Malinconico Stephen C Dmd

Based on my brief experience with Dr. Malinconico, I cannot recommend him as a dentist. However, my experience isn’t one that many are likely to encounter, so it’s worth reading other reviews and judging for yourself.
My regular dentist, Dr. Levine, was away on vacation and had Dr. Malinconico covering for him. I had an acute situation where the bonding on my front tooth broke and needed to be fixed, so my regular dentist told me to call Dr. Malinconico. I booked an appointment there, asking whether they would accept my graduate student dental insurance, and, when I was on the phone, Dr. Malinconico’s office told me that it would be fine: they would fill out paperwork and I could submit a claim through my regular dentist’s office. Once I arrived, the lady at the front desk informed me that I would NOT be able to submit a claim through my regular dentist’s office, as work done by a covering dentist is not covered. We then spent 10 minutes talking through my insurance issue, getting my insurance on the phone, and discussing the possibility of seeing a different dentist the following day. At this point, except for the earlier miscommunication about whether I could get reimbursed for the work Dr. Malinconico did, all was okay. I still thought I had the option of paying for the dental work out-​of-​pocket.
However, when I decided that it would be worth it for me to pay out of pocket to get my broken tooth fixed, Dr. Malinconico informed me that he no longer had time to work on my tooth and told me my only option was to see someone else. I have never heard of a doctor of any type turning away a patient who arrived on time and was willing to pay out of pocket! Certainly, mayble 15 minutes had passed from the time of my appointment to his decision to turn me away, but this 15 minutes passed because (a) his office had miscommunicated my payment options when I made the appointment and (b) his office needed to communicate with my insurance. It’s also worth mentioning getting bonding/​filling on a tooth is at least an hour-​long procedure, if not more. The office had either not left enough time to complete the procedure, or Dr. Malinconico was simply being a jerk. In any case, if time was of the essence, Dr. Malinconico should have communicated with me right away to tell me that I needed to pay out of pocket or he wouldn’t see me. His decision to turn me away — and the manner in which he communicated it — left a bad taste in my mouth.
Finally, when I called back to thank the receptionist for helping me find an appointment elsewhere (the receptionist really was very helpful), she told me that my dental insurance had expired. However, when I called my insurance the next day, that clearly wasn’t the case. I’m not exactly sure what is going on with Dr. Malinconico and his office, but I didn’t have a good experience there.

Free cleanings for yale student insurance, early, late and weekend appt and genuinely cares about your teeth!

I had a terrible experience here. This dentist didn’t take the time to properly diagnose the tooth and I ended up with a root canal and crown on the WRONG TOOTH! And he maxed out my insurance in the process. I came here because it was convenient but sorely regret it now.

Been going here for 3 years during graduate school. I have had great experiences here and I appreciate that he covers the difference in cost that Yale’s Dental Plan does not for preventive care. They are flexible and I have felt that they truly care about my dental health.
Front Desk: Pleasant, Informative, Helpful
Dental Hygienists: Experienced and Thorough
Dr. Malinconico: Passionate, Experienced, Conservative (rather than invasive)

My experience with this dentist was terrible and almost very expensive. I went to see Dr. Malinconico because I live walking distance away from his office in East Rock and had called and asked whether they accepted my new dental insurance plan, which they did. I’ve had several cavities in the past (though rarely more than one at a time), so when Dr. M told me that I had 8 cavities – EIGHT – I was distraught, but I believed him, in part because it had been a while (18 months) since I’d had a checkup. On top of that, he suggested that after we got all those cavities «cleaned up,» we could start replacing the silver fillings I’d gotten when I was younger with white fillings, so that they would look better – these are on molars in the back of my mouth, which I’m pretty sure can only be seen if you’re actually in there cleaning my teeth. And if I wasn’t already feeling terrible enough about all this, he suggested that I get veneers on my front teeth to cover up some discoloration. I do have a few stains, but I have good-​looking teeth and a normal smile, and before this appointment I’d never been so self-​conscious about them.
After they told me that it would cost about $ 800 to do the first 4 fillings and asked me to set up an appointment, I decided to first double-​check my insurance policy because I thought that I did have some coverage for fillings, which they told me I did not. However, it turned out that if I went to a different type of dentist (PPO), I would be charged for fillings at a lower rate, so I picked up my x-​rays from Dr. M’s office and went to another dentist. At my appointment, the new dentist told me that I had one cavity and that there was a dark spot underneath an old filling that was worth keeping an eye on but didn’t need to be filled at the time. Other than that she didn’t find any other cavities. I was shocked but extremely relieved. I would have gone through the pain, discomfort, and expense of having 8 fillings, which probably would have led to more fillings down the road.
In retrospect, it seems crazy that I would have believed that I needed that many fillings, despite my dental history, but I think they managed to make me feel so ashamed about the state of my teeth that I didn’t consider the possibility that what they prescribed was overkill, to put it mildly. It seems that this dentist is more interested in making money off of patients than doing what’s best for them.

