Anthony P Parrella, DMD

The bad — They indicated my insurance was good at their office so I went ahead with two appointments. Unfortunately, after $ 400 of screening and cleaning, I learned that my insurance was actually not accepted. While ultimately this is on me, I took their word that I was covered, particularly after they «checked» to be sure.
The end result is $ 400 of work that would have been $ 20 if I had gone to one of the other dentists in the neighborhood.
The good — they were super friendly and have a nice atmosphere. The cleaning was easy. They used a water pick opposed to the metal scraper, most of the time, which I found far more pleasant.
I hate to write a bad review but I feel like I got duped by trusting their world I was covered.
I’d use them again but only after being 100% sure that my insurance was accepted.

The office of the Dentist is not organized at all! First they had to rebook my appointment due to overbooking. Then the day I went I waited 30 minutes in the waiting room to call me in and as soon as I was about to sit in the dentist chair they told me they didn’t take the insurance plan I had… which they should have been able to tell based on the insurance information I gave them when I booked the appointment. So although I can not say anything bad about the dentist, the organization of the office in general is no good.

Let me first start by saying my teeth were horrible… embarrassingly bad. To the point where you might thing i smoked meth. My family didnt have much money growing up so I didn’t go to the dentist for almost 20 years. Well one day one of my teeth were digging into my check which caused everything to swell up on my face. i also had tons of decay and pain throughout my mouth. Dr. Parrella was really nice, easy going and never demanded money up front. He also made me feel at ease, and im someone who worries about everything. The side kicks or whatever you call them were so nice. One even held my hand as the Dr. drilled away the decay. (which I now have found out is not routine. i had a bad experience at another dentists office in Somerville). I hope I can someday go to him to finish my work that needs to be done in my top front teeth. I don’t have any insurance at the time but when I save enough I’ll go back to him.

DO NOT GO TO THIS DENTIST! Same horrible problem as the other awful reviews. I went in for a surface filling and Dr. Parrella drilled too deep. Three weeks of awful tooth pain and he still filled it with something temporary, barely knew what tooth he was working on, and would not answer any of my questions with specifics about what went wrong. He just kept claiming each tooth responds differently to a filling.
The staff of hygenists and the secretary need to find another dentist to hitch their wagon too. They are awesome!

I’m giving two stars for the friendliness of the staff and relaxing atmosphere. For a dentist’s office, it doesn’t get much better. Also, I had an experience where I was overcharged with a copay and the administrator promptly mailed me a check for the difference.
I had a lot of work done at this office and none of it was successful. Two years later, I had to have a tooth extracted (that had 2 failed root canals) and fillings fall out that now need to be redone. Granted, these things happen, but before I started coming here the problems were pretty manageable. Also, this office is significantly more expensive than other dentists in the area.
General dentists should NOT perform root canals. I should have known better at the time, but unfortunately, I trusted Dr. Parella. Back in the day, dentists used to do them, but the technology is so much better now and there are specialists that can perform them much better. Doc doesn’t do much explaining about the work being done either.

I held off writing this review while I was a patient, because I wanted to be honest about everything and not be fearful of the guy putting sharp objects in my mouth.
I was a patient here for about 3 years, and there’s a number of great things I can say about Dr. Parrella himself as well as the hygienists. The hygienist I most frequently saw was gentle, personable and non-​judgmental about the gap between dental visits. She remembered my name, what I did and was great at putting my at ease when I got a little unnerved. The doctor himself can come across as a bit gruff and old school at first, and he doesn’t mince words, but he was generally sensitive to my, well, sensitivities, and I’m grateful for most of the work he’s done.
Now for the not so great…
Another reviewer shared a story about a filling that turned into a root canal because of drilling too deep. Well, that happened to me also. I don’t know if this is a common occurrence in dentistry but I sure didn’t enjoy having one visit turn into 5 or 6. The tooth in question still doesn’t feel right and I’m starting to think they missed a root.
I can forgive a mistake though. What I have a harder time forgiving are this office’s billing practices. When the procedure was about halfway done, they asked me to pay up what I already owed before they would continue, clearing out my bank account.
Another time, my then-​dental insurance pre-​approved a bunch of work, and then reneged on that offer without notifying Dr. Parrella or myself, leaving me holding an expensive bill. Not the doctor’s fault, sure, but the office did nothing to assist me in appealing the sketchy insurer. They had their money and that’s all they cared about.
The final straw came when an unpaid balance surfaced that I hadn’t been aware about previously. It came as a surprise at a time when I had no money to spare and was barely working. I explained to them that it would be paid as soon as possible, and the receptionist said she understood. I had, after all, been a patient for quite some time. Flash forward a couple of months, when I get a call from a collection agency about this unpaid balance, that Dr. Parrella’s office hadn’t called me about even once. I would have been more than happy to work out a payment plan or send partial payment in, had they just bothered to call. I can only hope this review sullies their score on Unilocal as much as they’ve sullied my credit.

I’ve been coming here for 8 years and I can’t complain. I like the staff here, everyone is very nice and welcoming. The hygenists are great. I’ve only seen 2 in all my years coming here and they are awesome. Dr Parrella is very nice and professional. Going to the dentist in general sucks, but my experience here has been all positive.

I’ve been to Dr. Parella’s for two years. They do a pretty good job cleaning, but they are expensive. The first time I went spent an hour checking for micro-​organisms and bacteria in my mouth. Not what I was expecting for a first time visit. The dentist had a free slot for cleaning, otherwise, I would’ve made another appointment because my first hour was spent being told how bacteria filled my mouth was.
I’ve also had cavities filled there too, and I agree with one of the reviewers– Dr. Parella drilled too deep, and I ended up going back three times to fix the bite that should’ve been done the first time.

NO. Do NOT go here. I have never had a problem with my teeth being cavity-​prone. I ended up having two cavities with Dr. Parella, which in the end, were drilled-​in too deep and ready for TWO root canals. I’ve heard from a dentist friend that sometimes this happens, but Dr. Parella was not particularly nice or friendly during any of it.
I ended up in the emergency room for an abscess tooth because he never picked up his cell phone.
Crying in front of him after a three-​day weekend (which was destroyed by my tooth) he asked me if I was able to enjoy the sunny days, which are so infrequent in Boston. And I said, «No, actually, I was in extreme pain for most of the time.»
Worst. Experience. Ever.
I now go to Dr. Cook. What a lovely guy!

Dr. parella isnt cheap but I think he does a fabulous job taking care of my teeth. I take high dose pred and have teeth issues, but he and his staff have done well helping me maintain and improve my teeth. I think you can pay less and have poorer care but I wouldnt choose to. His is also the first dentist office I have ever felt comfortable in.

I was singularly unimpressed with Parella.
I went to my first appointment expecting a cleaning and instead it was an «evaluation» and the hygenist recommended a 4 hour «deep cleaning», with novacaine if required (!), that would cost me ~$ 250 (for the 20% not picked up by my insurance).
Now, I’m pretty regular at the dentist and my last cleaning was ~8 months ago and none of my previous (three) dentists have done anything but the regular cleaning and occasional fillings.
The good doctor himself condescended to spend about 30 seconds with me — found two cavities, recommended taking my wisdom teeth out, ignored a sensitivity problem I wanted to report and literally ran out leaving the poor hygenist to explain his «diagnosis», such as it was, to me.
I won’t be returning.

Dr. Parella is a great dentist — he does a fabulous job on just about everything. I’ve referred many people to him, and they have all had positive experiences, particularly as it compares to other dentists who often recommended unnecessary and painful procedures… and Dr. Parella had much less painful and less expensive solutions. The office is also conveniently located by the red line!