Willamette Dental Group

Well… I see there are a LOT of negative reviews about this office, but I never would’ve guessed after my experience there. I recently opted to use Willamette Dental Group and I only have one day’s worth of experience, with multiple appointments and treatments. First, I had a morning appointment for a cleaning, exam, and x-​rays. This all went GREAT. I’m a typical nervous-​nelly in regards to the dentist and Ruby, the dental assistant, had me laughing and relaxed in no time with her friendly and funny mannerisms! Trynn, the dental hygienist, was gentle and seemed very thorough during the cleaning… easy peesy. Nice woman! Dr. Oda came in and asked me what my dental goals were and answered the questions I had… I mentioned wanting a solution to a small stain on a front tooth and she was happy to oblige. The receptionist offered me a same-​day appointment, mentioning it meant I wouldn’t have to pay another office visit copay, and I was delighted to be able to get it done that day! A few hours later I returned, Dr. Oda did a fantastic job getting rid of the stain (which I had been told by a previous dentist was a cavity), it was non-​painful, required no numbing and I felt entirely comfortable with the procedure. As that was finished, I inquired about removing a baby tooth that I’d meant to mention previously, and she asked if I wanted to do it right then? YES!!! I definitely did… no dreading of the appt. necessary! It barely took any time at all… I’m terrified of needles and she made it painless and soooo comfortable and easy! I just can’t say enough about this visit… Each step of the way from the receptionists, Ruby, Trynn and Dr. Oda… they were all extremely personable and I genuinely liked them. I had the best dental experience of all time here and I hope you do too… (I’ll be back for braces so I bet I’ll be back to update this review.)

Did you guys know that dentists — surgeons, too — were barbers back in the halcyon days of Death by Influenza?
Well, I wouldn’t want anyone here to cut my hair, but my poor periodontitis-​beleaguered gums absolutely love how gentle the techs here clean my teeth. Pretty sure my dentist isn’t enormously fond of my Gallic hygiene … but, I’m trying, man! I can even bring myself to floss at least half the time now!
Seriously, this is a great dental clinic if you live in or near downtown. The people are all very congenial, even that one no-​nonsense Chinese matron of those terrifying scraping tools.
Just make sure not to blow off appointments, like I do. That’s super rude.

…and their customer service never calls back when they say they will. Here I am, months later.

After Juan cleaned my teeth so beautifully and, especially important, gently! I am one happy camper I ended up here.
Short and to the point: they have remodeled, and the staff is attentive and so far my experience has been wonderful. Now to update this when I have to get some serious work done… which hopefully won’t occur any time soon.

I find it unfair to blame this office on the policies of Willamette Dental, so this review is wholly for the OFFICE rather than the actual dental company. This is one of the best Willamette offices you will come across. The people are friendly and it’s a pretty cool looking office. They recently remodeled it.
The reason I am giving such a crap-​shoot review is because they seem to have a hard time with communication here at the Jefferson office. Recently I’ve had an ongoing dental issue and needed a tooth pulled. I called the 1800 number because I hadn’t heard back about them approving my dental plan to get said tooth pulled. They said the doctor hadn’t approved it, but they would call me by the end of the week… dude tells me to «sit tight,» meanwhile my tooth pain is driving me to tears. Sure, I’ll sit tight. it was Monday. Friday rolls around… nothing. Following Tuesday rolls around… nothing. So I finally call and they say «Oh yeah, Dr. _​_​_​_​_​_​approved this last Monday!» …really?! So I’m sitting in agony trying to get this tooth pulled, and nobody thinks to call me. SEEMS LEGIT!
I can’t blame this office for the Willamette Dental policies — they are merely people who are required to enforce them. I can blame them however for poor communication for an already unpleasant experience.

My cleaning seemed rushed and not very thourall. In the same visit, my dentist forgot the prescription during my visit, so I called in to request it sent to my pharmacy. This took about a half hour with the person on the phone having to say, «just a minute» and go ask someone every sentence. Finally he said he would call in the prescription. When I went to the pharmacy it wasn’t there. After about 3 attempts with member «services» the office called me back, but was unable to send it to the pharmacy (even though it showed in my chart) until the doctor gets in tomorrow. Sigh.