I had an absolutely awful experience with this dentist and it seems I’m not the only one. Shortly after moving to New Haven I went hunting for a new dentist, and went with Dr. Malinconico, mostly out of convenience. I live in the East Rock area, and his office is just a short jaunt away. After my first visit, I left feeling extremely uncomfortable. His assistants were friendly, but I got a weird vibe from Dr. M. He just didn’t seem very trustworthy. During my exam, he noticed some dark spots on my teeth, and suggested they were cavities. I explained to him that I had pointed out these spots to my previous dentist, and that he had told me they were stains. With a very dramatic tone, Dr. M insisted that no, these weren’t stains, they were definitely «decay». Since I’ve only had one cavity, I was surprised to hear this information, but I wasn’t immediately suspicious. As the exam went on, he kept saying things that struck me as odd like «oh, so you have had a filling before» or «wow, it looks like your gumline is actually in good shape.» After the exam, he asked when I’d like to return to get the fillings taken care of. I indicated that I wasn’t interested. I still booked a 6 mos check-​up with his office, because I was trying to be rational about the situation – maybe I did have cavities.
Shortly after my visit with Dr. M, I spoke with a colleague who’d had a similar experience in his office. She too was told she had multiple cavities (around 6 to 8, I believe), but didn’t buy it. After visiting another dentist and hearing that she had 1 cavity, my friend was convinced that Dr. M was shady. After learning this information, I contacted Dr. M’s office, asking if I could pick up my x-​rays for a second opinion. I was told that I would have to wait until my insurance covered the appointment, which made little sense to me, but I didn’t argue. Shying away from confrontation, I decided I would stick with Dr. M. through my next cleaning, then pick-​up the x-​rays at the end of this appointment.
Around 3 mos before my next cleaning, I started receiving calls from Dr. M’s office. Since they often called at times when I could not pick-​up, they left messages. Some were about the cleaning, and others were about the fillings. Now, maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never had a dentist’s office call so far in advance to remind me about my cleaning, nor have I had one continuously bug me about fillings that I’d already declined. These calls continued up until the time of the appointment. At some point, I was able to confirm my appointment. Unfortunately this did not stop the calls, and I received 2 MORE after this exchange.
The shadiness started early with the next appointment. After arriving, the assistant asked if it was okay for her to get another set of x-​rays on a tooth that Dr. M thought they needed to «watch.» Honestly, I was confused about what this meant, since I hadn’t complained about any pain before, but I allowed it. After my cleaning, Dr. M asked about the fillings again, and again I insisted that I wasn’t interested. He asked, «Why?» At this point, I was feeling a lot of pressure to come up with something, so I responded that I couldn’t afford it. I kid you not, he started going on about a payment plan of some sort. No interest rate, etc. I was completely shocked by this response. I seriously felt like I was on a used car lot, and not in a dentist’s office. This time, when his assistant asked if I’d like to schedule an appointment for another cleaning, I told her «No thanks.» On my way out, I grabbed my x-​rays, never to return again.
After leaving his office, I scheduled a consultation with Dr. Gormley’s office to get a second opinion on my teeth. My appointment lasted about 5 minutes since, according to Dr. G, I didn’t have any cavities! Moreover, she too was confused about why they would take multiple x-​rays of the same tooth when there were no visible signs of decay, and I hadn’t complained of pain. Shady!
Since explicitly telling Dr. M. that I was not interested in the fillings, I have received 3 more phone calls from his office asking when I’d like to come in to get work done. The last time they called, I explained that I was no longer interested in Dr. M’s services, and the calls stopped.
One more thing – I felt compelled to write this review after hearing that another person (a friend of a friend) had a negative experience with Dr. M. Apparently, on her first visit, she was told she had 2 cavities, and had those filled. Upon returning, she was told she had ANOTHER cavity, and had that one filled. My friend contacted me because her friend is worried the dentist is being dishonest with her, and my friend thought it may have been the same person with whom I’d had a negative experience. Sadly, it was Dr. M. Until visiting Dr M, I’d had nothing but positive experiences with my dentists. This guy made me lose a little bit of faith in the system. Please, save yourself the stress, and go with someone else!