon but was actually paying a full $ 600 for the Zoom service, the tune quickly changed. «Oh! Okay, well you get a much longer treatment anyway!»
I was told that they give the Groupon users a much shorter whitening service and that they deduct any minutes that the patient is late from the treatment. Talk about snooty. They kept saying things like «THOSE people who use Groupon»… Not very PC.
Anyway, the technician «zoomed» through the application of my Zoom bleach. She told me that if I experienced any discomfort or «lightning pains,» I could let her know and she would stop the treatment. The Zoom process consists of 3 15-​minute intervals where you sit under a metal halide lamp and let the bleach «cure.»
Truth be told, I did experience some pain, but I was expecting it based on my research, so I toughed it out. However, I would have been SOL if I’d needed to stop, because the technician disappeared out of ear shot for the entire 15 minutes every time. And you can’t exactly raise your voice with your cheeks full of cotton balls.
Finally, the whitening itself was pretty mediocre. I can see a very minimal difference in the color of my teeth. But I don’t hold Radiant Smiles responsible for this. I knew going in that some teeth respond better to whitening than others.
I am NOT giving Radiant Smiles 1 star based on the end result, but rather based on the whole experience.
I would never, ever go back there.

All the glowing reviews you see elsewhere are FAKE. This dentist engages in deceptive billing practices and performs totally unnecessary work. She isn’t very personable and doesn’t do well with patient questions, but instead likes to play videos to «answer» any questions you have. Very sketchy and just… odd. Her office staff and hygenists are actually pretty good; too bad they work in such a fraudulent environment.

Terrible experience overall. The staff, although very nice, is completely unorganized from the front desk to the assistants. The actual dentist’s bedside manner is horrible, not to mention they get you in and out of there so quickly that you have no idea what just happened and then boom you need to pay up.
There was never any discussion about my treatment plan and why or why not I needed to get certain things done, and whether or not it is covered by my insurance, and whether or not I even understood what was going on, although they sure did try to get me to buy a sonic toothbrush.
Worse than the lack of organization and the poor attention to patients was that I was lied to about my insurance coverage. On my first visit I was told I needed XYZ and that a certain percentage of that was covered. 2 Visits and 6 months later I get a bill for $ 430 ADDITIONAL DOLLARS (on top of $ 350 I had already paid as my «co-​pay») and it took me 3 phone calls and a visit to figure out what was going on. When I went back into the office there was a new front desk employee who explained to me that this procedure that I had gotten had never in the past 8 years been covered by insurance and that she doesn’t know why Radiant Smiles told me that it was. And that I had to pay the balance.
Today I tried to begin making payments on this bill and it has been a total disaster. I think they are understaffed and the front desk person is also cleaning someone’s teeth in back. I was put on hold every 30 seconds for about 2 – 3 minutes and still have not been able to pay the bill after 3 phone calls because I was told to call back. Very unprofessional.
I am not sure how this business is being run or managed but I urge anyone who reads this to not go to Radiant Smiles. I truly believe that I was over-​prescribed treatment in order for the office to make more money. Don’t let the fancy equipment fool you, YOU are the one that is paying for it in the end.

Update May 2009
Forget this place. They’ve screwed up our bills so many times and claimed that we owed hundreds of dollars for a spacer that they never even got in the door. And they refuse to take responsibility for their errors.
Update June 2009
They hired a new person to do the bills and she is great. She took charge of the situation and was right on. So in light of that positive outcome, I’ve moved it up to 3 stars.

Radiant Smiles was fantastic… as far as dentists go. I am not a huge fan of going to the dentist but the staff at Radiant Smiles made my visit as comfortable as possible. All their equipment was state of the art and virtually painless.
Dr. Wu was fantastic as she took the time to explain the procedures she was performing. The entire staff was very friendly and personable.
I will be going to Radiant Smiles for years to come.