They refused to clean my teeth 11 months since my last cleaning, and left me with unclean teeth for my wedding photos.
After I went to see them for my first visit, they found me in good health and recommended I come back in 1 year rather than 6 months. They insisted that most dentists only want to see you every 6 months to make more money off of you.
During that year, I got engaged. Since wedding photos were coming, I called them and asked to get an appointment to get my teeth cleaned 1 month before my year was up, because of my wedding photos.
I’m a very nice and soft-​spoken person. The woman on the other end of the line was flatly rude and said I wasn’t due back for a year. Although I re-​explained the wedding situation, and asked if she could speak to the dentist, she showed no empathy and refused to even discuss it with anyone.
They say that other dentists are money-​grubbing, but to me, it seems like a cheap move on their part to refuse appointments until a year has passed. Most people don’t come in for a few months after they’re due, so this policy likely results in patients with cleanings every 1.25 or 1.5 years, to Willamette Dental’s financial benefit. I think a sounder policy would be to allow a scheduling variance of coming in 3 months sooner, for your yearly visit, because that would likely result in most patients actually coming in at the year mark.
To be clear, for some patients they do recommend 6 month appointments. But for others, they recommend a year, and will not see you early, in my estimation, to push out your appointment as far as possible and save money.
I was also surprised by how unfriendly and not at all collaborative they were. I look for health care providers who are kind and who feel like they’re on a team with me. I want my health care providers to be people who I feel like I can trust, and who I can work with long-​term on the shared project of a high-​quality life.
I had a choice of two dental providers at my work, and I picked them blindly. I will never choose them again and have now switched away. They are not part of a high-​quality dental plan, and they will not collaborate with you.

Saw a dentist once, all was normal, x-​rays, cleaning. At 6 months I hadn’t received a cleaning reminder so called Willamette Dental. This is where the nightmare begins.
If you work during the day, they are impossible to get a hold of after hours. No voice mail only an answering service that won’t take a message and tells you to call back during regular hours. No e-​mail.
Finally got a hold of someone while I was at work, and was told I couldn’t schedule a cleaning. «Why,» I asked? «The doctor doesn’t have that down for you.» «It’s been 6 months, shouldn’t I have a cleaning?» «The doctor has you down for a cavity risk assessment.» «OK, well I’m interested in a cleaning right now, maybe we can schedule that later?» «No.»
I called back and spoke to several different people as I was able to make time during the day at work to try to give this dental office my money. I finally received a call back from the dentist left me a message saying she could see me for a cavity assessment but that I didn’t need a cleaning. So my teeth are so immaculate in her judgement, as of 6 months ago when she last saw them, that I don’t need a cleaning but a cavity risk assessment is an immediate priority. It simply stinks of money-​grubbing dentistry not wanting to perform their basic work, perhaps because it’s not-​as-​lavishly compensated as more complex procedures.
So one of the few benefits of having pretty decent teeth that I receive through insurance is a cleaning twice a year and Willamette Dental’s doctor refused to provide this basic and essential service for the reason I can only assume was profit margin. Otherwise, why wouldn’t a dentist want your freaking teeth cleaned?!?
Asshats.

My dentist recently retired, and the new dentist never even showed up to check my teeth after the hygiene work was done. I am concerned about the dentist care given by this clinic at this time.

My family got terrible advice at this place — the office regularly recommends that cleanings be cut down to once a year! Not a good idea if someone has a history of gum disease. After following this office’s advice, both my partner and I had crud-​crusted teeth. Very glad we switched dental practices. Also, why does this office only take Willamette insurance? It is much better to have an insurance that can be used at a variety of practices.

This office was on a slow path to Fuggedaboutit for me — but my recent switch of dentists has redeemed the office… for now.
The pluses are that the office is open til 6pm on weekdays, open on Saturday’s and has a free parking lot.
The downside was that my dentist refused to clean my teeth twice yearly and do
x-​rays annually — even though it’s allowed by my insurance. It was a fight every year to get her to do these covered procedures (I’d have to threaten to find another dentist) and this past year she stood firm in her refusal. The argument was always her saying «Come in if somethings wrong» and I’d rebut «What ever happened to preventative care??!»
Wanting to switch dentists meant making an appointment for a consult with a new dentist at the same facility, because my insurance was not going to let me change practices without trying to resolve the matter in house.
Having explained my desire for 2 cleanings and annual x-​rays — or I’d walk — the new dentist complied. We’ll see how long that lasts. For now i will remain a patient. Some days I wish my gynecologist also practiced dental health… because she doesn’t believe in holding off on health care.

If you are nervous about the dentist, don’t go here. They didn’t seemed too concerned about how comfortable I was. The cleaning was harsh, the roughest I’ve ever had. Needed a back tooth pulled from the E.R. location in Tigard, and the information of my previous visit wasn’t given to the E.R. Dentist, so I had to answer so many questions as to why I scheduled an E.R. appointment, even though it was my Willamette Dental DENTIST who made that appointment…
I’ve changed dentists since then, and my new dentist even said that the previous cleaning done on my teeth ruined some of my enamel. :(

Really nice clean dental office. Staff is very nice as well.

I recently went in for an appointment for my yearly cleaning and the clerk told me I didn’t have to pay an office fee since I’ve been a customer for the five years I’ve had insurance. A few weeks later I got a bill in the mail with a late fee for the office fee the clerk told me I didn’t have to pay. Getting the bill resolved was easy thanks to email but I’m still so disappointed by the whole situation I’m probably not going back to them. It’d be one thing if the staff were exceptional but they are really just average.

How do you choose a good dentist? I really don’t know.
Dental is part of our insurance package. For years we had Kaiser Dental which I loved. I think we happened onto one of the best dentists they had and he was ours for years until he went private. Then our coverage switched over to Willamette.
My wife goes to the clinic on Weidler just off I-​5 and swears by her Taiwanese dentist (sorry, but I’ve forgotten her name– will try to add it later).
My clinic is SW Jefferson near PGE Park. I’ve had my Dentist, Dr. Kriswandi for about 5 years or more now, since the days she left OHSU Dental School. She’s become an excellent and caring provider.
When she’s been out, I’ve been much less satisfied with my substitute dentists. I can’t be sure, but I really think one actually damaged my tooth when «force-​fitting» a temporary crown. Dr. Kriswandi was out on maternity leave then.
I’ve also used Dr. Chen for a root canal. He was one of the very best I’ve ever had for a serious procedure like that. I can highly recommend him.
As for waits– Basic check-​ups and cleaning appointments tend to take the longest. A 3 month wait is not uncommon. Once you’re in the system though, usually you can get in within 2 – 3 weeks.
Hint– All offices stay open one Saturday a month. If you call the appointment center early on a Saturday you can usually get in same day due to the number of cancellations that come in.
Also– if you get an appointment way out there, wait a few days and call again. Days open up all the time. I recently rescheduled one that was a month out to same week. That isn’t uncommon.
One last one– When you call the appointment center, ask them to transfer you to your clinic if you want to talk to one of «your people». They’ll do that for you and sometimes you’ll get a bit better, more personal service. I just tell them «My dentist asked me to talk with her office directly about this appointment» (in my case, true).
While not the BEST dental service I’ve had, Willamette is pretty good overall.
Do you have a GREAT dentist at Willamette? Would you post a comment to let us know who it is?

The dental care was fine, and what I paid for it seemed reasonable. But the overall experience with Willamette Dental’s service was laughably bad. Every year, the wait time for appointments increased until last year when I called in April to make my appointment for a routine exam and cleaning, and they told me, «we can’t get you in for that until August.» Each time I tried calling Willamette Dental’s customer service line for any help, I always had a ridiculously long wait time (up to ten minutes), when I had any luck reaching a person at all. I decided this year to switch dental plans and providers, and just found out that in order to send my x-​rays to my new dentist, Willamette Dental requires me to pay a $ 10.00 fee. I already paid for these x-​rays: they should belong to me, right? Willamette Dental clearly doesn’t care about their customers, and this kind of nonsense makes me extra glad that I – and in fact, my whole company — switched carriers.

I am afraid of the dentist. I chipped one of my front teeth on a teetor — totter when I was six years old, and have never forgotten what it feels like for a tooth to break in two, and have the bottom half crumble into your hands.
My fear translates into hating the dentist. When my work gave us insurance (woo-​hoo!) the option for Willamette Dental was more comprehensive than the ODS plan, so I opted for them.
I went to Dr. Hazard (yes, that is really her name. I also once heard of a orthodontist named Dr. Wrench!!) and I think that she is the best dentist on the planet. I also want to give a special thanks to Trihn and Bree who did my teeth cleaning and inspection, because they saw every time I flinch, grimace and cringe I made, responded accordingly and gave me the best dentist experience I have ever had. We took a few small breaks so I could take a deep breath, they pulled back when my face went pale, and they explained to me what they were doing every step of the way.
I have to have to have my wisdom teeth removed, something that I have been putting off for about ten years, and I am finally going to do it, because I trust Willamette Dental. They rock and I would recommend them to anyone.
P. S. I am cavity free!